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MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY MEDITERRANEAN HISTORY Single discipline educational activity
Course Sheet Academic Year of enrolment:
Professor and Collaborators:
Hours of classroom activity:
Prerequisites:
Students should have a good basic knowledge of the most important events in modern and contemporary history.
Objectives
Contents One of the principle objectives of this Course is, an in-depth examination of the identity and structural characteristics of the geo-historical space of the modern and contemporary Mediterranean and its continuous evolution within the world-system.
Moreover, the Course aims at providing an outline of the historical periods of a multifaceted Mediterranean, the theater of violent clashes between remote antagonistic civilizations, but also a profitable crossroads of sea routes and commercial relations, where people over the centuries have become used to living in collectivity, to mingling with each other, and to the intermittent clashes between unity and diversity, between understanding and intolerance.
The second part of the Course will examine the pre-eminent historical and historiographical issues concerning the centuries-old political and institutional, social and economic affairs of the Kingdom of Naples, a state-entity strategically located in the western Mediterranean and characterized mainly by the dualism ‘monarchial sovereignty’ / ‘feudal power’, in the long term of its life, from the Normans to its absorption into the Italian nation in the second half of the 19thcentury.
In the third part of the Course the historiographical theme of ‘the vanquished’ in history will be developed. Specifically, four historical narratives which coincide with that of the Mediterranean in modern and contemporary times will be explored:
The Turkish-Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (28 May 1453), capital of the Byzantine Empire, expression of a great civilization, heir to that of Rome
Alexandria, Egypt, (July 1, 1798) through Napoleon the immortal principles of the French Revolution receive their first application beyond French borders.
Naples, ( September 9, 1943) In a September sunset the liberators of a defeated Italy land in front of the temples of Paestum.
Algiers (10 August 1956). A bomb explodes at midnight on the rue de Thèbes, in the Casbah. It is the beginning of a "battle" long repressed.
In addition to the study of the aforementioned topics, non-attending students, will be required to complete a study of the main political, economic and social dynamics of Molise in the modern age. This, "province" of the Kingdom of Naples is located in the heart of the western Mediterranean thus its importance in forming an overall knowledge of the subject under study.
Extended Syllabus The extended program of the course foresees the study of the following topics:
Part One
Economic, social, political and cultural relations between the countries that border on the western and eastern shores in the context of the centuries-long life of the Mediterranean;
The reconstruction of the long history of the Mediterranean geo-historic space, center of irradiation and the cradle of ancient cultures and religions, characterized by exchanges and mingling, meetings and clashes, starting from the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453);
The "triumph" of Christianity in the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), the western propaganda of Philip II. Imperial Spain and the Mediterranean;
Formation and evolution of the modern state in the western Mediterranean;
The apogee of the "sublime Porta" in the 16thcentury;
The political, economic and social organization of the Ottoman Turkish imperial system; the Timar; the sultan and the formation of the ruling class; relations with the subjugated populations;
The characters of Mediterranean feudalism;
The Mediterranean divided;
The Mediterranean in the 18thcentury;
Colonial expansion in the Mediterranean;
The Mediterranean and the long process of European decolonization;
The birth of Israel and the Palestinian question;
The Maghreb;
The "Arab Springs". The Muslim world and the clash of civilizations;
The perspectives of the Mediterranean.
Part Two
The Kingdom of Naples in the multi-secular development of the European Mediterranean:
the Norman heritage; the Angevins and the Aragonese; the historiographical construction of the conquest of Naples in the Spanish imperial system, the Austrian viceroyalty, the Bourbon kingdom, the revolution of 1799.the Napoleonic decade, the Two Sicilies and the end of the Kingdom.
Part Three
The Turkish-Ottoman conquest of Constantinople,28 May 1453, capital of the Byzantine Empire and expression of a great civilization, heir to the culture of Rome;
Alexandria, Egypt, 1 July 1798: Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition;
Naples, 9 September 1943: the landing of the allies on the beaches of Campania;
Algiers, 10 August 1956: the beginning of a "battle" long denied.
Additional studies to be carried out by non-attending students:
The Molise Contado in the modern Mediterranean. Evolution of environmental frameworks and land construction. Molisani cereals and Neapolitan demand. The conveyance of the of the sheepherding heritage. The long route of breeding in the middle-lower Adriatic. The Customs regime. The agricultural landscape in the eighteenth century reforms. The promotion of the rural bourgeoisie. Agricultural modernization: a vicious circle. The reflections of the reformers.
Recommended Bibliography Part one:
1) L. Mascilli Migliorini (diretta da), Storia del Mediterraneo moderno e contemporaneo (Napoli, Guida, 2009);
Part two:
2) A. Musi, “Il Regno di Napoli”, (Brescia, Morcelliana, 2017).
Part three:
3) L. Mascilli Migliorini, “Le verità dei vinti. Quattro storie mediterranee”, (Roma, Salerno editore, 2018).
Additional materials to be carried out by non-attending students:
- M. Trotta, "Nel Mezzogiorno moderno. Il Contado di Molise: politica, economia e società (secoli XVI-XVIII)" (Milano, Biblion, 2017).
Methods of Provision
Teaching Methods For this academic year, the Course is divided into 12 ECTS, equal to 72 hours of frontal activity carried out in the second semester and divided into 4 weekly lessons of 2/3/4 hours each in line with the academic calendar.
The lectures are connected to a strong interactive component between teacher and students.
The topics covered by the teaching program will be clarified in the exercises, also with the aid of relevant historiographic knowledge tools. (textual, visual, audio-visual, linguistic, etc.)
Seminars conducted by authoritative historians will also be organized, in which specific themes of the modern and contemporary Mediterranean history will be explored.
Evaluation methods Verification of learning:
The assessment of learning includes an oral exam to be given at the end of the Course. The exam will test students on the contents of the reference texts adopted for the Course, by the students who are attending as well as those not attending lessons.
It is aimed at ascertaining:
1. the level of knowledge acquired by the students;
2. the mastery, on their part, of the fundamental historical notions of the modern age and of the contemporary context;
3. the acquisition of the language specific to the sector and the degree of organization of the discursive system;
4. the ability to critically analyze the topics covered;
5. the quality and effectiveness of the exposure;
6. the level of specialized lexical skills;
7. the ability to maintain a balanced periodization, narration and historiographic interpretation;
8. the basic consistency between the description of the facts and their chronological-temporal correspondence.
Contacts/More Information Class attendance is not mandatory.
During the scheduled weekly office hours, students will have the opportunity to receive further explanations, both on merit and method, on the nature and the training objectives of the course.