13724 - History of Contemporary Italy (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have a general knowledge of Italian contemporary history and the main interpretations of it. They will be able to transmit the knowledge acquired, adopting the appropriate vocabulary and being versed in the historiographical debate. They will be familiar with the methodologies used by the research on social classes, and will understand basic mass culture and consumption phenomena. They will be aware how sources and choice of methodology bear on the ultimate result. 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

Political violence and the history of contemporary Italy, from Unification to the present time: between myth and reality. The course aims to tackle contemporary Italy starting from the theme of political violence and its impact on national history. Its scope is to assess the real impact of violence, while challenging stereotypes and images which are present in the Italian and international historiographic debate. The following topics will be developed in particular:

1) The critical analysis of the civil war category, its removal and its abuse in the scientific and public debates

2) The role of violence in the unification process and in the construction of liberal Italy, with particular attention to the Southern Question and the dynamics of social conflict in unified Italy.

3) Violence and fascism, with an in-depth analysis of the legacy of the first colonial wars and the Great War in the birth of “action squads” and the organization of violence by the fascist regime.

4) Fascist wars and civil war: from the war in Ethiopia to the intervention in Spain, from the various military campaigns of aggression, during the Second World War, to the civil war of '43 -'45.

5) Republican Italy, the legacy of fascism and the impact of the cold war on the political system and the dynamics of social conflict

6) Italian terrorism, its impact on civil society and the democratic institutions

7) Political violence in present-day, with reference to the violence of organized crime, the dynamics of social conflict in the post-cold war years and the effects of globalization

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography will be completed by the study of essays and documents previously uploaded via internet during each lesson. The student must prepare the mandatory readings and one of the texts among the further readings.

For non-attending students there are two texts among the further readings.

Mandatory readings:

1. Aurelio Lepre, Claudia Petraccone, Storia d’Italia dall’Unità a oggi, il Mulino, Bologna 2012.

2. Claudio Pavone, Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità nella Resistenza, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2008 (chapters: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Erasmus students: a) Anna Cento Bull, Modern Italy: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2016; b) Claudio Pavone, A Civil War. A History of the Italian Resistance, Verso, 2013 (chapters: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Further readings:

Gabriele Ranzato (a cura di), Guerre fratricide. Le guerre civili in età contemporanea, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 1994 (pp. IX-LVI); Salvatore Lupo, La guerra civile immaginata. Un dilemma dell’Italia repubblicana e Tommaso Baris, Resistenza, antifascismo e guerra civile. Un dibattito tra storia e politica, «Meridiana», 76, 2013, pp. 9-30; 105-127 [the three articles should be considered as a single reading]

Salvatore Lupo, L’Unificazione italiana. Mezzogiorno, rivoluzione, guerra civile, Donzelli, Roma 2011.

Carmine Pinto, La guerra per il Mezzogiorno. Italiani, borbonici e briganti, 1860-1870, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2019.

Emilio Gentile, La Grande Italia. Il mito della nazione nel XX secolo, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2011.

Fabio Fabbri, Le origini della guerra civile. L’Italia dalla Grande Guerra al fascismo, 1918-1921, Utet, Milano 2009.

Giulia Albanese, La marcia su Roma, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2014.

Emilio Gentile, Fascismo. Storia e interpretazione, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2002.

Paolo Borruso, Debre Libanos 1937. Il più grave crimine di guerra dell’Italia, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2020.

Valeria Galimi, Sotto gli occhi di tutti. La società italiana e le persecuzioni contro gli ebrei, Le Monnier/Mondadori Università, 2018.

Davide Rodogno, Il nuovo ordine mediterraneo. Le politiche di occupazione dell’Italia fascista in Europa (1940-1943), Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2003 (pp. 19-230)

Marco Maria Aterrano, Karine Varley (eds.), A Fascist Decade of War. 1935-1945 in International Perspective, Routledge, 2020.

Santo Peli, La Resistenza in Italia. Storia e critica, Einaudi, Torino 2004.

Toni Rovatti, Leoni vegetariani. La violenza fascista durante la RSI, Clueb, Bologna 2011.

Simon Levi Sullam, I carnefici italiani. Scene dal genocidio degli ebrei, 1943-1945, Feltrinelli, Milano 2016.

Matteo Stefanori, La Resistenza di fronte alla persecuzione degli ebrei in Italia (1943-1945), Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea, 2015.

Giovanni De Luna, Il corpo del nemico ucciso. Violenza e morte nella guerra contemporanea, Einaudi, Torino 2006.

Mirco Dondi, La lunga liberazione. Giustizia e violenza nel dopoguerra italiano, Editori Riuniti, Roma 2004.

Filippo Focardi, Il cattivo tedesco e il bravo italiano. La rimozione delle colpe della seconda guerra mondiale, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2016.

Enrico Acciai, Guido Panvini, Camilla Poesio, Toni Rovatti (a cura di), Oltre il 1945. Violenza, conflitto sociale, ordine pubblico nel dopoguerra europeo, Viella, Roma 2017.

Giovanni Orsina, Guido Panvini (a cura di), La delegittimazione politica nell’età contemporanea. 1. Nemici e avversari politici nell’Italia repubblicana, Viella, Roma 2016.

Guido Formigoni, Storia d’Italia nella guerra fredda (1943-1978), il Mulino, Bologna 2016.

Giovanni De Luna, La Repubblica del dolore. Le memorie di un'Italia divisa, Feltrinelli, Milano 2015

Guido Panvini, I terrorismi italiani, il Mulino, Bologna 2021.

Donatella della Porta, Herbert Reiter, Polizia e protesta. L’ordine pubblico dalla Liberazione ai «no global», il Mulino, Bologna 2003.

Marc Lazar, L'Italia sul filo del rasoio. La democrazia nel paese di Berlusconi, Rizzoli, Milano 2009.

Teaching methods

Lectures will be alternated with seminars focused on the critical discussion of texts, audio-visual materials and archival documents – previously uploaded via internet – concerning the main historiographical themes addressed during the course

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The exam consists of two parts that will take place in two different moments:

1) a written exam (the same for both attending and non-attending students) to verify the general knowledge of Italian contemporary history and the monographic theme of the course. The exam includes 6 open questions for a total duration of 90 '. The student must respond concisely and punctually. The written test is considered passed with a minimum score of at least 18/30.

2) The oral exam focuses on the mandatory readings, the further reading and the topics covered in the course. Non-attending students must prepare two of the volumes among the further readings.

Both the written test and the oral exam are intended to verify:

- General knowledge of the Italian contemporary history;

- General knowledge of the main historiographic interpretations;

- In-depth knowledge of the main topics covered in the monographic course;

- Writing skills, capability to sum up effectively as well as the capacity for critical argumentation.

 

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the sources and material in the exam bibliography and his ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology

 

The average between the evaluation of the written test and the oral exam contributes to the formulation of the final mark. For attending students, frequency and active participation in the course will be taken into account.

Teaching tools

Powerpoint presentations, PC

Teaching materials such as audio-visual and digital sources, films and documentaries

Office hours

See the website of Guido Panvini