Politics and culture are intertwined and influence each other at many levels. The complexity of these interdependencies deserves special attention and careful analysis. During the course we will explore the manifestations of politics in visual arts, in music, in mass culture etc. We will also explore interconnections between ideologies and culture; political actions and culture, as well as reflect on the cultural contradictions of capitalism.
We will trace manifestations and embodiment of political ideologies in art, literature and cinema, as well as study of political culture in the context of various cultural practices. We will try answering the question, if an art can exist outside politics, and what role the dissident culture had played in the democratic transformations in Eastern Europe.
The course is designed to explore the influence of literature, art, movies, and series on today’s politics and society, as well as reflect on interdependencies between democracy and culture; religion and culture; civic society and culture. We will also look at the role of the cultural diplomacy on politics, as well as explore the differences between political culture in the east and west. We will discuss peculiarities of the process of aestheticizing of politics and politicizing of art and try to answer the question, if and how an art can become an instrument of peace-making.
