Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examines the politics, society and culture of fascism in Italy from 1922 to World War II. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 445 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Students with credit for HIST 486 when offered with the title Italian Fascism or Fascist Italy (Spring 2006, Spring 2008, Fall 2008) may not take this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

This seminar offers an unconventional approach to studying the history of fascism in Italy: through commercial films produced during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini (1922-45). Cinema was an essential part of Italian popular culture during the Fascist era. Every week, millions of Italians in towns and cities went to their local picture houses. In some rural areas, the Fascist party transported mobile movie screens to peasant communities that lacked theaters. What kinds of films did Italians see? How, and to what extent, did the Fascist government shape the content of those films and control the film industry more generally? Why did Mussolini’s dictatorship aim to exploit cinema as a totalitarian tool for indoctrinating Italian citizens in Fascist “values”? How effective was the Fascist leadership in building popular “consensus” for the regime through cinema? And how did filmmakers reconcile the nationalist and totalitarian aspirations of the Fascist state with their own artistic and commercial ambitions?

Treating commercial films as audio-visual primary sources, we will examine the social and political history of Italy – the birthplace of fascism – during this turbulent, repressive, and ultimately catastrophic era. At the same time, we will analyze the films themselves as representations of that history and assess their strengths and limitations in depicting everyday life under Mussolini’s rule. We will watch and discuss some of the most important, and often highly innovative, cinematic works of the period, including romantic comedies; historical dramas; social satires; family melodramas; nationalist, imperial, and war films; and the early neo-realist experiments of some of postwar Italy’s most celebrated film directors.

Students will normally view one film (out of class) per week. All films will be available via stream on Canvas and subtitled in English. In order to situate the films in their social and political contexts, supplemental readings will be assigned each week. Full attendance, thorough preparation, and active participation are expected. No background in film studies is necessary. Familiarity with twentieth-century European history is helpful but not required.

Although the usual prerequisites are 45 credit hours, including 9 in History, I very much welcome upper-division students from other departments and faculties at SFU. If you are not a History major/minor and are interested in enrolling, then please e-mail me when it is your turn to register. I will consider prerequisite waivers on a case-by-case basis so long as space is available.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: