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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "ITS 244"
COURSE NAME: "Stardom and Celebrities in Italy"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2025
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Paolo Prato
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: MW 6:00 PM 7:15 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course examines stardom in Italy, exploring its relevance and roles in the development of Italian national identities and the country’s collective imaginary. Drawing on examples from modern and contemporary media history, the course investigates such themes as fame, fandom, charisma, sex and gender, soft power, the construction of authenticity, and celebrity industries by focusing on case studies of single personalities commonly recognized as global stars. In doing so, the course aims at providing another perspective from which we can understand Italy’s culture and the making of public opinion in it. In exploring the worldwide appeal of Italian stars and their marketing as “brands”, it also provides further context for understanding what is internationally known as ‘Made in Italy’.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course will be introduced by a presentation of key concepts such as star, divo/diva, hero/heroine, celebrity, fame, cult of personality, and background notions such as public/audience, taste cultures, community, fans, and the like. The outline of the course is structured in biographical and monographic units, each focusing on single figures who are symbols of Italianness and/or figures grouped under the same epoch, field, or art such as opera, cinema, television, academia, politics, sports, and social media. By exploring the life and career of these iconic figures and the way they achieved the status of celebrity, it will be possible to answers the main research questions such as: 1) how do stars help shaping a collective consciousness?  2) what is their function in society? 3) do they really influence people and how? 4) do they favor regressive behaviors, or can they trigger change? To investigate these questions, approach and methodologies will be as broad as possible, drawing from media and cultural studies, literary and cinema studies, semiotics, and sociology. The course will be articulated through film screenings, listening sessions, reading assignments, lectures, and discussions. Depending on the period when the course is offered, visits to exhibitions will be encouraged, being the city of Rome a prolific source of past and present celebrities.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course students will be:

1        Familiar with the analytic and theoretical perspectives of Italian, media, and cultural studies.

2        Able to acquire new competence in related fields such as sociology, semiotics, contemporary history, gender studies.

3        Able to demonstrate knowledge of Italian modern and contemporary society and culture.

4        Able to compare expressions of Italian society and culture with others coming from the USA and elsewhere.

5        Able to increase their social responsibility: by being exposed to significant segments of what in the 20th century was defining itself as a transnational culture, students will learn how to appreciate styles of storytelling and value systems that they may not be familiar with. Approaching a different culture increases the awareness of how varied and interdependent our world is. Looking at how people from different cultures and background have coped with universal aspirations such as fame and celebrity is critical to advancement in social responsibility.

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 4:  Demonstrate extensive knowledge of contemporary Italian culture and society and the ability to function effectively within it.

•          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.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Mid-term Exam  20%
Final Exam 25%:
Final Paper 25%:
Assignments, readings, and presentation 10%:
Attendance and Participation 20%:

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
A major exam (midterm or final) cannot be made up without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

Week 1 – Course presentation and introduction to some key concepts

The rise to fame and divine features applied to human beings: the notions of aura (Walter Benjamin) and charisma (Max Weber). Between human and heavenly: heroes vs gods. The cult of personality and its authoritarian drifts. Star-making: a global industry. The society of the spectacle, narcissism and glamour. Diva and divo: gender and the stars. Celebrity: ascribed, achieved and attributed. Fan communities and the search for authenticity. The powerless elite and its impact on society.

Readings:

Stephen Gundle, “Introduction” to Glamour: A History, Oxford Un. Press, 2009.

Francesco Alberoni, “The powerless elite: Theory and Sociological Research of the Phenomenon of the Stars”, in Sean Redmond & Su Holmes (eds.). Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader, Sage 2007.

Markus Wohlfeil, Anthony Patterson and Stephen J. Gould, “The Allure of Celebrities: Unpacking Their Polysemic Consumer Appeal”, in European Journal of Marketing Vol. 53 No. 10, 2019.

 

Week 2 – ‘Stardust memories’: talent, beauty and seduction in the early 20th century

- Enrico Caruso and Lina Cavalieri: romancing the stage, bridging the gap between opera and recorded music.

- Lyda Borrelli, Francesca Bertini, Anna Fougez: the age of the femme fatale, from theatre to silent cinema.

- Rodolfo Valentino: the rise and fall of the expatriate who became the first sex symbol of silent film era.

Readings. Excerpts from:

Simona Frasca, Italian Birds of Passage: The Diaspora of Neapolitan Musicians in New York, Palgrave Macmillan 2014.

Julie Grossman, The Femme Fatale, Rutgers Un. Press 2020.

 

Week 3 – Propaganda and influencers in the Fascist era

From politics to everyday life: The Duce as a mass cult. Gabriele D’Annunzio, the first divo: poet, soldier, seductor. Irene Brin, the prototype of influencer: teaching the good manners to the middle-class woman.

Readings:

M.F.N. Giglioli, “‘Il deputato della bellezza’. Gabriele D'Annunzio’s aesthetic politics in the fin-de-siècle crisis”, in Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 18:4, 2013.

Boscagli, Maurizia. “The Power of Style: Fashion and Self-Fashioning in Irene Brin’s Journalistic Writing.”Mothers of Invention: Women, Italian Facism, and Culture, edited by Robin Pickering-Iazzi, NED-New edition, University of Minnesota Press, 1995

Gundle S, Duggan C, Pieri G. Special issue: The cult of Mussolini in twentieth-century Italy: Introduction.Modern Italy. 2013;18(2):111-115.

 

Week 4 – ‘Starway to Heaven’: from Cinecittà to Hollywood

Sophia Loren, Anna Magnani, Gina Lollobrigida, Silvana Mangano and the export of the Italian female stereotypes: moms, lovers and good wives.

Readings. Excerpts from:

Marcia Landy, Stardom Italian Style: Screen Performance and Personality in Italian Cinema, Bloomington, Indiana Un. Press 2008

Gundle, Stephen. “Anna Magnani: Authenticity and the Star Persona.”Fame Amid the Ruins: Italian Film Stardom in the Age of Neorealism, Berghahn Books, 2020, pp. 150–72

Gundle, Stephen. “Silvana Mangano: Beauty and Stardom.”Fame Amid the Ruins: Italian Film Stardom in the Age of Neorealism, 1st ed., Berghahn Books, 2020, pp. 216–39

Gundle, Stephen. “Hollywood Glamour and Mass Consumption in Italy”, in Histories of Leisure, edited by Rudy Koshar, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002.

 

Week 5 – Maestro or genius: what does it take for a male to become a celebrity

Ennio Morricone and Federico Fellini: the art of becoming a star by doing your job with dedication.

Readings. Excerpts from:

Ennio Morricone in His Own Words (Ennio Morricone in conversation with Alessandro De Rosa), Oxford University Press, 2020.

Alessandro Carrera, Fellini’s Eternal Rome: Paganism and Christianity in the Films of Federico Fellini, Bloomsbury 2018.

 

Week 6 – Politics and television: swinging between hard and soft power

- Silvio Berlusconi: the small screen as a shortcut to political power

- Enrico Berlinguer: the only Communist politician to have achieved the status of divo

- Renzo Arbore: the eulogy of an American style entertainment

Readings:

Geoff Andrews, “From Salesman to Statesman: The Postmodern Populism of Silvio Berlusconi”, in Geoff Andrews, Not a Normal Country: Italy After Berlusconi, Pluto Press 2005.

Gundle S. How Berlusconi will be remembered: notoriety, collective memory and the mediatisation of posterity.Modern Italy. 2015;20(1):91-109.

Walter Veltroni, Quando c’era Berlinguer (film)

 

Week 7 – Review and Midterm Exam

 

Week 8 – ‘I’m against it’: the intellectual between commitment and mass culture

Pier Paolo Pasolini and Roberto Saviano: the Italian romance with intellectuals and those who march to a different drummer. The professor star: reviving the Renaissance humanism: Umberto Eco, from academia to a worldwide success as a novelist. How he became a star without selling out. Renzo Piano, the archistar. The first Italian ever to be included in Time 100, the 100 most influential personalities of the year

Readings:

Paolo Campolonghi, “Le Ceneri di Pasolini: The Role of the Intellectuals from Nation to Alienation”, in Gabrieli Parati (ed. by). New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies: Definition, Theory, and Accented Practices, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press 2012.

Rocco Capozzi, “Umberto Eco: Acute Observer of Our Social and Cultural History”, in Italica, vol. 93, no. 1, 2016.

 

Week 9 – Soccer idols and other sports winners

A national passion turned into an intergenerational cult able to revive the long-rooted rivalries among towns and cities.

- Diego Maradona, possibly the greatest player of all time, the Argentinian pibe de oro who led the Naples team to win its first championship and became an icon for the whole population;

- Francesco Totti, the eighth king of Rome: from tv to gossip magazines.

- Jannik Sinner, the youngest and most successful tennis player from Italy, risen to international fame and soon become a brand

Readings:

John Foot, “Teams and Cities: Milan, Rome, Genoa, Florence and Naples”, in: John Foot, Winning at All Costs: A Scandalous History of Italian Soccer, Nation Books 2007.

Matthew Klugman and Francesco Ricatti, “Roma non dimentica i suoi figli: love, sacrifice and emotional attachment to football heroes”, in Modern Italy Vol. 17, No.2, May 2012.

Mark Doidge, “Stadiums”, in Mark Doidge, Football Italia. Italian Football in an Age of Globalization, Bloomsbury, 2015.

 

Week 10 – In class presentations

 

Week 11 – The small screen as a private altar: divas in the tv era

Two opposite models of diva, shaped in the age of tv public monopoly:

- Mina: the multimedia diva who has been concealing her image for 45 years

- Raffaella Carrà: the multimedia diva as the girl-next-door

Readings:

Excerpts from Rachel Haworth, The Many Meanings of Mina, Intellect, 2022.

Angelica Frey, “Raffaella Carrà: the Italian pop star who taught Europe the joy of sex”, in The Guardian, 16 Nov. 2020

 

Week 12 – “We can be heroes, just for one day”: the revenge of the common man (and woman)

TV reality and talent shows, DIY culture, digital stars: ordinary people turned into celebrities. Chiara Ferragni and the rise of influencers. Khaby Lame goes to Venice (to walk the red carpet of the Mostra del Cinema). Federica Pellegrini and other world record breakers coopted by television.

Reading:

P.D. Marshall, “Introduction: Celebrity in the Digital Era: A New Public Intimacy”, in P.D. Marshall, Celebrity and Power. Fame in Contemporary Culture, Un. of Minnesota Press, 2014.

Stephen Gundle, “Fame, Fashion and Style”, in David Forgacs and Robert Lumley (eds.), Italian Cultural Studies, Oxford Uin, Press 1996.

 

Week 13 – The opera singer as a pop star

The globalization of the Italian opera singing – recently included in the UNESCO world heritage list – and the rise of operatic pop:

- Luciano Pavarotti, from the stage to benefit events and the Hollywood Walk of Fame

- Andrea Bocelli, a voice for the kings, queens, and presidents.

Readings:

Christopher Newell and George Newell, “Opera Singers as Pop Stars: Opera Within the Popular Music Industry”, in Paul Fryer, Opera in the Media Age. Essays on Art, Technology and Popular Culture, McFarland 2014.

Matthew Gurewitsch, “The Crossover Question”, in Opera News no.69, 2004.

 

Week 14 – Final review - Discussion of research papers

 

ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES FOR THE COURSE

-          Daniel Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America (New York:

-          Atheneum, 1961).

-          Richard Dyer, Heavenly Bodies: film stars and society, Routledge, 2004.

-          Stephen Gundle, Glamour: A History, Oxford University Press, 2008.

-          Stephen Loy, Julie Rickwood and Samantha Bennett, Popular Music, Stars and Stardom: Definitions, Discourses, Interpretations, Australia National Un. Press, 2018.

-          Pramod K. Nayar, Seeing Stars: Spectacle, Society and Celebrity Culture

-          Sean Redmond & Su Holmes (eds.). Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader, Sage 2007

-          David P. Marshall, Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.

-          The Celebrity Culture Reader, edited by David P. Marshall. London and New

-          York: Routledge, 2006.

-          Graeme Turner, Ordinary People and the Media: The Demotic Turn, SAGE 2010.