2014 marks the centennial of World War I, the “War to end all wars.” In this course we will explore the cultural impact of WWI in Italy, by considering forms of artistic, cinematic, and literary production that both helped shape the national response to the war and emerged from the experience of the world conflict. We will consider the influence of avant-garde artistic movements, such as Futurism, on the supporters of interventionism, and study the ways in which the visual arts—for example the comic strips published in Il corriere dei piccoli for young audiences, postcards and propaganda posters—served political and military aims. We will read a selection of representative literary texts, including works by Marinetti, D’Annunzio, Lussu, Gadda, and Ungaretti. We will also examine cinematic representations of WWI both through film material contemporary to the war and later critical examinations of war history in feature films such as Rosi’s Uomini contro and Monicelli’s La Grande Guerra. Finally, we will work with digital archives and Van Pelt Library special collections to gain a sense of war-time material culture. Taught in English.