January 8. Introduction to the course
January 13. Before Cinema
Readings
- John Dickie, “The Genesis of the Mafia 1860–1876,” from Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, pp. 35-68.
- Giovanni Verga, “Rustic Chivalry.” Available here.
January 15. Before Cinema
Readings
- John Dickie, “The Mafia Enters the Italian System 1876–1890,” from Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, pp. 69-87.
Movie
- Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part 3 (1990). Available here.
January 20. Martin Luther King Holiday. No Class.
January 22. The Mafioso and the Anglo-Saxon: Early Cinema in the US
Readings
- John Dickie, “The Mafia Establishes Itself in America 1900–1941,” from Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, pp. 161-190.
Movie
- Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part 2 (1974). Available here.
January 27. The Mafioso and the Anglo-Saxon: Early Cinema in the US
Film Shorts
- Wallace McCutcheon, Black Hand: The Story of a Recent Occurrence in the Italian Quarters of New York (1906). Available here.
- Sidney Olcott, Poor Little Peppina (1916). Available here.
Readings
- Madison Grant, “Introduction to the Fourth Revised Edition” (pp. xxvii-xxxiii) and “Race and Language” (pp. 69-75) from The Passing of the Great Race: Or, The Racial Basis of European History (1916). Available here.
- “Introductory” (pp. 1-12); “Italian” (pp. 81-85); “Sicilian” (pp-127-128), from Report of the Immigration Commission: Dictionary of Races of Peoples (1911). Available here.
January 29. Can the Mafioso Speak? Classic Hollywood
Movie
- William A. Wellman, The Public Enemy (1931). Available here.
Readings
- Maurice, Alice. “‘Cinema at Its Source’: Synchronizing Race and Sound in the Early Talkies.” Camera obscura (2002). Available here.
February 3. Can the Mafioso Speak? Classic Hollywood
Movie
- Mervyn LeRoy, Little Caesar (1931). Available here.
Readings
- Robert Warshow, “The Gangster as Tragic Hero,” Partisan Review (1948). Available here.
February 5. Can the Mafioso Speak? Classic Hollywood
Movie
- Howard Hughes, Scarface (1932). Available here.
Readings
- Yogurts, Chris. “Hughes, Hawks, and Hays: The Monumental Censorship Battle Over Scarface.” The Journal of American Culture (2017). Available here.
February 10. The Mafia Movie Goes to Italy
Movie
- Francesco Rosi, Salvatore Giuliano (1961). Available here.
Reading
- John Dickie, “War and Rebirth 1943–1950,” from Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, pp. 191-216.
February 12. Just Business!
Movie
- Alberto Lattuada, Il mafioso (1962). Available here.
Readings
- Peretti, Luca, “Mafia, Mobility, and Capitalism Circa 1960,” in A Companion to the Gangster Film (2018). Available here.
TAKE-HOME MIDTERM EXAMINATION
February 17. Just Business!
Movie
- Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather. Part I (1972). Available here.
Reading
- Freedman, Carl, “The Supplement of Coppola: Primitive Accumulation and the Godfather Trilogy,” Film International (2011). Available here.
February 19. The Second Mafia War
Movie
- Damiano Damiani, How to Kill a Judge (1974). Available here.
Reading
- John Dickie, “The Origins of the Second Mafia War 1970–1982,” from Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, pp. 259-292.
February 24. Hollywood Goes Ethnic (Again)
Movie
- Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas (1990). Available here.
Reading
- Lopes, Paul, “The power of Hyphen-Nationalism: Martin Scorsese’s sojourn from Italian American to White- Ethnic American,” Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture (2017). Available here.
February 26. Business, Again
Movie
- Brian De Palma, The Untouchables (1987). Available here.
Reading
- Pelan, Tim, “Gang Wars, the Prohibition Menace: Brian De Palma’s ‘The Untouchables’.” Available here.
March 3. Business, Again
Movie
- Martin Scorsese, Casino (1999). Available here.
Reading
- Moloney, Ciara, “‘Why Don’t You Go Down to Wall Street and Get Some Real Crooks?’: Capitalism and Masculinity in GoodFellas, Casino, and The Wolf of Wall Street,” Journal of Film and Video (2023). Available here.
March 5. The Rise of the Anti-Mafia Movie
Movie
- Marco Tullio Giordana, I cento passi (2000). Available here.
Readings
- John Dickie, “Bombs and Submersion 1992–2003,” from Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia, pp. 311-338.
March 10-12. Spring Break
March 17. The Discreet Charm of the Mafia
Movie
- Mike Newell, Donnie Brasco (1997). Available here.
Readings
- Yacowar, Maurice, “Love vs. honour; Donnie Brasco and Sling blade,” Queen’s Quarterly (1997). Available here.
March 19. The Discreet Charm of the Mafia
Movie
- Ridley Scott, American Gangster (2007). Available here.
Readings
- Rambsy, Kenton, “Close-Up: Hip-Hop Cinema Jay Z’s American Gangster,” Bloomington (2017). Available here.
March 24. Men
Movie
- Brian de Palma, Scarface (1983). Available here.
Readings
- Bogue, Ronald, “De Palma’s Postmodern “Scarface” and the Simulacrum of Class,” Criticism (1993). Available here.
March 26. Men
Movie
- Lina Wertmüller, The Seduction of Mimi (1972). Available here.
Readings
- Rakopoulos, Theodoros, “Two kinds of mafia dependency: on making and unmaking mafia men,” Social Anthropology (2020). Available here.
March 31. Women
Movie
- Roberta Torre, Angela (2002). Available on WarpWire here.
Readings
- Baris, Cayli, “Performance matters more than masculinity: Violence, gender dynamics and mafia women,” in Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016). Available here.
April 2. Organized Crime Goes Global
Movie
- Matteo Garrone, Gomorrah (2008). Available on WarpWire here.
Reading
- Balsamo, Antonio, “Organised crime today: the evolution of the Sicilian mafia,” Journal of Money Laundering Control (2006). Available here.
April 7. The End?
Movie
- Martin Scorsese, The Irishman (2019). Available on WarpWire here.
April 9. In Class Presentations
- Group 1
- Group 2.
April 14. In Class Presentations
- Group 3
- Group 4.
April 16. In Class Presentations
- Group 5.
- Group 6.
April 21. In Class Presentations
- Group 7.
- Group 8.
April 23. In Class Presentations
- Group 9.
