Dana Arieli-Horowitz, Tel Aviv University

The seminar will focus on the interrelations between politics and culture in the interwar period. We will be dealing with three states in particular: Germany, Italy and The USSR. In each of these countries the visual arts were used as a tool in the process of mobilization of the masses and served in order to strengthen the legitimation of the regime. Looking at films that were created during and after the dictatorships period, will enable us to learn more about the different types of commitment expressed by the artists. In each of those countries there were artists who rejected the demand made by the regime for complete commitment and used their creation in order to express their discomfort and opposition to the regime. Others were opportunistic and followed the regimes demands. Another group was forced to exile and in their exile countries they have suffered from the inability to create or did their best to use art as a weapon against their homeland. In order to illustrate the different orientations of the creators, we will examine the style and contents of the works of art. Questions like what makes a movie committed to the regime will be in the core of our inquiries, and we will try to figure out whether the artists used a particular style. We will also try to understand how did the artists reflect their point of view through the contents they choose for their movies.

Biography
B.A. in Political Science and General Studies, M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science (Hebrew University, Jerusalem). Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of TAU. Was Postdoctoral Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Research interests focus on the interrelations between Art and Politics, Political Thought, Intellectual History, Political Culture and Israeli Politics. Author of “The Jew as Destroyer of Culture in the National Socialist Ideology” in Patterns of Prejudice (1/1998). Publications in Hebrew include: Romanticism of Steel: Art & Politics in Nazi Germany (Magnes - The Hebrew University Press, 1999); The Labyrinth of Legitimacy: Referendum in Israel (Hakibutz Hameuhad, 1994) and -as editor- State and Religion Yearbook 1994-1995 (The Center for Progressive Judaism in Israel, Jerusalem 1996), She recently completed a book manuscript in Hebrew and English titled The Totalitarian Ideal: A Comparative Look at Politics and Art in Fascist Italy, Russia Under Stalin and Nazi Germany.