Visual Culture
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce the main methodologies of visual culture: the discipline will be defined and its history will be traced. In the second part, a thematic study will be developed. The course is fully consistent with the objectives of the Course of Studies, which aims to ensure the acquisition of solid knowledge in the fields of multimedia communication by anchoring them to a strengthening of the humanistic training of students.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will have to have an adequate measure of Knowledge and Skills.
Knowledge: Acquire the technical-sector lexicon of the discipline; approach the most important problems discussed by historiography regarding the in-depth phenomenon in the second part.
Skills: To be able to approach visual culture with a critical attitude; to know how to interrogate and contextualize the materials of the visual culture investigated, through theoretical tools and in-depth historical investigations.
Knowledge: Acquire the technical-sector lexicon of the discipline; approach the most important problems discussed by historiography regarding the in-depth phenomenon in the second part.
Skills: To be able to approach visual culture with a critical attitude; to know how to interrogate and contextualize the materials of the visual culture investigated, through theoretical tools and in-depth historical investigations.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The first part of the course is an introduction to visual culture, focusing on the genealogy of the discipline, its methodologies and objects of study. The second part includes an analysis of the processes of sexualisation at work in the promotional strategies of post-war Italian cinema and their impact on national culture.
Prerequisites for admission
Knowledge of contemporary history
Basic knowledge of film history
Basic knowledge of film history
Teaching methods
Course topics will be covered using slides and audio-visual materials to be read and analysed during the lectures. Non-attending students will be required to study the additional texts listed in the bibliography.
Teaching Resources
Mandatory Texts:
1) W.J.T. Mitchell, Pictorial Turn. Saggi di cultura visuale, Raffaello Cortina, 2017.
2) Francesco Di Chiara, Sessualità e marketing cinematografico italiano. Industria, culture visuali, spazio urbano (1948-1978), Rubbettino, 2021.
Additional Texts for Non-attending Students:
· Carlotta Sorba, Federico Mazzini, La svolta culturale. Come è cambiata la pratica storiografica, Laterza 2021
Optional Readings:
· Andrea Pinotti, Antonio Somaini, Cultura visuale. Immagini, sguardi, media, Torino, Einaudi, 2016;
· Andrea Pinotti, Antonio Somaini (a cura di), Teorie dell'immagine. Il dibattito contemporaneo Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2009;
· David Freedberg, Iconoclasm, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2021;
· Tomaso Subini, La via italiana alla pornografia. Cattolicesimo, sessualità e cinema (1948-1986), Le Monnier 2021;
· Michele Cometa, Cultura visuale, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2020;
· Angelo Pietro Desole, L'immagine oscena. Giurisprudenza della fotografia erotica nell'Italia del dopoguerra, Bologna, Quinlan, 2020;
· Ortoleva, Peppino, Il secolo dei media: stili, dinamiche, paradossi, Milano, Il saggiatore, 2022;
· Kalms, Nicole, Hypersexual City. The Provocation of Soft-Core Urbanism, Routledge, 2018.
1) W.J.T. Mitchell, Pictorial Turn. Saggi di cultura visuale, Raffaello Cortina, 2017.
2) Francesco Di Chiara, Sessualità e marketing cinematografico italiano. Industria, culture visuali, spazio urbano (1948-1978), Rubbettino, 2021.
Additional Texts for Non-attending Students:
· Carlotta Sorba, Federico Mazzini, La svolta culturale. Come è cambiata la pratica storiografica, Laterza 2021
Optional Readings:
· Andrea Pinotti, Antonio Somaini, Cultura visuale. Immagini, sguardi, media, Torino, Einaudi, 2016;
· Andrea Pinotti, Antonio Somaini (a cura di), Teorie dell'immagine. Il dibattito contemporaneo Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2009;
· David Freedberg, Iconoclasm, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2021;
· Tomaso Subini, La via italiana alla pornografia. Cattolicesimo, sessualità e cinema (1948-1986), Le Monnier 2021;
· Michele Cometa, Cultura visuale, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2020;
· Angelo Pietro Desole, L'immagine oscena. Giurisprudenza della fotografia erotica nell'Italia del dopoguerra, Bologna, Quinlan, 2020;
· Ortoleva, Peppino, Il secolo dei media: stili, dinamiche, paradossi, Milano, Il saggiatore, 2022;
· Kalms, Nicole, Hypersexual City. The Provocation of Soft-Core Urbanism, Routledge, 2018.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of an oral interview on the topics in the syllabus and, for attending students, also on those covered in class. The exam aims in particular to test the critical and logical-argumentative skills of the student.
Unita' didattica A
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
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