IT2INT: 'Apocalittici e integrati': Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy

Module code: IT2INT

Module provider: Languages and Cultures; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Daniela La Penna, email: d.lapenna@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 11 November 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The aim of the module is to provide a clear historical overview of the main conflicts between the intellectual class and the state in twentieth-century and contemporary Italy, focussing specifically on the Fascist period and the Republican years. We will identify and examine the main typologies of the Italian public intellectual (political activist, literary intellectual, the engaged journalist, etc). Through carefully selected case studies, students will learn about the dynamic and sometimes openly conflictual relationship between some key Italian intellectuals and institutions such as the State, the Universities, the media, and criminal organizations such as the Mafia. At the end of the module, the students will be able to give cogent, structured, and informed answers to the following questions: what is an intellectual? Who may become a public intellectual and how does one acquire that status? How do definitions of the public intellectual differ between national fields? What are intellectuals’ responsibilities towards society?

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Examine documents of different kinds, such as letters, diaries, newspaper articles, films and documentaries, essays and fiction. 
2. Evaluate the political and social factors shaping the historical evolution of the role of the intellectual class in Italy especially in its relationship to different state organizations (dictatorship and democratic state).
3. Critically interpret primary and secondary sources
4. Develop and defend theses on the basis of sound analysis of historical documents, in a mutually respectful and supportive environment

Module content

We will study select case studies related to the main typologies of the public intellectual (political activist, literary intellectual, the engaged journalist, etc). A historical overview of the periods under scrutiny will be provided as well as detailed biographical information on the intellectuals to be studied. We shall start by examining the complicated relationships between the Fascist regime, Italian intellectuals, cultural and educational institutions. In the second half of the term, students will address the role of intellectuals in the transition away from Fascism and the creation of the Italian Republic. Attention may be paid to some of the following themes: social inclusion and mobility, widening access to University education, women’s, gay’s and minorities’ rights, and the strategies used to eradicate the Mafia and terrorism. Amongst the case studies that may be selected for this part of the course are: Elio Vittorini, Cesare Pavese, Paolo Volponi, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mauro Mieli, Rossana Rossanda, Leonardo Sciascia, Walter Tobagi, Roberto Saviano.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

This module will be taught with a mixture of lectures and student-led seminars. 

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.