Aesthetic Engagement: Anna Zanoli's Cultural Programmes for the RAI (1968–1974). (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Seger, Monica
• Is Part Of: Italian studies. Volume 71:Number 4(2016)
• Page Start: 535
• Page End: 549
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: television -- RAI -- nationalism -- impegno -- art -- landscape; Italian literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Italy -- Intellectual life -- Periodicals; Italy -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 945
• DOI: 10.1080/00751634.2016.1222766
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0075-1634

Abstract

Abstract : This essay examines a series of television programmes produced by Anna Zanoli for the RAI during the years 1968 to 1974. Each episode of the programmes in question is hosted by a notable cultural figure and dedicated to the promotion of a 'forgotten' work of Italian art, architectural monument or landscape. The essay argues that by exploring Italy's rich visual-cultural patrimony through the use of a new popular media, Zanoli's programmes seek to redefine Italian culture as simultaneously high and low. Furthermore, by featuring well-known hosts from the worlds of cinema, literature, and politics, the programmes engage with the question of impegno as they propose an ethical commitment to aesthetic appreciation.