Cambridge Companion To Modern Italian Culture, The

Description:
This collection of essays provides a comprehensive account of the culture of modern Italy. Contributions focus on a wide range of political, historical and cultural questions. The volume provides information and analysis on such topics as regionalism, the growth of a national language, social and political cultures, the role of intellectuals, the Church, the left, feminism, the separatist movements, organised crime, literature, art, design, fashion, the mass media, and music. While offering a thorough history of Italian cultural movements, political trends and literary texts over the last century and a half, the volume also examines the cultural and political situation in Italy today and suggests possible future directions in which the country might move. Each essay contains suggestions for further reading on the topics covered. The Cambridge Companion to Modern Italian Culture is an invaluable source of materials for courses on all aspects of modern Italy.

Review:
'... the twenty distinguished contributors to this book have done a splendid job in tackling a difficult and elusive phenomenon.' Modern Italy

Table of Contents:
Chronology of events; Introducing modern Italian culture Zygmunt G. Baranski; 1. The notion of Italy John Dickie; 2. Social and political cultures in Italy 1860 to the present day Anna Cento Bull; 3. Questions of language Brian Richardson; 4. Intellectuals, culture and power in modern Italy David Ward; 5. Catholicism Percy Allum; 6. Socialism, Communism and other 'isms' Robert S. Dombroski; 7. Other voices: contesting the status quo Sharon Wood and Joseph Farrell; 8. Narratives of self and society Gian-Paolo Biasin; 9. Searching for new languages: modern Italian poetry Shirley W. Vinall and Tom O'Neill; 10. Drama: realism, identity and reality on stage Anna Laura Lepschy; 11. Italian cinema Peter Bondanella; 12. Art in modern Italy: from the Macchiaioli to the Transvanguardia Eugenia Paulicelli; 13. A modern identity for a new nation: design in Italy after 1860 Penny Sparke: Fashion: narration and nation Eugenia Paulicelli; 14. The media Christopher Wagstaff; 15. Since Verdi: Italian music 1860-1995 John C. G. Waterhouse; 16. Folk music and popular song from the nineteenth century to the 1990s Alessandro Carrera; Epilogue: Italian culture or multiculture in the new millennium Rebecca West; Index.