The course provides an interdisciplinary approach to the culture(s) of Italy. Crisscrossing the historical, the course introduces students to the most salient cultural, social and political configurations of contemporary Italy and the many identities these have produced. Students will be introduced to a variety of texts and popular cultural expressions and their mediation through media technologies and the resultant discursive construction of Italian identities. A strong emphasis will be placed on investigating the present historical moment through a critical engagement with the past. The course will be articulated through film screenings, listening sessions, reading assignments, lectures and discussions.  

Students’ performance in the course will be assessed on the basis of a mid-term and a final exam. A final research/analysis paper will also be required. The mid-term and final exams will be indicative of the level of engagement with the raw materials of the course while the final paper will demonstrate how those raw materials will have been put to use. An in-class presentation is also required, as much as weekly readings are mandatory. A formal assignment for both final paper and presentation will be handed out in class.

By the end of the course students will be:

1        Familiar with the analytic and theoretical perspectives of cultural studies and cultural analysis

2        Able to conduct a critical analysis of a wide range of texts and cultural artefacts, identifying their principal characteristics and placing them in a social and historical context.  

3        Able to demonstrate knowledge of Italy’s post-war cultural history and contemporary expressions as they relate to the development of the media and popular culture.

4        Able to recognize various trends in the cultural and artistic production of Italy, be familiar with a number of artists and performers that have characterized specific historical moments and identify social movements and political groups active during the post-war years.

5        Able to confront expressions of Italian popular culture in a comparative way with similar ones coming from the USA and elsewhere.  

The course contributes to the following learning outcomes of the Major in Italian Studies:

• LOS 2:  Identify, interpret and explain the major developments and forces shaping Italian social, political and cultural history.
• LOS 3:  Distinguish, discuss and evaluate the role of key trends and works in Italian literature, cinema, music and other forms of cultural production.
• LOS 4:  Demonstrate extensive knowledge of contemporary Italian culture and society and the ability to function effectively within it.
• LOS 5: Engage with the principles of relevant literary, cultural and social theory, with an awareness of the particular perspectives and relative strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and apply these in their own critical analyses of the material studied  
•  LOS 6: Apply appropriate methodological strategies and information literacy skills to identify, use and document primary and secondary materials in full respect of academic integrity and ethical standards.
•  LOS 7: Communicate information and analytical interpretations clearly and effectively in written and spoken English. 

Week 1:   

Course overview / Introduction to some key concepts: culture and popular culture; media and behaviors; consumption and taste; global vs local. Italian media and popular culture studies. Case study: Umberto Eco

Digital Italy: features of the digital era and their impact on traditional media. The coming of new media and their penetration in Italy. Rewriting youth culture: social networks, video and computer games. Smartphones: redefining personal and collective identities. Politics 2.0.: the rise of M5S and the ‘web democracy’.

Week 2:    

Television: local and global formats. History of Italian television. The Americanization of the Italian small screen. From paleo to neo TV: the changing habits of family watching. Case studies: Gomorra (the series), Il Boss delle cerimonie and Italia’s Got Talent. Soccer and its centrality for the Italian public.

Week 3:

Cinema: the industrialization of the imaginary and the rise of a society of the spectacle. Italians’ contribution to world cinema: from silent movies to Neo Realism. Hollywood’s impact and some Italian ways to tell domestic stories. The average Italian as portrayed by Alberto Sordi and Fantozzi. Stardom and trend setters. Case study: To Rome with Love.   

Week 4:  

Radio: listening in a digital environment: the latest developments of an old medium. Radio and social behaviours: from transistor radios to car stereo. From state monopoly to free radios: the rise of DIY stations and the challenge to mainstream information.in the late Seventies. Case study: I cento passi (One Hundred Steps).

Week 5:  

Revolt, countercultures and subcultures

Social movements and cultural resistance. The Long ’68. The alternative press and the birth of a counter-information. From no-logo to no-global movement. Classic subcultures: mods, hippies and punk vs contemporary subcultures: hip hop, skaters, emo. Labelling the new generations. Case study: Re Nudo pop festivals.

Week 6:   

Recorded music: who are the best-selling artists in Italy and who has made it abroad. Popular music: indigenous drives and foreign influences (rock, rap, canzone, hip hop, etc). Music and national identity. The globalization of an Italian trademark: opera, bel canto, Neapolitan song.

Week 7:    

Printing culture

The press: journalism in Italy from its heydays to DYT information. Printing and national habits: the destiny of books and the mutations of publishing industry in a world market. The kiosk as a popular attraction: educational publications round the corner.

Week 8:    Mid-term exam - Course review

Week 9: 

Holiday culture

Sunday, the sanctified holiday. Summer holidays and beach culture. Mythologies of Italy: from the Grand Tour to mass tourism. Autogrill, package tours, holiday villages and amusement parks: the irresistible rise of pseudo-places. A clash between tradition and modernity: Christmas in Italy.

Week 10:    

Italian trademarks: food and fashion

Food TV shows and the rise of a cooking awareness. Food and national identity: hunger and the myth of a rural country. The invention of regional cooking. Gender in the kitchen. Fast vs slow food: ways of sitting at the table. Dressing up, dressing right: fashion TV shows. Icons of postmodernity and the counterfeit industry: Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and the imported logos.

Week 11:   

Consumption styles: shopping and advertising

From village and neighborhood markets to round-the corner outlets, from supermarkets to shopping centers, the lure of things and the art of displaying them.  Objects as symbolic consumption: gadgets: fads and fashions from the Sixties to date. Carosello and the fictionalization of advertising.

Week 12:  

Church and the media

Pope Francis, Twitter and CTV (Centro Televisivo Vaticano). Fatal attraction: John Paul II and the Papa boys. How the church has assimilated the media, from cinema to radio, from TV to social networks. Catholic media in Italy: l’Avvenire, TV 2000, Radio InBlu

Final paper outline to be handed out in class

Week 13:        

Queer cultures

Gender studies and politics in Italy. Labelling identities and trends: gay, queer, camp, trash, kitsch.

The murder of Pasolini: the first media event to focus on gay culture. Queer cinema, queer TV, queer music. The rise of a homosexual movement in the Seventies. The spread of LGBT culture.

In class presentations I   

Week 14:  In class presentations II - Course final review



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