Teaching code

4S001218

Teacher

Renato Camurri

Coordinator

Renato Camurri

Credits

6

Also offered in courses:

• Contemporary History (m) of the course Master's degree in History of the Arts
• History of late modern Europe (m) of the course Master’s degree in Tradition and Interpretation of Literary Texts

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-STO/04 - CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

Period

CuCi 2 A, CuCi 2 B

Courses Single

Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

Analysis and understanding of complex historical processes over time (including the analysis of shorter historical times in a long-term perspective) and in space (by linking the national history with the European and international ones), capturing the complexity and articulation of historical events, while being able to identify the most significant causal nodes.

Prerequisites and basic notions

No prerequisites are required

Program

Learning outcomes
Fascisms, anti-fascisms and resistance between Europe and the Americas.
The course aims to outline the origins and characteristics of the various phenomena of opposition to totalitarian regimes that in the interwar years emerged on a European scale and expanded in various geographical areas taking on a transnational dimension.
In order to analyze these phenomena, it will be necessary, as a priority, to define the processes underlying the emergence of totalitarian systems on the European continent and then to analyze their distinctive features. Fundamental step in this path of research, is represented by the Great War and the processes of transformation of European societies triggered by it that manifested themselves in all their importance in the first postwar period and that will be addressed in the first block of lectures
The central part of the course will be devoted to the analysis of Italian Fascism, whose evolution and parable will be set against the background of European history of the period 1915-1945 and placed in relation to the story of German National Socialism. Special attention will be paid to issues related to the transnational dimension of fascism and its “exportation” to various European and non-European contexts.
The last block of lectures will focus on the study of anti-fascism, the origins of which will be reconstructed from the earliest experiences of “cultural” opposition to the fascist regime and subsequent developments. It will highlight some elements that had a decisive weight in the experience of antifascism such as the generational question, the existence within it of different political and cultural components and the implementation of a wide range of forms of opposition. It will then examine the paths of some prominent personalities of Italian antifascism, the places and laboratories of antifascism such as those connected to the experience of exile, and the vicissitudes of European and Italian resistances.
The course will close with a reflection on the new authoritarian regimes of the 21st century.
At the end of the course, the student should be able to achieve a high degree of knowledge regarding: a) the periodizations of the historical events considered, b) the events that characterize the different historical phases examined, c) the different historical processes that authoritarian and totalitarian regimes have generated, d) the historiographical interpretations related to these processes.
Required Reading
1. One book chosen from the following:
O. Janz, 1914-1918. La Grande Guerra, Einaudi, 2013 (e successive edizioni).
E. Gentile, La via italiana al totalitarismo. Il partito e lo Stato nel regime fascista, Carocci, 2018.
O. Wieviorka, Storia della Resistenza nell’Europa occidentale, 1940-1945, Einaudi, 2018.
L. Baldissara, Italia 1943, Il Mulino, 2023.
2. Two books chosen from the following:
E. Gentile, Totalitarismo 100, Salerno Editrice, 2023.
E. Traverso, A ferro e a fuoco. La guerra civile europea 1914-1945, Il Mulino, 2007 (e successive edizioni).
S. Peli, La Resistenza in Italia. Storia e critica, Einaudi, 2004 (e successive edizioni).
S. Colarizi, La resistenza lunga. Storia dell’antifascismo 1919-1945, Laterza, 2023.
F. Finchelstein, Dai fascismi ai populismi. Storia, politica e demagogia nel mondo attuale, Donzelli, 2019.
Non-attending students must add to the above bibliography the volume:
J. Chapoutot, Controllare e distruggere. Fascismo, nazismo e regimi totalitari in Europa (1918-1945), Einaudi, 2015.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Lectures, guided tour to museums and archives, projections of movies and documentaries, lessons with external guests, seminars.
The partecipants can prepare brief paper to present in class.

Learning assessment procedures

Assessment methods and criteria
1. Method of assessment: oral interview.

Evaluation criteria

1. Objectives: to test the ability to expound historical concepts using appropriate terminology, the ability to connect events and place them appropriately within individual national contexts, and knowledge of the various historiographical interpretations of the most relevant historical processes.
2. Content: questions will cover the topics covered in the course and developed in the volumes indicated in the bibliography.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

Assessment method: a final mark from 18 to 30/30.

Exam language

Italiano, Inglese, Francese

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