Visions of Authoritarianism

The suppression of the arts is a common characteristic of otherwise disparate varieties of authoritarianism as is the indomitable spirit of writers, filmmakers, and musicians whose work manifests their forbidden dissent. This interdisciplinary seminar explores resistance to authoritarianism in the 20th and 21st centuries through the lens of artistic expression. It begins with John Maynard Keynes, the great economist, whose profound engagement with the arts was an essential part of his life-long resistance to authoritarianism. It continues with Orson Welles, best known as a titan of radio, theater and film, who similarly devoted his life and positioned his craft in active opposition to state repression. We will also consider the crucial contributions of George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, Bob Dylan, and Vaclav Havel, concluding with several twenty-first century films that somehow evaded the intolerant, iron fist of the Iranian theocracy.