Authoritarianism, Freedom, and the Arts

3 Credits.

What is the proper role of the arts and artists in society? Is censorship of the arts or artists ever permissible, for political or other reasons? How may artists and their publics challenge conventional frames of reference or control, state-sponsored or otherwise? Are any of the arts better suited than others to resistance or opposition? Are any of the arts better suited than the others to fostering control and compliance? This class will employ a comparative framework to examine these and other central questions raised by theories and histories of authoritarianism and the arts. It will investigate various theoretical and philosophical frameworks for understanding its key concepts, ranging from Plato, Kant, and Tolstoy to Dewey, Adorno, Arendt, and beyond. The class will concentrate on specific case studies drawn from across world history, beginning with examples from the early modern era, moving into the twentieth-century (including Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, the USSR, China, and the US 1950s, 1960s, and 1980s), and ending with the present day worldwide. It will draw on various art forms, including music, visual arts, literature, film, and various combinations of these and other art forms.