Monuments in the Service of the Idea of Nation
People
Course director
Description
The course deals with the origin, vocabulary and appropriations of the phenomenon of the national monument. What is a monument? What form and meaning does it acquire over time? Particular attention will be paid to the role of architecture viewed in an interdisciplinary perspective together with the arts and literature. Starting from these questions, the lectures will also explore the premises and reasons for the vandalism suffered, down to the present day, by monuments perceived as symbols of an established power or nation. The course will therefore take into account topics connected with the history of culture, politics and society. Divided into lectures and seminars for discussion with the students, the course will analyse examples of the most famous monuments from the Napoleonic era until the present day, and will cover an extensive geographical area, from Europe in the context of the construction of the nation states to overseas territories.
Objectives
To offer an overview and the keys to understanding the artistic and ideological language of the complex phenomenon of national monument based on architectural, historical-artistic, cultural and political studies. Lessons will be held in Italian, but students will be able to use teaching materials in English.
Teaching mode
In presence
Learning methods
70% Lecture
30% Seminars
Examination information
Paper
Bibliography
- Gamboni, Dario. The Destruction of Art: Iconoclasm and Vandalism Since the French Revolution. Yale University Press, 1997.
- Hobsbawm, Eric. Nations and nationalism since 1780: programme, myth, reality. Cambridge University Press, 1992. (Hobsbawm, Eric. Nazioni e nazionalismi dal 1780: programma, mito, realtà. Torino: Einaudi, 2002.)
- Le Goff, Jacques. "Documento/Monumento" Enciclopedia Einaudi, Torino: Einaudi, vol. V, 1978: 38-43.
- Riegl, Alois. Il culto moderno dei monumenti: il suo carattere e i suoi inizi. Milano: Abscondita, 2011. (Edizione originale: Riegl, Alois. Der moderne Denkmalkultus: sein Wesen und seine Entstehung. Wien; Leipzig: W. Braumüller, 1903.)
Education
- Master in Storia e teoria dell’arte e dell’architettura (120 ECTS), Lecture ex cathedra, Elective course, Elective, 1st year (3.0 ECTS)
- Master in Storia e teoria dell’arte e dell’architettura (120 ECTS), Lecture ex cathedra, Elective course, Elective, 2nd year (3.0 ECTS)
- Master of Science in Architecture, Lecture ex cathedra, Elective, 1st year
- Master of Science in Architecture, Lecture ex cathedra, Elective, 2nd year
