27824 - History and Media (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student possesses a professionalism related to the use of different types of media in the forms of representation,popularization, and narration of history. S/he knows how to use media (iconographic, artistic, photocinematographic images, artistic and sound documents, architectural and urban testimonies) as historical sources; S/he is aware that media are tools for understanding a representation, and periods of different representation, of historical events; S/he knows how to recognize the contribution of media in contemporary languages of historical narration, with particular attention to museum and exhibition itineraries, documentary and fiction programs in film and television, and computer and interactive projects.

Course contents

A general introductory and methodological part on the forms of narration of history through the media, with special attention to Contemporary History and some of its events and historical periods: how they have been narrated by mass-media:  photography, documentary and fiction movies, museography and monuments; and subsequently elaborated in celebrations and by  public memories. 
The specific theme explored in this year 2025 is wars and post-war reconstructions. At the 80th anniversary of WW2 end,  the course will focus on the narratives of the last year of war, the Liberations and the immediate aftermaths  through cinematography, memories  and memorials related to some European countries and the United States. 

Readings/Bibliography

F. Focardi e di B. Groppo, a cura di, "L'Europa e le sue memorie. Politiche e culture del ricordo dopo l'89" , Viella, Roma, 2013 (Saggi di Dogliani e Focardi ed uno scelta).

Maurizio Zinni, Fascisti di celluloide. La memoria del ventennio nel cinema italiano, 1945-2000, Marsilio, 2010.

Maurizio Zinni, Schermi radioattivi. L'America, Hollywood e l'incubo nucleare da Hiroshima alla crisi di Cuba, Marsilio, 2013

Olivier Wieviorka, Storia della Resistenza nell'Europa occidentale, 1940-1945, Einaudi, 2018

Claudio Pavone, Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità nella Resistenza, Bollati Boringhieri, 1991 (evalable for 2 readings).

Massimo Baioni, Vedere per credere. Il racconto museale dell'Italia unita, Viella, 2020

David Forgacs, Messaggi di sangue. La violenza nella storia d’Italia, Laterza, 2020

Enrico Gaudenzi, La Grande Guerra dei registi. La prima guerramondiale tra narrazioni e censure, Clueb, 2017

Patrizia Dogliani, Tra guerra e pace. Memoria e rappresentazione dei conflitti e dell'Olocausto nell'Occidente contemporaneo, Unicopli, 2001

Joanna Bourke. Le seduzioni della guerra. Miti e storie di soldati in battaglia, Carocci, 2001

Fiammetta Lussana, Cinema educatore. L'Istituto Luce dal fascismo alla liberazione (1924-1945), Carocci, 2018.

Emilio Gentile, Fascismo di pietra, Laterza 2007

Emilio Gentile, Il culto del Littorio, Laterza

Filippo Focardi, La guerra della memoria. La Resistenza nel dibattito politico italiano dal 1945 ad oggi, Laterza, 2005.

Natalie Zemond Davis, La storia al cinema, Viella 2007.

Susan Sontag, Davanti al dolore degli altri, Mondadori, 2003

S. Gundle- Ch. Duggan-G. Pieri, The cult of the Duce. Mussolini and the Italians, Manchester University Press, 2013

Albanese-Ceci ( a cura di) I luoghi del fascismo, Viella 2022

Arnaldo Testi, I fastidi della storia, il Mulino, 2023

Christina Schmidt, Al di là del Muro. Cinema e società nella Germania Est 1945-1990, Clueb, 2009.

Gabriele Ranzato, Il passato di Bronzo. L'eredità della guerra civile nella Spagna democratica, Laterza, 2006

Marco Bertozzi, Storia del documentario italiano. Marsilio, 2008

Mino Argentieri, Il cinema in guerra. Arte, comunicazione e propaganda in Italia 1940-44, Editori Riuniti, 1998

Ernesto G. Laura, L'immagina bugiarda. Mass Media e spettacolo nella Repubblica di Salò, 1943-45, ANCCI, 1986.

Stephen Gundle, Mussolini's Dream Factory, Film Stardom in Fascist Italy, Berghahn, 2013.

Marc Ferro, Cinema e Storia. Linee per una ricerca, Feltrinelli

Pierre Sorlin, Sociologia del cinema, Garzanti

Christian Delage-Vincent Guigueno, L'historien et le film, Gallimard, 2018

All or part  of these readings can be changed into articles or books in other languages, by foreign students, on the teacher's advice

Teaching methods

Lessons, seminars, groups of study, vision of movies in class.

Assessment methods

The preparation of a paper by attending students and oral test for non-attending students, according to separate modalities. To be considered attendind (frequentante) student, s/he has to be present at  least 75% of the lectures (24 hours over 30).

Attendance in the course is strongly recommended in order to understand the methodology of the course and to pass the final examination, which consists of the preparation of a written paper and its discussion with the lecturer.

The paper must consist of an average of 15/20 printed pages (each page of 2,000/2200 characters) and based on 4 readings and selected films. For those attending, the required paper is on the topics covered in the course: in the first part, the examinee shows an understanding of the methodology, thus the relationship between history and memory and between history and its narration. The second part consists of a case study.

The topic of the paper must ALWAYS be agreed in advance with the lecturer and the text must be submitted for reading at least 3 days before the exam.

Non-attenders, on the other hand, have the commitment of 4  readings and they have to present them during an oral exam.

The student's achievement, in the writing and presentation of the paper, of an organic view of the topics addressed and the knowledge provided for the discipline jointly with their critical use, the demonstration of the possession of a mastery of expression and specific language will be evaluated with grades between 27 and 30.

Knowledge of the subject matter and the ability to synthesize and analyze articulated in correct, but not always appropriate, language will lead to fair evaluations, between 25 and 27. Poor quality of writing and strong formative gaps will be rated between 18 and a maximum of 24.

Teaching tools

Front lectures and vision of different media,

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students .

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Dogliani