AESTHETICS
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- MICAELA LATINI
- Credits
- 12
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- M-FIL/04
Training objectives
- a) Knowledge of the matter:
- to acquire the essential conceptual tools in order to deal with the topics "image" and "society of images" in a critical and independent way.
general knowledge of the history of the discipline;
- to explore some issues related to the aesthetics and the contemporary debate;
- to acquire a solid cultural background;
- to develop a useful method to approach philosophical texts.
b) Application Capacity
- to develop skills to manage the topics and the argumentation of the discipline;
- to develop accuracy and precision in philosophical language;
- to develop skills of analysis and interpretation of philosophical texts;
- to develop the ability to distinguish the contexts and the various points of view in a text or a philosophical issue;
- to develop logical skills of analysis and solution of theoretical problems and apply them to practice;
c) Soft skills
- to develop analytical skills of exposure;
- to develop a personal and critical point of view on issues of history and theory of the discipline;
- to develop ability to use philosophical knowledge to review and assess problems related to the contemporary world;
- to develop ability to draft texts and reports on relevant topics Prerequisites
- Basic knowledges of the history of philosophy may favor the approach to the discipline, although they are not compulsory or mandatory. Moreover, skills and competences of intermediate level of logical-theoretical and linguistic-expressive type are required.
Course programme
- TITLE OF THE TITLE OF THE COURSE:
"STUMBLING IMAGES. PHILOSOPHICAL PATHS AMONG THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SHOAH".
CONTENTS: Confronting the images of the Shoah means questioning certain central and recurring motifs of philosophical reflection, such as the questions of the representability/irrepresentability of Evil, the potential of the gaze, the limits of memory, the lawfulness of form, and the survival of testimony. It is precisely this last theme that allows us to reread the event of the Shoah by tying the ethical point of view with the aesthetic one. The ambivalence that profoundly marks the aestheticological questioning of the second half of the 20th century is the necessity and impossibility of witnessing and representing the tragedy of the Shoah in all its dimension.
Starting from this assumption and Adorno's considerations in this regard, the course proposes an itinerary that begins with a comparison with a classic such as Jean Améry's Intellectual at Auschwitz, which testifies in his text to the failure of culture (also aestheticology) in the face of the Evil of the Nazi extermination camps. Images of the spirit shatter under the blows of corporal torture.
The confrontation with Améry is followed by that with another classic bearer of images: Günther Anders' Descent into Hades, which retraces the stages of the places of horror, presenting the reader with an atlas of the Shoah. The question of the necessity/impossibility of representing the horror of Nazism finds significant exposure in Anders' reflections, and this precisely through images, images "in spite of everything", to use the title of Didi-Huberman's famous study.
Lastly, Artuto Mazzarella's recent volume entitled La Shoah oggi (The Shoah Today) will offer an overview of the most recent studies related to the 'conflict of images', that is, the connection between images and extreme evil. Didactic methods
- According to the indications of the University, the lessons will be held in presence (with a real time streaming via classroom for the whole course).
https://meet.google.com/wmt-fxar-esy Learning assessment procedures
- Test (in presence)
The test consists of some questions related to the contents of the books in the syllabus. Both knowledge of the author, the work's salient theoretical motifs and the framework in which it fits, and the ability to connect authors and themes addressed in the course syllabus will be analyzed. Reference texts
- G. Anders, Discesa all’Ade. Auschwitz e Breslavia, Bollati Borighieri, Torino 2008 OR Id., Dopo "Holocaust", Bollati-Boringhieri, Torino 2009
J. Améry, Intellettuale ad Auschwitz, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2011
A. Mazzarella, La Shoah oggi. Nel conflitto delle immagini, Bompiani, Firenze-Milano 2022
SUGGESTED READING:
Especially for non-attending students is recommended to use a handbook or dictionary of philosophy, with reference to the main authors and topics of the course.
M. Latini, S. E. Storace (a cura di), Auschwitz dopo Auschwitz, Meltemi, Milano 2017
