Monthly Archives: March 2015

Kandinsky’s Push Against Materialist Culture

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In the introduction to his book, “Concerning the Spiritual in Art,” Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) contradicts contemporary middle class values through a verbal assault on materialist culture, and more specifically, artwork. During this phase of his life, Kandinsky lived in pre-WWI Germany. Originally a scholar in law and economics, he only started studying art at age thirty.[1] It was likely his background in law and economics that enabled him to understand better the relationship between art and consumerism.

In this specific passage, Kandinsky targets the materialism of art that emerged with the rise of the middle class, towards the end of the nineteenth century. According to Kandinsky, this recent trend “oppressed and dominated the human soul” and disabled an individual’s ability to experience subtle emotions.[2] Moreover, Kandinsky bemoaned the remarks that individuals said regarding the art, such as “nice” or “splendid.” This contradicted the middle class value that images of beauty should be simple and to the point. Moreover, it pushed back, in a way, against free market capitalism in the sense that goods should be judged especially on their quality, and not on their quantity. To remedy this problem, Kandinsky argued that spirituality and subtlety should be placed back into art, or else it will not be remembered even into the next generation.

As the paintings in the links to images below indicate, Kandinsky did not paint pieces that would likely be placed above a fireplace. He painted artwork that made an individual think, even about the most subtle of ideas.

 

https://wassilykandinskypaintings.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/moscow-painting-by-wassily-kandinsky-wassily-kandinsky-posters-for-sale-wassily-kandinsky-prints-wassily-kandinsky-paintings-list-wassily-kandinsky-famous-paintings-replicas-cheap-f.jpg?w=490&h=510

 

http://www.daydaypaint.com/images/Commerical-Painting/Wassily-Kandinsky-Painting-029.jpg

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5VR1OlBRO_Q/R7Idd5baevI/AAAAAAAACyE/eODfJgXtEzE/s400/Yellow,+Red,+Blue.jpg

 

http://www.most-famous-paintings.org/artist-page-Wassily+Kandinsky.html

 

[1] “Wassily Kandinsky.” Wikipedia. Accessed March 16, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky.

[2] Kandinsky, Wassily. “On the Spiritual in Art : First Complete English Translation, with Four Full Colour Page Reproductions, Woodcuts and Half Tones.” On the Spiritual in Art : First Complete English Translation, with Four Full Colour Page Reproductions, Woodcuts and Half Tones. Accessed March 16, 2015. https://archive.org/stream/onspiritualinart00kand#page/n0/mode/2up.

Emmeline Pankhurst on Women’s Suffrage

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The predominant middle class value system of the 19th and early 20th centuries articulated an image of the “ideal woman.” This ideal woman was to be quiet and reserved, obedient and dependent on her husband, and the manager of the domestic sphere (the household). While much of the middle class, women included, aspired to exhibit these ideals, there were many who were dissatisfied with the prevailing notions of women’s role in society.   One critic in particular, Emmeline Pankhurst, in the document titled Militant Suffragist, 1913, rejected many of society’s conceptions concerning women. She was a staunch advocate of women’s suffrage. She tried to accomplish her goals by any means possible, including the use of violence. She argued that women were disserving of this inalienable right because, similarly to men, they have lived “useful lives,” and are “animated with the highest motives.” Pankhurst was radical because of her implementation of militant tactics, but she was also radical for the mere fact that she was active in the public sphere. She was not afraid to voice her opinions publicly, and rejected the notion that women’s only place in society was within the domestic sphere.

Challenging the Traditional Roles of Women

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The role of middle-class women existed solely in the home, which is seen easily in both Sanford and Beeton’s writings. Both women stress the importance of maintaining the role of a domestic housewife. In fact, alternative roles are not presented in either writings. Beeton managed to craft an entire novel dedicated to teach women how to properly execute their duties as a housewife.However, Emmeline Pankhurst, a militant suffragist, challenged these notions, demanding women gain the right to vote, which opposed the traditional roles placed on women. Those who fought against women’s suffrage argued that women did not participate in life outside the home, so they did not need the right to vote. The world of politics was an old boys club, and women were expected to stay out of the political fray. However, Pankhurst herself was a dramatic challenge to this traditional ideal. She was a politically active militant suffragist, as well as a mother, defying the traditional roles placed upon women. The ideal middle class family she and other feminists challenged contained a well paid, hard working father, happy and healthy children, and a wife in charge of all household operations. However, feminists and suffragists challenged this ideal in the hopes of breaking down the strict gender roles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmeline_Pankhurst

Religious Symbolism as Rebellion in Akhmatova’s ‘Requiem’

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In the Catholic Church, a requiem is a mass dedicated to the souls of the departed. Therefore, it serves as a fitting title for Anna Akhmatova’s poem written for those who suffered in the prisons and were executed under Stalin’s regime. Akhmatova wrote ‘Requiem’ in stages between 1935 and 1940, a time of unrest in the Soviet Union. After the prelude and dedication, the poem details the pain and anguish the people of the Soviet Union experienced during this time through the viewpoint of a widow who lost her husband to injustice and whose son is imprisoned. The point of view then changes briefly to the son then to third person when Akhmatova describes what she labels the crucifixion. Finally, it ends with an epilogue in the voice of Akhmatova, who seeks to remember the dead.

Throughout the poem, Akhmatova weaves Catholic religious references and symbolism into her condemnation of the events of 1935-1940. The title alone carries Catholic connotations, as previously mentioned. The first reference occurs when the widow describes the day her son was taken away. The line reads, “A candle flared, illuminating the Mother of God…/ The cold of an icon was on your lips, a death-cold sweat…”[1] Given that the Communists outlawed the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union, the presence of icons in a person’s household is illegal and dangerous. A second instance of an allusion to Catholic symbols is, “And, upon your cross, the talk/ Is again of death.”[2] However, the section entitled “Crucifixion” contains the most obvious religious implications.  Quoting directly from the Bible, two lines read, “To his father he said, ‘Why hast thou forsaken me!’/ But to his mother, ‘Weep not for me. . .’”[3] These lines appear to be attributed to the imprisoned son, which would provide a connection between the Soviet prisoners and Jesus, a martyr and savior.

It is apparent that Akhmatova condemns the policies of Stalin and his government, especially their treatment of prisoners. Her use of Catholic imagery only highlights this and serves as an additional form of rebellion against the regime. She calls for the prisoners, or martyrs as she sees them, to be remembered even though she fears she and the rest of the world will forget.

[1] Anna Akhmatova, Requiem, http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/requiem, accessed March 14, 2015.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich

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The story of Ivan Denisovich is a telling tale of the human spirit and it’s will to survive. The author was able to make you feel the emotions of what life was truly like in the typical day of an inmate in the gulag. Ivan story seems to be a typical story of an individual that was accused of being a spy and guilty of treason against the soviet empire. The fact that other individuals in the same camp found themselves there under the same pretext shows it was a rather common crime, or in other words was a crime the government used to classify someone they believed had done something wrong. The fact a person had to make a choice to either face a firing squad if they denied the charge or admit to treason and go to the gulag show that the government had no desire to find out if there was any merit to the accusation.

 

The author highlighted the theme, not of escape, freedom, injustice; allusion to these theme appear throughout the account, yet while important, these themes to an inmate are irrelevant. Nothing can change why they are in the gulag. The only thing a prisoner can think about is survival. The account brings to the fore this issue by placing emphasis on two reoccurring areas, food and warmth. The amount of time in just one day a person thinks about food and the extent that a person’s life revolves around getting food only to make it to the next day. So much effort by the author goes into describing food, the rationing out of it, when and how much, as well as the type and the result of deprivation of food. The book really puts into perspective the condition of the gulag, and the human spirit will to survive.

The Social Crisis of Language

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The author of the article Sarah Davies sets out on a mission to solve the unresolved question of ‘Was the USSR a class(les) society?’ by presenting her own school of thought. However, Davies proceeds to elaborate that only workers and peasants will be analyzed by differentiating their use of language to form social identity. Under Stalin’s regime, language was an issue of national policy.  If one were to speak out in an unauthorized  manner, it would be considered unlawful against the party therefore separating oneself from society.  I therefore agree that the Soviet society did not exist in a classless state of existence according to the Marxist idealism.  Marx believed that the eventual elimination of the class society was essential to the development and survival of the new communist world.  Stalin’s policy of a unified and single usage of certain dialect would create buffer zones in the way peasants thought as opposed to the regular workers idealism in country.  That automatically is cause enough for a social identity crisis particularly in the class divide realm.