BA English Literature and Italian

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Narratives of Conflict After 1968

Course unit fact file
Unit code ITAL31002
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 3
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

This course unit offers an in-depth exploration of pivotal episodes in Italian history from 1968 to the present day, emphasizing how the conflicts of the 1970s, the alleged ‘hedonism’ of the 1980s, and the emergence of populism in the 1990s have been narrated, and how they reshaped the social, political, and cultural landscape of contemporary Italy.

By examining a series of selected themes and transformative events, the course unit aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how each has contributed to the evolution of Italian society. Topics that will be discussed include, but are not limited to: political terrorism; the impact of the Years of Lead on contemporary culture; feminism in the 1970s; the mafia wars; the rise of Silvio Berlusconi in 1994.

Through a combination of historical analysis and close reading of a wide range of texts (e.g. essays, plays, documentaries, movies, novels), this course unit will discuss how these crises fostered opportunities to contest and redefine narratives of identity, citizenship, and nationhood in Italy.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course unit, students will be able to demonstrate skills such as:

  • Presentation skills
  • Critical-thinking skills
  • Communication skills
  • Time-management skills
  • Research skills
  • Transcultural skills
  • Writing skills 

Teaching and learning methods

Students’ research will be supported through lectures and seminars, which aim to provide a background of essential knowledge on Italian recent history, culture, politics, art, and cinema; enable students to develop a critical attitude and analytical skills; make the class acquire the relevant methodology to interrogate written texts, visual art, and moving images.  

It is vital that students engage with the primary texts under analysis (CF. THE ‘RECOMMENDED READING’ SECTION BELOW) effectively and in due time; it is of primary importance, therefore, that the students watch the movies and read the required novels (or the agreed part thereof) in order to be able to contribute effectively in class in the seminar in which the texts/movies are discussed.

An active participation in class is also of vital importance for the teaching and learning outcomes of this course unit. 

Knowledge and understanding

Demonstrate knowledge of the history and culture of Italy after 1968, and contextualise it within a broader historical and cultural framework;

Apply relevant notions of cultural theory and literary criticism to an independent analysis of the chosen primary sources;

Demonstrate knowledge of how interpretations of history are affected by narrative genres such as fiction, and viceversa.

 

Intellectual skills

Carry out independent research; recognise the importance and intertwinement of social and historical issues in the study of culture;

Engage with different types of texts; •develop an argument independently, and present it coherently to an audience;

Know how to engage with pre-existing knowledge in order to develop a consistent argument.

 

Practical skills

Communicate ideas effectively to an audience

Integrate complex general notions within an independently-developed argument;

Present complex ideas in clear form, both in written and oral form.

 

Transferable skills and personal qualities

Work towards deadlines and manage tasks effectively;  

Communicate and discuss ideas in public, both in written and oral form;

Critically assess conceptual problems, and build an argument about them.

 

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written assignment (inc essay) 75%
Oral assessment/presentation 25%
AssessmentFormative/SummativeWeighting
CommentaryFormative0%
Essa OR Video essaySummative75%
Presentation (individual OR in groupsSummative25%

Feedback methods

CommentaryWritten feedback on commentary
Essay OR Video essayWritten feedback on essay
Presentation (individual OR in groups)Written feedback on in-class presentation

Recommended reading

Primary Texts

 

  • Movie: Marco Tullio Giordana, La meglio gioventù (2003)  
  • Play: Dario Fo, Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1970)
  • Documentary: Loredana Bianconi, Do you remember revolution? (1997)
  • Essays: Leonardo Sciascia, The Moro Affair (1978) and ‘I professionisti dell’antimafia’ (1987)  
  • Documentary: Alan Friedman, My Way: Berlusconi in His Own Words (2015)  

Basic Bibliography

 

  • Pierpaolo Antonello, Alan O’Leary (eds.), Imaging Terrorism. The Rhetoric and Representation of Political Violence in Italy 1969-2009. Legenda, 2009.
  • Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  • Mark Fisher, ‘What Is Hauntology?’, Film Quarterly, 66, 1 (2012), pp. 16-24.
  • John Foot, Italy’s Divided Memory. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
  • Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics: 1943-1980. Penguin History, 1990.
  • Salvatore Lupo, History of the Mafia. Columbia University Press, 2009.
  • Alan O’Leary, ‘The Phenomenology of the Cinepanettone’, Italian Studies, 66, 3 (2011), pp. 431-43.
  • Passerini, Luisa, Autobiography of a Generation: Italy, 1968. Wesleyan University Press, 1996.
  • David Ward, Contemporary Italian Narrative and 1970s Terrorism. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 11
Seminars 22
Independent study hours
Independent study 167

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Andrea Brondino Unit coordinator

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