Italian 326 - A Nation At War

(Taught in Italian) During unification, Italy was devastated by war. As soon as the peninsula was unified, colonial occupations dominated the political and intellectual arenas. World War I followed, leaving a wounded nation that, under vestiges of the Fascist regime, entered World War II. This interdisciplinary course addresses issues of war in 20th century Italy from historical, literary, musical, and visual perspectives. We discuss works by Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Annie Vivanti, and Renata Viganò and the director Mario Monicelli, with attention to military and propaganda posters and military music. Readings range from literary theory and trauma studies to history.

Prereq: Italian 209 or permission of instructor