93329 - Mass Society, Communication and Popular Cultures (1)

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in History (cod. 0962)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have a critical knowledge of the main kinds of source for analysing mass society. They will have a basic ability to apply methodology to studying communication phenomena, familiar with the historiographic debate as well as with the ways of analysing cultural processes. They will make critical use of the main information search tools, weighing their impact on society and culture. They will have mastered the basic tools for appraising popular culture. Working independently and in an orderly fashion, they will have acquired self-criticism and an ability to learn from mingling with others; they will also know how to choose the learning tools best suited to their own skills and purposes.

Course contents

The course analyzes the formation and growth of mass society, focusing on the period from the second industrialisation of the late nineteenth century to the reconstruction after World War II, till the early 1960s, in Europe and in America.
Particular attention will be paid to phenomena of social stratification and popular and cultural expression arising from the growth of large urban agglomerations on those continents. The period between the two world wars: the 1920s and 1930s, will be the "case study", looking at these decades through essentially the lens defined by three issues: the generational question, in particular in the relationship between young people and adults after the First World War; associationism and practices linked to the use of the leisure time by popular classes,  also finalized to  the creation of political  consensus; and finally the emergence of sports in contemporary societies. History of youth, history of leisure time,  history of sport and, linked to these themes, the organisation of consensus by democratic and authoritarian-totalitarian regimes are therefore at the heart of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

F

4 readings:

2 readings for all:

1. P. Dogliani, Storia dei giovani, Bruno Mondadori, 2003

2. P. Dogliani-L. Gorgolini, Un partito di giovani, Le Monnier, 2021, parte 1, insieme a

P. Dogliani, Il fascismo degli italiani, Una storia sociale, De Agostini, 2014, capp. 5 e 6.

2 readings among (it is suggested to read the original version):

D. Forgacs - St. Gundle, Cultura di massa e società italiana, 1936-1954, il Mulino, 2007

M. Carli, Vedere il fascismo. Arte e politica nelle esposizioni del regime (1928-1942), Carocci, 2021

A. Corbin, L'invenzione del tempo libero, 1850-1960, 1996, parti da scegliere

P. Sorcinelli- A. Varni, a cura di, Il secolo dei giovani, Donzelli, 2004 (tre capitoli a scelta)

M. De Nicolò ( a cura di), Dalla trincea alla piazza. L'irruzione dei giovani nel Novecento, Viella, 2011 (tre capitoli a scelta)

L. Gobbi- L. Gorgolini (a cura di) Giovani e società in Italia tra XX e XXI secolo, il Mulino, 2020 (tre capitoli a scelta)

G. Levi- JC Schmitt ( a cura di) Storia dei giovani, 2. età contemporanea, Laterza, 1994, saggi di Malvano, Michaud, Passerini

Elena Papadia, Di padre in figlio. La generazione del 1915, il Mulino, 2012

C. Papa, L'Italia giovane dall'Unità al fascismo, Laterza, 2013

Jon Savage, L'invenzione dei giovani, Feltrinelli, 2009, dalla parte terza alla settima comprese.

Eric Hobsbawm, L’età degli Imperi- The Age of Empire (1876)

(a cura di Eric Hobsbawm e T. Ranger) L’Invenzione della tradizione (1987), in part. l’ultimo capitolo.

George Mosse, La nazionalizzazione delle masse . Simbolismo politico e movimenti di massa in Germania,1812-1933 (1975)

Antonio Gibelli, La Grande guerra degli Italiani, Sansoni, 1998 (con successive riedizioni), capp. III-IV e V, insieme ad alcune parti di A. Gibelli, L’officina della guerra. La Grande guerra e le trasformazioni del mondo mentale, Bollati-Boringhieri, 1991.

Marco Mondini, La guerra italiana. Partire, raccontare, tornare, il Mulino, parti IV, V, VII

V. De Grazia, L'impero irresistibile. La società dei consumi americana alla conquista del mondo, Einaudi, 2005 (vale due letture)

Ph. Cannistraro, La fabbrica del consenso. Fascismo e Mass Media, Laterza, 1975

Fabien Archambault, Il controllo del pallone. I cattolici, i comunisti e il calcio in Italia (1943-anni Settanta), Le Monnier, Firenze, 2022.

Teaching methods

Front lessons and discussion and vision of documents and (video) media

Assessment methods

A final paper, which can be written also in English, in French or in Spanish. 

Teaching tools

Readings and Media

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Dogliani

SDGs

Good health and well-being Quality education Gender equality Peace, justice and strong institutions

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.