Before there was Beyoncé there was Borelli; before Clooney there was Mastroianni. Deriving from Italian opera, silent film, and Catholic culture, the diva and her male counterpart, the divo, are performers who know how to stamp any character they play with their own indelible images. Examines how those images are constructed, transmitted, and received from the late nineteenth century to the present day, with special attention to the evolution of Italian screen culture from silent film through to contemporary digital media. Explores how the diva/divo helps to define Italian cinema and television in relation to modern ideologies of celebrity culture and globalization. Conducted in Italian.
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