Fascism and Antifascism in Art and Architecture

Catalog description

The terms "fascism" and "culture" frequently resonate as opposites. We think immediately of sterile, bunker-like architecture, book burnings, and reactionary archaisms. Much fascist culture certainly entailed these. Yet we ignore the centrality of advanced culture to fascist ideas – both in the early twentieth century and beyond – at our own peril. This course examines the nuances of that centrality, through particular instances in historical context: Mussolini's Italy (home of the first fascist revolution and regime), Nazi Germany, Popular Front and Vichy France, and international anti-fascist activity up through World War Two. We will also pay close attention to efforts to combat fascism's rise and hegemony in a variety of contexts. Through particular cases we will tackle various questions: May we speak of a general fascist theory of culture or representation? How did fascist regimes use aesthetics to respond to modernity, or to create a modernism of their own? Was the concept of an avant-garde alien to fascist culture, or useful to it? To what extent was there a movement of international anti-fascist resistance? How did it play out? How do culture and propaganda work in tandem, or in resistance to dominant discourses? This course is part of the NYU Big Ideas Series.