Mass culture and Italian society from Fascism to the Cold War [electronic resource

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. From The 1930s To The 50s In Italy Commercial Cultural Products Were Transformed By New Reproductive Technologies And Ways Of Marketing And Distribution, And The Appetite For Radio, Films, Music And Magazines Boomed. This Book Uses New Evidence To Explore Possible Continuities Between The Uses Of Mass Culture Before And After World War Ii. Culture, Place, And Nation -- Cultural Consumption And Everyday Life -- Patterns Of Consumption -- Practices Of The Self : Intimacy, Sexuality, Sport, Fashion -- Cultural Industries And Markets -- Publishing : Books, Magazines, And Comics -- Film Production -- The Film Market : Distribution, Exhibition, And Stars -- Radio And Recorded Music -- Politics And Mass Culture -- State Intervention In Cultural Acitivity -- Civil Society And Organized Leisure -- Appendix 1 : The Oral History Project / By Marcella Filippa. David Forgacs And Stephen Gundle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [331]-344) And Index. 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. Yes, 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