ROST 300 Italy Culture & Context
Fall 2015
Loyola University Chicago
John Felice Rome Center
Fall Semester 2015
Italy - Culture and Contexts - Rost 300 |
Prof. Grazia Sotis |
Course Content
To talk about Italian Culture and Civilization starting from the differences between the North and South, or from the various regions, one might fall into triteness. Long ago Prezzolini in his book, The Legacy of Italy, has shown how the aspects of the highest Italian Civilization were universal and not only national, so that they were able to fulfill the yearnings of other peoples, not specifically only of the Italians.
The book by Enzo Biagi, L’Italia dei Peccatori, witnesses the change that occurred in our country, which do not seem to find an equivalent in the official culture brought abroad. Luigi Barzini in his The Italians had already mentioned a discrepancy between the truthfulness and the image of the country. Sergio Travaglia in Maledetti Italiani moves from this position with details as to reach statements of an economic type: culture is treated like an item for sale and everything depends on how well it can be sold, production and national artistic patrimony are the strongholds of our mission. If Giuliano Procacci, Storia degli Italiani, talks of Italy and the history of Italians in relation to the European Culture, Travaglia broadens the view by going beyond Europe and relating Italy to non-western cultures, so placing the Italian “product” on a world scale and using not only the cultural past but also the present. In doing so he is able to establish the importance of the Italian culture so as to analyze all the aspects which are part of it, from the people to painting, architecture and literature; from philosophy to mathematics, religion, gastronomy, up to the point of taking into consideration the country’s physical features, such as the city, for example.
These preliminary remarks do not mean that, during the course, the differences that exist within Italy, as in any other country, are not taken into consideration. The division into regions and their histories witness the cultural and folk variety.
Culture is also today’s living. So, besides an outline of a culture historically meant, it will also consider present days. For this reason we can deal with usage and costumes of the life of modern Italians, whether by modern we mean either a break or continuity with the past. To all this we must add that the Italian Culture does not express itself at home or abroad, as it did in the past, only through literary texts, but also through other channels such as gastronomy, cinema, music, etc.
Learning Outcomes
The study of the country, its tradition as well, will be presented through a selection of topics viewed within their historical development. A dynamic propulsion between past and present will help shape and define a picture of modern Italy.
The course will provide a unified picture of Italy but also its regional differences and varieties.
Students’ active participation in the making and development of the course with their living experiences in the country will allow them to witness first hand and consequently to critique the many facets of Italian life.
Class material will also focus on the current semester activities. Students’ travel and also trips organized by the Rome Center are taken into consideration in the development of the course content for each semester. The course material is a one-year program divided in two independent semesters for the fall and spring.
Requirements
The course might include one or two on site classes according to possible events related to our material.
Students are asked to write one final paper on a topic related to the country and people as a result of their learning and Italian experience.
Class attendance is strongly recommended: students are allowed only for two unexcused absences, from the third absence the grade will drop of 5% for each class missed:
Total class attendance |
minus two lessons |
100 pts |
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minus three lessons |
95 pts |
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minus four lessons |
90 pts |
… |
… |
… |
Failure to take an exam or quiz, unless justified by real necessity (e.g. illness; travel will never be accepted as a reason) brings an F in it. There will be no make-up exams.
Schedule of Classes
1st, 2nd , 3rd 4th & 5th week
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Introduction - symbols used to define the Country on Italian euro coins: Marco Aurelio, Colosseo, Castel del Monte (Frederick II), Dante, The Vitruvian Man (Leonardo da Vinci), the Birth of Venus (Sandro Botticelli), Mole Antonelliana (Alessandro Antonelli), sculpture of Unique Forms of Continuity in Time and Space by Futurist artist Umberto Boccioni |
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Quiz 1 |
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6th & 7th week
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Commedia dell’Arte and Sagra |
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Exam |
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Fall Break |
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8th week |
Gastronomy, Fall and Winter festivities |
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9th & 10th & 11th week |
Italian tales |
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Quiz 2 |
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12th & 13th week |
Regions and Cities of Italy |
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Final paper due |
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Study Day |
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Final |
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Text-books
Artusi, Pellegrino L’Arte del Mangiar Bene
Calvino, Italo. Fiabe Italiane. Selections (required material)
Collodi, Carlo. Pinocchio (required material)
Duchartre, Pierre Louis The Italian Comedy
Field, Carol. Celebrating Italy (required material)
Hill Towns of Italy
In Nonna’s Kitchen
Forgacs, David &
Robert, Lumley Italian Cultural Studies: an Introduction (only selected chapters, required material)
Prezzolini, Giuseppe. The Legacy of Italy (on black-board, only selected chapters)
Rowen, Shirley and David Carnival in Venice
Magazines: Journal of Modern Italian Studies
Modern Italy
A Journal of Historical Studies
Students' work and performance are evaluated as follows:
15% |
Class attendance and participation are strongly recommended. |
20% |
2 Quizzes |
15% |
Mid-Term Exam |
20% |
Final Exam |
20% |
Final paper (8 pages, about 2000 words) |
10% |
Oral Presentation |
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1,40 pm – 2,20 pm and by appointment
Grading scale:
100-93 |
A |
85-81 |
B |
74.5-71 |
C |
62.5-60 |
D |
92-89 |
A- |
80-78 |
B- |
70.5-68 |
C- |
59.5-57 |
D- |
88-86 |
B+ |
77-75 |
C+ |
67.5-63 |
D+ |
below 57 |
F |
Attendance Policy and Academic Integrity Statement:
- Daily attendance and active participation in class are vital factors in gaining literary knowledge and developing critical thinking skills.
- The student is welcome to see the instructor at regular office hours or by appointment when additional help is needed.
- Students are invited to prepare all readings before discussion in class.
- Topics for the papers are to be discussed with the instructor before writing: these present such a wide spectrum that the choice will rest ultimately on the student.
- All papers should involve strictly personal research:
“Pursuit of truth is the prime activity in a university community. As a member of this community each student pledges to maintain standards of honesty and integrity in all academic work. Exams: Students must rely exclusively upon their own knowledge. Papers: students must document sources of secondary information. Failure to comply with these standards will result in a failing grade.”
From Celebrating Italy study:
Introduction pp.3-13 and festivities in part 3 and 4
From Italian Cultural Studies study:
Cap. I Imagined Italies
Cap. III Anthropological Perspectives on Culture in Italy
Cap. IV Images of the South
Cap. VII Catholic Culture
Cap. IX Immigration and Social Identities
Cap. XV Cultural Consumption
From The Legacy of Italy study:
Cap. I The Origins
Cap. IV Dante, the anti-Italian
Cap. VIII The Renaissance
Cap. XVIII Commedia dell’Arte
Cap. XXVIII Futurism and Fascism
Cap. XXIX Artusi
Selected folktales from Calvino’s Italian Folktales:
LiguriaMoney can do everything n.7
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CampaniaThe Moor’s Bones n.121 The Chicken Laundress n.122 First Sword and Last Broom n.124
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PiemonteThe Little Girl Sold with the Pears n.11 The Snake n. 12
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PugliaThe Five Scapegraces n.126 The Siren Wife n.132
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VenetoThe Crab Prince n.30 The King of Denmark’s Son n.36
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BasilicataThe Thirteen Bandits n. 137
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FriuliPetie Pete versus Witch Bea-Witch n.37 Quack Quack! Stick to my Back n.38 Jesus and S.Peter in Friuli n.41
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CalabriaThe Widow and the Brigand n.145
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ToscanaFirenze The Apple Girl n.85 Prezzemolina n.86 The Fine Greenbird n.87 Montale/Pistoiese The Son of the Merchant from Milan n.62 Buffalo Head n.67 Olive n.71
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SiciliaPippina the Serpent n.150 The Ismalian Merchant n.152 Giufà n.190 Fra Ignazio n.191
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LazioThe Haughty Prince n. 102 Wooden Maria n.103 Nero and Berta n. 106
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Sardegna Saint Anthony’s Gift n.1
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