Visual Culture
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course aims at introducing the elements of cultural studies to show their crucial role in the development of film studies since the 1970s. Focusing on the English-speaking, French and Italian literature (also with relation to other schools and theories), in the first part the main theoretical, methodological and ideological aspects of cultural studies will be addressed from a historical perspective, as well as their main topics, such as the revaluation of popular cinema, the issues of film reception and the relationship between cinema and identities (of gender, sex and post colonial ethnicity).
The second and third parts will focus on a particular subject chosen as a case study.
The second and third parts will focus on a particular subject chosen as a case study.
Expected learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will have acquired a up-to-date awareness of cultural studies development and main issues involving cinema, and would be able to apply the cultural studies methodology to film history reckoning with the cultural contexts.
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 introduces visual culture, focusing on the discipline's history, methodologies, and areas of study. The second part analyses the cultural impact of the Italian peplum film genre from the early 20th century to the 1960s, paying particular attention to the depiction of the male body and how it was received in different cultural contexts.
Prerequisites for admission
Knowledge of contemporary history.
Basic knowledge of the history of cinema.
Basic knowledge of the history of cinema.
Teaching methods
The topics of the course will be addressed making the use of slides and audio-video materials analyzed during the lessons. Students who do not attend the lessons must refer to the program for non-attending students.
Teaching Resources
1) W.J.T. Mitchell, Pictorial Turn. Saggi di cultura visuale, Cortina, 2017.
2) Francesco Di Chiara, Peplum. Il cinema italiano alle prese col mondo antico, CSC-Donzelli, 2016.
3) Mauro Giori, Un popolo di spettatori. L'estrema destra e il cinema in Italia (1945-1983), Le Monnier, 2026 (introduzione e capp. 8-10). The book is scheduled for release in April: in case of delays, students who intend to take the exam in May can replace it with Mauro Giori, Forzuti, fusti, maggiorati: la destra, il peplum e una certa idea di maschilità, in G. Albert et. al. (eds), Ciao Maschio. Politiche di rappresentazione del corpo maschile nel Novecento, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2019, e Mauro Giori, Vecchi fusti e nuovi fusti: appunti su maschilità, cinema e destra radicale del dopoguerra, in A.B. Saponari, F. Zecca (eds), Oltre l'inetto? Rappresentazioni plurali della mascolinità nel cinema italiano, Meltemi, 2021.
Optional readings:
· Andrea Pinotti, Antonio Somaini, Cultura visuale. Immagini, sguardi, media, Torino, Einaudi, 2016;
· Michele Cometa, Cultura visuale, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2020;
· David Freedberg, The Power of Images; University of Chicago Press, 1989 (trad. it.: Il potere delle immagini: il mondo delle figure: reazioni e emozioni del pubblico Einaudi, 2009);
· Stella Dagna, Maciste alpino (1916). Sull'ottimismo di guerra, Utet, 2024
· Richard Dyer, White, Routledge, 1997 (or any other edition)
· Richard Rushing, Descended from Hercules: Biopolitics and the Muscled Male Body on Screen, Indiana University Press, 2016
Program for non attending students:
· A text chosen from those in the list of optional readings.
2) Francesco Di Chiara, Peplum. Il cinema italiano alle prese col mondo antico, CSC-Donzelli, 2016.
3) Mauro Giori, Un popolo di spettatori. L'estrema destra e il cinema in Italia (1945-1983), Le Monnier, 2026 (introduzione e capp. 8-10). The book is scheduled for release in April: in case of delays, students who intend to take the exam in May can replace it with Mauro Giori, Forzuti, fusti, maggiorati: la destra, il peplum e una certa idea di maschilità, in G. Albert et. al. (eds), Ciao Maschio. Politiche di rappresentazione del corpo maschile nel Novecento, Rosenberg & Sellier, 2019, e Mauro Giori, Vecchi fusti e nuovi fusti: appunti su maschilità, cinema e destra radicale del dopoguerra, in A.B. Saponari, F. Zecca (eds), Oltre l'inetto? Rappresentazioni plurali della mascolinità nel cinema italiano, Meltemi, 2021.
Optional readings:
· Andrea Pinotti, Antonio Somaini, Cultura visuale. Immagini, sguardi, media, Torino, Einaudi, 2016;
· Michele Cometa, Cultura visuale, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2020;
· David Freedberg, The Power of Images; University of Chicago Press, 1989 (trad. it.: Il potere delle immagini: il mondo delle figure: reazioni e emozioni del pubblico Einaudi, 2009);
· Stella Dagna, Maciste alpino (1916). Sull'ottimismo di guerra, Utet, 2024
· Richard Dyer, White, Routledge, 1997 (or any other edition)
· Richard Rushing, Descended from Hercules: Biopolitics and the Muscled Male Body on Screen, Indiana University Press, 2016
Program for non attending students:
· A text chosen from those in the list of optional readings.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of an oral interview on the topics of the program and, for attending students, also on those addressed during the lessons in the classroom. The exam intends to verify in particular the critical and logical-argumentative abilities of the student.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher.
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the teacher in a timely manner.
The examination procedures for students with disabilities and / or with DSA must be agreed with the teacher.
International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to contact the teacher in a timely manner.
L-ART/06 - CINEMA, PHOTOGRAPHY AND TELEVISION - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professors:
Di Chiara Francesco, Giori Mauro
Professor(s)
Reception:
Monday 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It is advisable to arrange an appointment with the teacher in advance via email
In the professor's office on the second floor of the Via Noto, 6 building