Studying at York
Made in Italy - HOA00065I
- Department: History of Art
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
- See module specification for other years: 2023-24
Module summary
Examining a diverse body of works alongside key exhibitions and art critical writings, this module aims to give a broad grounding in the developments of art and design in Italy throughout the twentieth century.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
We will consider a range of artistic practices from Futurism to Radical Architecture, Italian New Wave Cinema to Arte Povera and examine these through a number of key issues (including the Italian avant-garde’s relationship to traditional accounts of modernist aesthetics and progressivist politics; questions of the individual versus collective forms of making art and consumer culture).
Through an examination of the key theoretical debates that have shaped artistic and design cultures in Italy throughout the twentieth century, we will explore the legacy of the Italian artistic practice and its broader place within an international context and histories of modern and contemporary art.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should have acquired:
- An understanding of the key historical debates and critical interpretations specific to the period under examination.
- An awareness of the major questions that are raised by the art works produced in Italy throughout the twentieth century.
- A broad knowledge of the social context in which the works studied were produced.
- The skill to write clearly and concisely about complex ideas.
- The skill to articulate their own position on the topics we have discussed in the seminar and locate those opinions within the critical literature that we have read in class.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.
The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.
Indicative reading
- Robert Lumley, States of emergency: Cultures of Revolt in Italy from 1968 to 1978, (London: Verso, 1990).
- Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics 1943–88 (London: Penguin, 1990).
- Johann Lamoureux, ‘Avant-Garde: A Historiography of a critical Concept’, Amelia Jones, A Companion to Contemporary Art Since 1945, (Malden, Mass.; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2013), pp.191–211.
- Ben Highmore, ‘Awkward moments: Avant-Gardism and the Dialectics of Everyday life,’ in European avant-garde: new perspectives, ed. Dietrich Scheunemann, critical studies 15 (Amsterdam; Atlanta, GA: Rodopi, 2000), pp.245–264.
- Luca Somigli, Legitimizing the Artist: Manifesto Writing and European Modernism 1885–1915 (Toronto; Buffalo; London: University of Toronto Press: 2003).
- Lawrence Rainey et.al Futurism: An Anthology (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2009).
- Hal Foster ‘Prosthetic Gods’ Modernism/Modernity 4, no 2 (April 1997) pp.5–38.
- Anthony White, Between Utopia & Kitsch (Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT Press c2011).
- Special Issue on Postwar Italian art October, v.124, Spring 2008, pp.169–189.
- Briony Fer, The Infinite Line (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2004), chap.2.