Mafia in Fiction & History

Catalog description

Through analysis of historical, anthropological, literary, political, and cinematic materials, this course investigates how Italian Organized Crime has been portrayed in Italian and American Films from the early 20th century to the present, in contrast to its historical and political reality. The glamorized representation of the Italian mafia in Hollywood has had a significant impact on how the American public views it. The fiction concerning the mafia, including stereotypes, myths, and legends, will be critically investigated through the analysis of historical texts, articles in scholarly journals in anthropology and political science, autobiography, poetry, photography, and some of the most significant American and Italian films and novels depicting mafia subculture.