FLIT 371 -MODERN ITALIAN CULTURE
Dr. Anthony G. Costantini
Sierra Tower 434- Office Hours: T/Th 3:50-4:50; Friday 1-2 and by appointment
Office phone- 677-7226
Final Exam-
Catalogue Course Description
Conducted in English. This course meets the upper division General Education writing requirements. This course is a survey of contemporary Italy, and captures its major literary and cultural aspects; it examines the social relations, customs, traditions, and productive forces that have allowed the country to emerge as one of the most industrialized nations in Europe; it conveys the Italian spirit and its life style. (Available for General Education: Comparative Cultural Studies).
Student Learning Outcomes (What knowledge will be gained once the course is completed). Students will:
1) Describe the Italian people and culture (traditions, habits, customs, and religious beliefs that constitute the “Italian way of life”) from the inception of the Italian nation (1860) to present time.
2) Identify and discuss the various artistic movements (such as “neorealism” in film, theater, and literature, “La Commedia all’italiana”) and aesthetic principles that affected the social and cultural changes of the time.
3) Demonstrate critical thinking about contemporary issues in today Italian society: family, religion, divorce, abortion, the role of women, immigration.
4) Identify the productive forces that propel the economy; examine the problem of the South and the fight against the mafia; explain the role of the media and pop culture.
5) Describe the modes and expressions dealing with critical and aesthetic principles and their manifestations in literature, theater, cinema, fashion, and industrial design.
6) Identify major historical, social, and cultural events that influenced the creation of a work of art or the emergence of an artistic movement.
7) Improve their ability to develop and argue a position, to design and pursue their own research, and to make an effective presentation.
Required Textbooks
Mario Mignone. Italy Today. Facing the Challenges of the New Millennium.Peter Lang, 2007.
Carlo Levi. Christ Stopped at Eboli. New York, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1989.
Italo, Calvino. Marcovaldo or The seasons in the city. New York. Harcourt Brace and Company, 1983.
Giorgio Bassani, The Garden of Finzi Continis. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.
Dino Buzzati, The Tartar Steppe. David Godine Publisher, New Humpshire, 2005
Methods of evaluation:
Students will be evaluated based on the following:
FirstExam (Essay format)…………………………………..……25%
Second Exam (Essay Format)…………………………….………25%
Attendance and class participation-discussion………………...... 25%
Final (Essay format)………………………………………..…. ...25%
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory. It is the university policy that if you miss more than three classes without proper “medical” justification, your grade will be lowered one letter grade ("A" will change to "B").
Outline of Course Content:
Week:
1) Introduction: The problem of the Italian identity. General presentation of the Italian People. Introduction to the geographical, historical and socio-political aspects that led to the formation of contemporary Italy from 1860 to World War II. Reading from Mignone’s Introduction (pp. 1-27).
2) Continuation of the historical aspect: Liberalism and Fascist Dictatorship. Reading of first 150 pages of Carlo LeviChrist Stopped at Eboli.
3) The “Italian Southern Question.” The economic and social problems of the South. The problem of mafia and other organized crimes. Reading of material from Mignone’s Chapter 7 and reading of the rest ofChrist Stopped at Eboli
4/5) Discussion on Christ Stopped at Eboli. First Exam. Italy and the arts. Reading of Dino Buzzati’s Tartar Steppe. Presentation of neorealism in movies (1945-48). Viewing of Rossellini’s Paisan. Reading of assigned material.
6) Continuation of Italy and the arts.
7)The effects of the economic boom of the 50's and early 60'sin Italy. The emergence of pop culture and the aesthetic principles of “La commedia all’italiana” in the movies.Viewing of Pietro Germi’s Seduced and Abandoned.
8) The decade of the 70s.’ The socio-political turmoil: Students’ protests, feminism, and the Red Brigades’terrorism.
9) Italy and the family. Traditions and changes (abortion and divorce). The emergence of feminism. Reading of assigned material from Mignone Chapters 11 and 12.
10)Second Exam. Reading of Giorgio Bassani’s The Garden of Finzi Contini and viewing of the homonymous film by Vittorio De Sica.
11) Emigration and immigration. Reading of assigned material from Mignone’s Chapter 8.
12) The "Made in Italy”:A shot of optimism. The Italian predominance in fashion, design, furniture, cars, during the decade of the 80's. The Italian aesthetic renaissance. Reading of articles dealing with the arts.
13) Italy and the "art of living well." The social function of caffè, bar, piazze, feasts (religious and secular), and food. What is it a “mammone?” and a “vitellone?”
15) Other aspects of the "Italian life style” such as gestures, jokes strikes, passion for soccer, and vacation. How Italian see themselves. The image of Italy in the world today and a final note on Italian identity.
FINAL