77178 - Italian Culture and Institutions

Learning outcomes

The student - knows the basic elements (concepts, terms, contents and objectives) of Italian institutions and culture, essential for the understanding of the numerous components of our cultural tradition (also recent) - is capable of identifying and understanding the cultural elements and institutional testimonies in literary, nonfiction, dramaturgical, cinematographic, musical works and in the field of contemporary Italian visual arts - is able to independently develop further knowledge and higher level skills and apply them in the analysis of other cultural and institutional phenomena typical of Italian civilization

Course contents

Images of contemporary Italy: history, economy, society, culture, literature, cinema, song.

Starting from the second half of the twentieth century, Italy has been affected by a radical process of transformation in the political, economic, social and cultural fields. This major modernization brought about extraordinary changes. The course aims to document and illustrate these changes, drawing on a series of different sources: literary, cinematographic, musical ones. In this way we will try to offer a "moving image" of Italy from the second half of the twentieth century to the present day.

Readings/Bibliography

Compulsory bibliography (reference text for the course):

Roberto Carnero - Giuseppe Iannaccone, Volti e luoghi della letteratura, volume 3/B (Dalla Prima guerra mondiale a oggi), Giunti TVP Editori - Treccani (ISBN: 8809892879), only the following pages:

- 312-345 (Il secondo Novecento e gli anni Duemila);

- 350-357 (Il Neorealismo);

- 492-497 (Luigi Meneghello);

- 498-502 (Luciano Bianciardi);

- 503 (Letteratura e industria);

- 504-509 (Leonardo Sciascia);

- 608-612; 627-637; 640-641 (Pier Paolo Pasolini);

- 676-695 (La giovane narrativa);

- 721-723 (Roberto Saviano);

- 735-738 (Mario Luzi).

Lessons will focus, as well as on the literary passages on the pages indicated above, on some films and songs presented from time to time by the lecturer.

UPDATE 24/04/2022:

Students non attending classes are asked to watch privately the following movies:

- Ladri di biciclette by Vittorio De Sica (1948);

- Il sorpasso by Dino Risi (1962);

- Nel nome del padre by Marco Bellocchio (1972);

- Videocracy. Basta apparire by Erik Gandini (2009).

Additional optional bibliography:

The topics developed in class can be explored in the following volumes (whose reading, not mandatory, remains at the discretion of the student):

Andrea De Michele, Storia dell'Italia repubblicana (1948-2008), Garzanti;

Alberto Martinelli - Antonio M. Chiesi, La società italiana, Laterza;

Alberto Crespi, Storia d'Italia in 15 film, Laterza;

Gino Castaldo, Il romanzo della canzone italiana, Einaudi;

Alberto Sebastiani, Le parole in pugno. Lingua, società e culture giovanili in Italia dal dopoguerra a oggi, Manni;

Anna Tonelli, Comizi d'amore. Politica e sentimenti dal '68 ai Papa boys, Carocci;

Luigi De Magistris, La Costituzione e noi, Loffredo.

 

Teaching methods

Lectures, reading and commenting on texts, use of multimedia products.

Assessment methods

The final exam will consist of an objective test (31 multiple choice questions to be answered in 30 minutes) and a written test (proposal of an open-ended outline - discussion of a topic or "essay" - to be carried out in 60 minutes). The overall grade will result from the arithmetic average of the two assessments.

The objectives of the exam will be related to the measurement of the learning outcomes expected by the students; the contents of the exam will cover the topics covered in the course.

There are no intermediate or partial exams.

Assessment method: overall grade out of thirty.

Evaluation grid

30-28: in-depth knowledge of the topics; language that is always exact and precise and of excellent argumentative clarity (the attribution of honors presupposes, in addition to the previous requirements, a marked and original personal reworking);

27-26: in-depth knowledge of the topics; language mostly exact and congruous and of good argumentative clarity;

25-24: fair knowledge of the topics; overall correct language even if characterized by some inaccuracies;

23-21: sufficient knowledge of the topics; language not always correct; presence of excessive simplifications of concepts;

20-18: overall sufficient knowledge, even if sometimes incomplete, of the topics; incorrect language, characterized by generalizations, inconsistencies and trivializations of concepts;

exam not passed: serious gaps in the preparation that testify an overall insufficient knowledge of the topics and / or incorrect and inadequate critical language with misunderstandings of concepts.

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Carnero