235: Seminar in 20th-Century Literature and Culture: Theorizing (Italian) Fascism

Tu 2-5 | 6331 Dwinelle | Instructor: Mia Fuller

Units: 2/4

Conducted in English

May be taken for 2 or 4 units

 

What was fascism: a revolution? A cult? A philosophy? A style? A war machine? This seminar will explore the scholarship explaining what made fascism tick, on levels philosophical, rhetorical, theoretical, and so on. We will start from a basically historical question: what were the necessary and sufficient conditions for the emergence and consolidation of the world’s first fascist movement and government? Beyond that, we will follow the various strands of interpretation operative under the regime, and in current analyses. Topics will include fascism and war; colonialism; ‘everyday’ violence; racialization; eschatological thought; political religion; Gramsci; palingenesis; the cult of the duce; and modernity. Readings will vary widely, including works by Emilio Gentile, Walter L. Adamson, R.J.B. Bosworth, Christopher Duggan, Barbara Spackman, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, David Roberts, and Charles Burdett (in no particular order). Every effort will be made to provide English-language versions or equivalents of Italian texts for non-Italian readers.

 

Course Requirements: each student will be responsible for at least one seminar presentation. Students taking the course for 4 units will write a 20-30 page double-spaced paper.

 

Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor.