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PL31061: Identity and culture in postcolonial Italy

[Page last updated: 02 August 2022]

Academic Year: 2022/23
Owning Department/School: Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies
Credits: 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 120
Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Period:
Semester 2
Assessment Summary: CW33ES67
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Assessment detail for this unit will be available shortly.
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites: Before taking this module you must ( take PL11018 AND take PL21024 ) OR ( take PL10954 AND take PL20959 )
Visiting students taking this unit must have a good knowledge of Italian culture and history.
Students taking this unit must be fluent in Italian
Learning Outcomes: Students who complete the Unit should be able to demonstrate:
* In-depth knowledge and critical understanding of Italy's postcolonial trajectories;
* In-depth knowledge and critical understanding of key trends and debates around Italian postcolonial literature;
* Ability to evaluate the challenges that cultural hybridity poses to homogeneous notions of Italianness through the critical analysis of Italian postcolonial literary texts
* Ability to evaluate the relationship between the legacy of colonialism and Italy's governance of migration through the analysis of literary and cinematic narratives of migration.

Aims:
* The course will further the knowledge of Italian colonialism and its legacy in the present days as developed in Year 1 and Year 2;
* It will provide students with an insight into academic debates around Italy's postcolonial condition;
* It will enable student to approach Italian postcolonial literary texts and to understand how these illuminate identity, race and citizenship issues in contemporary society;
* It will enable students to critically assess the impact of migration on Italian culture and society by focusing on literary and cinematic narratives of the migration experience.

Skills: Students will:
* Develop critical analysis and conceptual thinking skills;
* Acquire the ability to formulate independent judgement and reasoned argument;
* Improve precision in the use of written and spoken language;
* Acquire the ability to analyse texts in the target language;
* Develop further effective communication skills in the target language;
* Develop further their non-quantitative research skills.

Content: Topics will include:
* Paradigms of postcoloniality in Italy;
* Italian colonialism and collective memory;
* Debates on Italian postcolonial literature and analysis of four postcolonial literary texts;
* Citizenship and identity in postcolonial Italy;
* Race, racism and anti-racist activism in Black Italy;
* Narratives of migration in the Mediterranean.

Programme availability:

PL31061 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies
  • UHPL-AYB16 : BA(Hons) Italian ab initio and Politics with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB08 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (French and ab initio Italian) with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB06 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (German and ab initio Italian) with Year Abroad (Year 4)
  • UHPL-AYB20 : BA(Hons) Modern Languages and European Studies (Spanish and ab initio Italian) with Year Abroad (Year 4)

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2022/23 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2023/24 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2022/23.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.