ITAL 226 - Fascism, Racism, and War in Italian Literature

Institution:

Catholic University of America

Subject:

Italian

Description:

This course offers an analysis of Italy and fascism, the rise of dictator Benito Mussolini to a public myth, and literature of war and resistance. The course is composed of three segments each dealing respectively with history and literature on fascism, racial intolerance, and Second World War. In this course, our goal is to demonstrate how connected these three topics were in Italian society and, hopefully, try to dismantle some stereotypes about Italian culture. By braiding facts and fiction, history and literature, students will learn and examine representations of Italian twentieth-century complex events. By dismantling ¿thanks to recent history studies by Pavone, Battini, Sarfatti among others¿the notion that Mussolini began his racial politics only at Hitler¿s insistence; showing how strong was the resistance to the regime as we will read in the novels by Italo Calvino and Beppe Fenoglio; having our students read Primo Levi¿s reflections on his experience in the Auschwitz Lager, we want to propose an image of Italy whose cultural ramifications partly lead to today¿s political and intellectual situation. Taught in English. Satisfies requirements for Italian Studies Minor, humanities, and literature.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.cua.edu

Phone Number:

(202) 319-5000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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