SELCS

Cultures of Tradition and Modernity in Postwar Italy


Course code: ITAL4110
Course unit value: 0.5.

The postwar transformation of Italy from a rural to an industrial society brought with it the destruction of a millennial 'peasant civilisation' and the rise of an urban culture of consumption influenced by American models. The course looks at this dramatic history through the work of leading thinkers, writers, artists and filmmakers: Danilo Dolci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Umberto Eco. We will study a wide range of materials from documentary film and journalism to design and photography.

Assessment: one unseen three-hour written examination

Tutor: Professor Robert Lumley.

Preparatory reading and set texts:

  • D. Forgacs and R. Lumley (eds.), Italian Cultural Studies: An Introduction (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996).
  • U. Eco, Apocalittici e integrati (Milan, Bompiani, 1991).
  • D. Dolci, Racconti siciliani (Palermo, Sellerio, 2008).
  • S. Rohdie, The Passion of Pier Paolo Pasolini (London, BFI, 1996).
  • M. A. Pelizzari, Photography and Italy (London, Reaktion, 2011).