Manifestos

3.0-4.0; 3.0 credits · Undergraduate

Manifestos provoke, estrange, condemn, inspire, and mobilize. In this seminar, we will examine the manifesto as a genre at the intersection of politics and aesthetics. From revolutionary manifestos (communist, anarchist, antifascist) to avant-garde manifestos (Dada, Futurist, Surrealist, Symbolist, Situationist) and contemporary feminist and ecological manifestos, we will consider: how are collective identities forged through the construction of “us” vs. “them”? How does the manifesto combine visual, textual, and oral elements? What do manifestos tell us about the context in which they emerged? We will explore the manifesto from multiple perspectives throughout the semester, including as a historical document, political intervention, artistic innovation, utopian vision, and performative speech act. Taught in German. This course may be counted towards the requirement for 3210-3499 level language in the major.