Did you know that the far-right movement QAnon may have been inspired by an Italian novel of 1999? Since the 1960s, Italy's geo-political specificity made it a most vital cradle of conspiracy theories, contemporary legends, and more or less fake news, which were later disseminated on a global scale. From the UFO craze of the 1950s through the political violence of the 1970s, the 'urban legends' of contemporary, multicultural Italy, or the response of 'Italian Theory' to the Covid-19 pandemic, this module will offer a fascinating journey into the 'glocal' intersections between Italian culture and the contemporary world.

Through the analysis of novels, films, essays, songs, oral sources, and newspaper articles (all available in English translation), lectures will lead you through the history of Italy's 'divided memory' in the 20th and 21st centuries, from the legends of WWII and the memory of Fascism through the terrorist attacks of the 1960s and 1970s, the emergence of controiformazione (alternative information) and conspiracy theories in the 1970s and 1980s, the diffusion of urban legends across the 1990s, and the debate on post-truth of the 2000s, enabling you to discover the many powers of storytelling.

At the same time, you will discover that folklore is not something that pertains uniquely to isolated and remote rural communities, but is literally everywhere - including the Warwick Campus. IT339 students have already done much in digging into campus folklore, but there's still much to do: read what they uncovered hereLink opens in a new window!

This module will be open to all students across the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, including those who are not taking Italian language.