War, Resistance, and the Holocaust in Italy: Reflections on Conflict and Violence
FIST 230
Spring 2014 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
ITAL 230 |
This course is an examination of Italian cultural production in response to the bloody conflicts of the first half of the 20th century. The texts we will explore together span the length of the Novecento and pertain to various genres, including short stories, movies, protest songs, visual art, poems, and novels. Over the course of the semester, we will examine the many forms of Italian literary/artistic representation of conflict and the plurality of Italian attitudes toward violence. Students will encounter universal and timely themes--such as war and peace, revenge and forgiveness, defiance and obedience, love and hate, memory and forgetting, family and outsiders, etc.--from a specifically Italian perspective.
Close analysis of these varied texts will help us develop answers to the following questions: What is specifically Italian about these texts? Did Italian attitudes toward violence transform over the course of time? What is the value of fictional accounts of historical events? Can they teach something that historical accounts cannot? What has been the effect on Italian culture of two world wars, a civil war, and the Holocaust? Have these conflicts left an indelible mark, or have the experiences of war and resistance receded into a remote past? What perspectives can students in 21st-century America bring to these texts? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RLAN |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Buzzati, THE WAR SONG
Debenedetti, OCTOBER 16, 1943
Fenoglio, TWENTY-THREE DAYS OF THE CITY OF ALBA
Levi, THE PERIODIC TABLE
Lussu, A YEAR ON THE HIGH PLAIN
Rigoni Stern, THE SARGEANT IN THE SNOW
Marinetti, FUTURIST MANIFESTO
Morante, HISTORY: A NOVEL
Origo, WAR IN VAL D'ORSA
As well as other short stories, poems, films and art work.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Several short, multi-draft papers; longer paper toward end of term; in-class presentations. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
THIS SECTION IS A FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR (FYS) CLASS. |
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