Cultural overview of Italian language area 3300-RWOJ-MSF-1-ZIP

The course is dedicated to selected topics related to the culture and society of contemporary Italy. The course primarily discusses selected aspects of the Italian-speaking world, including the cultural and dialectal diversity of Italian regions, the historical and cultural conditioning of Italian national identity, and the relations between the south and the north of the country. Subsequent sessions explore the following themes related to Italian reality and culture.
- social, political, and moral transformations in Italy from the second half of the 20th century to the present day;
- industrial development in post-war Italy, the economic boom, consumerism, and the affluent society;
- Italian society in the 20th and 21st centuries in the works of selected Italian writers, intellectuals, and filmmakers (including P.P. Pasolini, U. Eco, E. Ferrante, A. Rohrwacher);
- the reality of contemporary Italy: city and province, north and south, national community and local patriotism, modernity and tradition;
- Italy's literary and artistic tradition and Italian identity;
- Italian popular culture, including television, radio, popular music, the press, and comics;
- relations between popular culture and high culture;
- the significant role played by mass media, especially television, in strengthening Italian national and linguistic identity in the second half of the 20th century;
- Italian national and regional stereotypes in the media and in everyday life; dialects and italiano regionale;
- challenges posed by a multiethnic society in 21st-century Italy; the migration of Italians to other countries;
- problems in contemporary Italy: women's rights and femicide, workers' rights and labour market problems, touristification, natural disasters;
- the Italian language outside Italy: Switzerland, San Marino, and beyond.