00932 - Contemporary History (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will acquire an outline of modern history, with a special attention to the social, cultural and political transformations, and the awareness of the complexity and problematic nature of the periodization principles. The student will also acquire a good knowledge of an important theme of the modern era, especially in relation to the historiography debate and the multiplicity of the sources. The student is able to analyze in an autonomous way documents, sources, and authors belonging to the contemporary World.

Course contents

The course presents the main trends in the history of the 19th and 20th centuries from a thematic and historiographical perspective. It follows the approach of international history, highlighting the connections between events, ideas, and historical processes across national borders. The course will pay particular attention to global phenomena such as the struggles for rights and freedom, liberation from imperial regimes, and the founding of international institutions.

The course is organized in seven thematic clusters and will address the following topics: Concepts, imperialism, totalitarianisms, internationalisms, decolonization, liberation, and globalization.

The first cluster analyzes aspects of periodization in contemporary history and the historical impact of the 18th-century revolutions and 19th century mass ideologies.

The second cluster follows the global history of contemporary empires and reflects on the First World War as an imperial conflict.

The third cluster concerns the ideologies of totalitarianism in various national contexts and their impact on the Second World War.

The fourth cluster focuses on internationalist movements and institutions, from the League of Nations to the UN.

The fifth cluster follows the history of colonization, through colonial battles for political autonomy and migrations in the post-colonial world.

The sixth cluster studies the struggles for social liberation and for civil and human rights in different geographical and political contexts.

The seventh cluster concludes the course with a reflection on the history of globalization and its social impact.

Concepts, Connections, and Roots

1. Contemporary history: definitions and interpretations (9/16)

2. The revolutions (9/19)

3. The ideologies (9/20)

The Age of Imperialism

4. Between imperialism and nationalism (9/23)

5. Imperialism in Asia (9/30)

6. The partition of Africa (10/3)

7. The Great War (10/7)

8. The Russian Revolution (10/10)

The Age of Totalitarianisms

9. Italian Fascism (10/11)

10. Nazism (10/14)

11. Stalinism (10/17)

12. The Second World War (10/18)

13. The Holocaust (10/21)

Internationalism

14. The League of Nations and the United Nations (10/24)

15. Liberal and non-liberal internationalism (10/25)

16. The battle for human rights (11/11)

17. Material culture and consumer society (guest lecture) (11/15)

18. International law and international courts (11/18)

Decolonization

19. The Cold War and the construction of the bipolar world (11/21)

20. Mass migrations (11/22)

21. European integration (11/25)

22. The decolonization processes in Africa (11/28)

23. The decolonization processes in Asia (11/29)

Liberation and Freedom

24. Civil rights (12/2)

25. Feminist liberation (12/5)

26. The global '68 (12/6)

27. Third Worldism (12/9)

28. The collapse of communism (12/12)

The Global Age

29. Globalization (12/13)

30. The new conflicts of the 21st century (12/16)

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography

This list includes suggested readings for students who wish to deepen their knowledge of relevant themes. The bibliography for the assessment is detailed in the following section.

On revolutions:

• Arnaldo Testi, La formazione degli Stati Uniti, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2003
• Lynn Hunt, La rivoluzione francese, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2007

On nationalism:

• George L. Mosse, La nazionalizzazione delle masse, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009
• Benedict Anderson, Le comunità immaginarie
• Eric Hosbawn, Nazioni e nazionalismo, Einaudi, 1991

On imperialism:

• Linda Colley, Prigionieri. L'Inghilterra, l'Impero e il mondo. 1600-1850, Einaudi, 2004
• Wolfgang Reinhard, Storia del colonialismo, Einaudi, 2002
• C.A. Bayly, La nascita del mondo moderno: 1780-1914, Einaudi, 2007
• Eric Hobsbawn, L'età degli Imperi, 1975-1914, Laterza.

On WWI:

• Antonio Gibelli, L'officina della guerra, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007
• E. Leed, Terra di nessuno. La grande guerra. Esperienza bellica e identità personale nella prima guerra mondiale,Il Mulino, 2007

On Soviet Russia:

• Sheila Fitzpatrick, La rivoluzione russa, Sansoni, 1997
• Andrea Graziosi, L'Urss di Lenin e Stalin. Storia dell'Unione Sovietica (1914-45), Il Mulino, 2010

On Fascist Italy:

• M. Pasetti, Storia dei fascismi in Europa, Archetipo, 2009
• P. Dogliani, Il fascismo degli Italiani. Una storia sociale, Utet-De Agostini, 2022.

On Nazi Germany:

• Erik Weitz, La Germania di Weimar, Einaudi, 2008
• Enzo Traverso, La violenza nazista, Il Mulino
• Donald Bloxham, Lo sterminio degli ebrei. Un genocidio, Einaudi, 2010
• Saul Friedlander, Gli anni dello sterminio

On the resistance:

• Pavone, Una guerra civile. Saggio storico sulla moralità nella Resistenza, Bollati Boringhieri 2006

  On the Muslim world and the Middle East:

• Cemil Aydin, L'idea di mondo musulmano. Una storia intellettuale globale, Einaudi, 2018
• James L. Gelvin, Storia del Medio Oriente moderno, Einaudi, 2021
• Lorenzo Kamel, Terra contesa. Israele, Palestina e il peso della storia, Carocci 2022

On the Cold War:

• Sara Lorenzini, Una strana guerra fredda. Lo sviluppo e le relazioni Nord-Sud, Il Mulino, 2017
• Federico Romero, Storia della guerra fredda, Einaudi, 2009
• Tony Judt, Postwar. La nostra storia 1945-2005, Laterza 2020
• Odd Arne Westad, La guerra fredda globale: Gli Stati Uniti, l’Unione Sovietica e il mondo Le relazioni internazionali del xx secolo, Il saggiatore, 2005.

  On decolonization

• Dane Kennedy, Storia della decolonizzazione, Il mulino, 2017.

On china:

• Guido Samarani, La Cina del Novecento, Dalla fine dell'impero a oggi, Einaudi, 2004.

  On the US

• M. Del Pero, Libertà e impero. Gli Stati Uniti e il mondo 1776-2011, Laterza 2008

  On migrations and racism:

• P. Audenino, La casa perduta. La memoria dei profughi nell’Europa del Novecento, Carocci, 2015
• S. Patriarca, Il colore della Repubblica, Einaudi, 2021
• M. Colucci, Storia dell’immigrazione straniera in Italia, Carocci, 2018

On globalization

• Jurgen Osterhammel-Niels P. Petersson, Storia della globalizzazione. Dimensioni, processi, epoche (2003), il Mulino 2005
• Sebastian Conrad, Storia globale, un’introduzione

Literary works on the 20th century

WWI

H. Barbusse, Il fuoco, Eliot, 2015

Vasilij Grossman, Tutto scorre..., Adelphi, 2010.

Hasek, Il buon soldato Svejk (Feltrinelli 2013)

WWII

Joseph Heller, Comma 22, Bompiani 2019.

Ida Fink, Il viaggio, Giuntina (2001)

Resistance

John Steinbeck, La luna è tramontata, Giunti

Italo Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno, Mondadori, 1993

Renata Vigano, L’Agnese va a morire, Einaudi.

Beppe Fenoglio, Il partigiano Johnny, Einaudi, 2022

Totalitarianism

George Orwell, 1984, Feltrinelli, 2021.

Antonio Scurati, M Il figlio del secolo, Bompiani, 2019.

Middle East

Amos Oz, Una storia d’amore e di tenebra, Feltrinelli, 2002.

Mahmud Darwish, Una trilogia palestinese, Feltrinelli, 2014.

China

Jung Chang, Cigni selvatici. Tre figlie della Cina, Longanesi, 1994.

Decolonization

V.S. Naipaul, In uno Stato libero, Adelphi, 1996.

Khushwant Singh, Quel treno per il Pakistan, Marsilio, 2002.

Postwar Italy

Leonardo Sciascia, Il giorno della civetta, Adelphi.

Ludovico Festa, La confusione morale oppure La provvidenza rossa, Sellerio.

M. Battini, «Andai perché ci si crede». Il testamento dell’anarchico Serantini, Sellerio, 2022

Global migrations

Alessandro Leogrande, La frontiera, Feltrinelli, 2015.

Hanif Kureishi, My beautiful laundrette, Dalai, 1997.

Bernardine Evaristo, Ragazza, Donna, Altro, Sur, 2020.

Teaching methods

The course will alternate lectures with seminars and analysis of sources. In order to stimulate lively debate and active participation, students will be invited to prepare interventions on specific themes and readings.

Assessment methods

Assessment

Both attending and non-attending students are required to have a thorough knowledge of the Handbook:

A. Vittoria, Il Novecento. Dall’età dell’imperialismo alla globalizzazione, Roma, Carocci

For attending students, in addition to the Handbook, a pair of texts from list A (1 monograph and 1 narrative text, as an example of literary source or historical writing in subjective perspective) will be required.

For non-attending students, in addition to the Handbook, two pairs of texts from list A will be required:

1. Christopher Clark, I sonnambuli: Come l'Europa arrivò alla Grande Guerra(Laterza, 2013) + Erich Maria Remarque, Niente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale (Neri Pozza 2016)
2. Mark Mazower, Le Ombre dell’Europa, Democrazie e totalitarismi nel XX secolo, (Garzanti 2019) + Sebastian Haffner, Un tedesco contro Hitler (Skira 2016)oppure Philippe Sands, La Strada verso Est (Guanda 2020).
3. Silvio Pons, La rivoluzione globale. Storia del comunismo internazionale, (Einaudi, 2012) + Lea Ypi, Libera (Feltrinelli, 2024).
4. Frederick Cooper, Africa contemporanea. Dalla decolonizzazione a oggi (Carocci, 2021) + Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Metà di un sole giallo (Einaudi, 2024)
5. Lucy Delap, Femminismi, una storia globale, Mondadori 2022 + Virginia Woolf, una stanza tutta per sé(Feltrinelli, 2013) + Margaret Drabble, La Macina (Bompiani, 2023)
6. Peter Gatrell, L’inquietudine dell’Europa (Einaudi, 2023) + Viet Than Nguyen, I rifugiati, Neri Pozza, 2017oppure M. Mazzucco, Vita, (Einaudi, 2014)

The assessment will take place through oral examination.

In order to pass the exam, the student will have to demonstrate to:

• know the main events of contemporary history between the 19th and 20th centuries

• recognize the essential characteristics of transitions in contemporary history
• be able to compare historical witnessing in different spatial and temporal contexts, identifying characteristics and specific relevance.

  
  The final grade will reflect the student’s:

• Mastery of subject content

• Ability to deal with the required topics in a cross-cutting and critical way
• Correctness, clarity, synthesis and fluency of expression
• Appropriate use of the specific language of the discipline, themes and authors
• Capacity of autonomous and personal re-elaboration of contents

Thorough in-depth knowledge of the topics covered in the course, together with analytical and critical skills and command of the specific language, will qualify for top marks (30-30L).

A good grasp of the topics covered in the course, together with good critical analysis and command of the specific language, will qualify for high marks (27-29).

A more mechanical and less articulate grasp, and/or correct use of language though not always appropriate, will qualify for a medium-range mark (23-26).

Weak analytical capacity and frequently inappropriate language – together with some knowledge of exam material – will receive a pass mark or little more (18-22).

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

 

Teaching tools

database research, virtuale, seminars.

Students with DSA or temporary or permanent disabilities: it is recommended to immediately contact the responsible University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) and the teacher, to find together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the exam.

Office hours

See the website of Or Rosenboim