HISTORY OF MODERN SOCIETIES

Myth, Religion, social norms: from Homer to Britney Spears

The course is located in the second year of the "political-international" curriculum of the CdS LCSL and intends to provide a further step of critical study in historical and historical-cultural subjects for the students of the course, asking as a premise the passing of an exam of History of Europe (1st year exam)

Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course the student will have to demonstrate:
a) to be able to articulate a coherent historical picture of the events and debates that cover the period from the advent of the modern age to the Enlightenment cultural revolution, the turning point in the birth of the contemporary world;
b) ability to recognize the different types of historiographical research in relation to the different historical and artistic sources examined, therefore
c) to be able to adequately comment on the complex of historical sources (visual and written) analyzed in class,
d) to show a conscious use of the historiographical categories used during the lessons;
e) the ability to autonomously initiate insights and reflections on specific cases related to the topic of the course.

To attend the course, students must have already taken a first year history exam (History of Europe). The course is structured around the learning needs of students of the "political-international" curriculum, but deals with issues and topics that may be of particular interest to students of the "literary-cultural" curriculum with a purely historical and historical-cultural methodological approach; the course can therefore be attended as a free choice exam by all students enrolled in the CdS LCSL.

Myth, Religion, and Social Norm: From Homer to Britney Spears

The teaching aims to outline a cultural history journey from Late Antiquity to the decline of the ancien régime, identifying the Enlightenment ("the century that developed most of the ideas we live by" [Francastel]) as the moment of the foundation of modern sensibility, both in the public spheres of society and politics and in the global perception of human nature, understood as both a political creature and an individual holder of inalienable rights.

To this end, the course will analyze the relationship between the arts and politics, from Homeric poetry to today's popular music, focusing on the different forms of representation of humanity’s mission between the age of "confessionalization" and the age of rights. It will utilize the main media of the historical periods under study: literature, theater, music, and visual arts.

The transformations of myths, symbols, and themes related to social duties and imperatives, politics, and religious beliefs will serve to outline some of the key moments in European cultural history as it transitioned toward our modernity.

The exam will be prepared on the following texts:

a) the notes from the lessons and the texts commented on in class;
b) some readings that will be indicated at the beginning of the course:

1. TOCCHINI, G., Ancora sull’Ariosto e l’Alberti: il naufragio di Ruggiero, in «SI», X (1998), pp. 5-34
2. KRISTELLER, P. O., Il moderno sistema delle arti, in Id., Il pensiero e le arti nel Rinascimento (trad. it.), Roma, 2012, pp. 179-244
3. DEL BRAVO, C., Sul significato della luce nel Caravaggio e in Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in «AeH», 4, 7 (1983), pp. 69-77
4. DEL BRAVO, C., Quadri a lume di notte: Georges de La Tour e Sant'Agostino, in «A&H», 6, 11 (1982), pp. 9-22
5. TOCCHINI, G., La versione del re: Versailles 1683. Politica, allegoria e smentita ufficiale, in Theater Spaces for Music in 18th Century Europe, Wien, 2020, pp. 505-544
6. PICARD, R., Racine courtisan (1692-1699). Le témoignage de Bonrepaus, in «RHLF», 67 (1967) pp. 726-747
7. ROCHE, D., La comptabilité des arts, in «RdA», 73 (1986), pp. 5-8
8. DOODY, M. A., Stuber, S., «Clarissa» Censored, in «MLS », 18, 1 (1988), pp. 74-88
9. JOHNSON, J. H., Musical Experience and the Formation of a French Musical Public, in «JMH », 64, 2 (1992), pp. 191-226
10. TOCCHINI, G., Pensare prima di scrivere. La battaglia critica sul Fils naturel di Diderot e la questione della «sentence», in «ACF», 49 (2015), pp. 11-41
11. JAFFE, K. S., The Concept of Genius: Its Changing in Eighteenth-Century Aesthetics, in «JHI », 41, 4 (1980), pp. 579-99 [21]
12. DARNTON, R., The High Enlightenment and the Low-Life of Literature in Pre-Revolutionary France, in «P&P », 51 (1971), pp. 81-115
13. WEBER, W., Mentalité, tradition et origines du canon musical en France et en Angleterre au XVIIIe siècle, in «AESC», 44, 4 (1989), pp. 849-873
14. WEBER, W., Did People Listen in 18th Century?, in «EM», 25, 4 (1997), pp. 678-91
15. TOCCHINI, G., Introduzione e cap. 14: Un epilogo e un paio di considerazioni, in Id., Arte e politica nella cultura dei Lumi. Diderot, Rousseau e la critica dell’antico regime artistico, Roma, 2016, pp. 9-16 e 313-373
16. DENBY, D., Introduzione e cap. 1, Three Sentimental Writer, in Sentimenal Narrative en Social Order in France 1760-1820, Cambridge, 1993, pp. 1-70
17. DENBY, D., Introduzione e cap. 2, Towards a Model of the Sentimental Text, e 3, Social Hierarchy in Sentimental Text, in Sentimenal Narrative en Social Order, cit., pp. 71-138
18. TOCCHINI, G., Introduzione e cap. 5: Epilogo, chiusa e una proposta per l’Accordée de village, in Id., Su Greuze e Rousseau. Politica delle élite, romanzo e committenza d’arte nella tarda età dei Lumi, Pisa, Edizioni, 2016, pp. 9-15 e 119-163
19. DECULTOT, E., Aesthetik/Esthétique: étapes d'une naturalisation (1750-1840), in «RMM », 2 (2002), pp. 157-78
20. WOODMANSEE, M., The Genius and the Copyright: Economic and Legal Condition of the Emergence of the "Author", in «ECS», 17, 4 (1984), pp. 425-48 [24]

students who cannot be present at the lessons will have to agree directly with the teacher and at the office an ad hoc reading program

During the oral exam, the student will have to demonstrate:
a) to be able to articulate a coherent historical-social picture of the works, events and debates that are at the origin of the birth and development of the sensitivity of the moderns in the relative artistic-literary canon, from late antiquity to the age of the Revolutions;
b) ability to recognize the different types of historiographical research in relation to the different historical, artistic, musical and literary sources examined, therefore
c) to be able to adequately comment on the complex of historical sources (visual, audio and written) analyzed in class,
d) to show a conscious use of the historiographical categories used during the lessons;
e) the ability to autonomously initiate insights and reflections on specific cases related to the topic of the course.

oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

18-21 = Poor preparation and presentation skills, just barely sufficient
22-25 = Fair preparation; presentation skills lacking, but above passable
26 = Fair preparation; good presentation skills
27-28 = Good preparation; good or very good presentation skills
29 = Excellent preparation; good or very good presentation skills
30 = Outstanding preparation and depth of knowledge; excellent presentation skills
30L = Excellent preparation; excellent or outstanding presentation skills

15 frontal academic lessons, with the aid of iconography and music; source commentary

NB: Attending students will be required to print and bring to class a paper version of the texts that will be read during the lessons, which can be downloaded in pdf from the Moodle section on this page.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development