Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War - Softcover

Forgacs, David A.; Gundle, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253219485 ISBN 13: 9780253219480

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2008

Synopsis

The 1930s to the 1950s in Italy witnessed large increases in film-going, radio-listening, and the sale of music and weekly magazines. The industries that made and sold commercial, cultural products were transformed by the new technologies of reproduction and new approaches to marketing and distribution.

Yet historians tend to place the "real" genesis of mass culture in the 1960s, or to generalize about the harnessing of mass culture to the Fascist political project, without considering what kind of mass culture existed at the time and whether this harnessing was successful. This book draws on extensive new evidence, including oral histories and archival material, to explore possible continuities between the uses of mass culture before and after World War II.

About this title

Review:

Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War examines what its authors describe as ‘a relatively early’ but nonetheless ‘decisive’ phase in the evolution of modern mass culture and cultural consumption in Italy. . . Of course, consumer culture eventually ploughed its way past Christian Democracy – and Communism – as it had Fascism. As Forgacs and Gundle's worthy and provocative work attests, the ultimate winners in this battle were the philistines. 17.3 2012 Source: Modern Italy

Mass Culture and Italian Society is a very well-researched work ... It provides a masterly presentation and discussion ... which will be of great interest to scholars and postgraduate students of Italian cultural and social studies, and to those working on Italian history and politics of the twentieth century.Volume 14 Issue 7 2009 Source: European Legacy

[T]his volume on Italian mass culture, based on a vast oral history project comprising almost 120 oral testimonies, is an extremely precious contribution to the subject, one which future research will not be able to ignore. Source: European History Quarterly

Review:

A well-researched and well-written co-authored book which will be of maximum interest to scholars of Italian history, society, and culture alike. Author: Jacqueline Reich Source: SUNY Stony Brook

About this edition

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0253219485
• ISBN 13: 9780253219480
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 376