“Whenever a culture or nation is under the sway of a dominant view, whether moral or religious or political, the tendency of the rulers of that nation is to promote it at all costs, and one of the casualties in the process is art—at any rate that great body of art that is either indifferent or hostile to the reigning dogma.”
As a free form of expression, art is often seen as a way for a culture to promote moral values. Art has also been seen as a threat to dominating regimes unless it can be wielded as propaganda. It can be used to promote the dominant culture, or it can be created in an attempt to defy it.
So far this term, you have learned about culture, various forms of human expression, belief systems, and moral systems. Keep what you have learned in mind as you consider your examples for this discussion.
For this assignment, you will find art that has been used to promote ethical or moral values, used as propaganda, or created as protest art. The art can be a poem, book, painting, statue, dance or song: as long as it qualifies as art. For your presentation, you will show one example of moralistic art, one example of propaganda, and one example of protest art. One example MUST COME from outside of the United States
To read the definition of propaganda and see some literary examples, go to: https://literaryterms.net/propaganda/ (Links to an external site.)
To learn more about how art has been used as propaganda, take a look at the article “How Has Art Been Used as Propaganda?” at https://owlcation.com/humanities/How-has-art-been-used-as-propaganda (Links to an external site.)
To learn more about how art has been used as a form of protest, read “Cultural Resistance: The Power of Music and Visual Art as Protest” at https://www.newtactics.org/conversation/cultural-resistance-power-music-and-visual-art-protest (Links to an external site.)
and/or (Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.) “The Role of the Arts in Political Protest” at https://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/the-role-of-the-arts-in-political-protest/ (Links to an external site.)
The articles above should provide adequate definitions and examples for starting your research.
In your presentation, try to cover the following for each of your examples:
• What example have you chosen for each? Provide title, artist, date. Include images or videos or excerpts from a song, poetry, or literature as applicable. (Note: If you can find book covers or images of the writers or artists, please include them.)
• Summarize the purpose the art served for each:
o What moral or ethic was it promoting? Belief system?
o What was it protesting? Explain the political, religious, or moral climate surrounding it.
o What was it propagating? Explain the political, religious, or moral climate surrounding it.
• Determine how each was used.
o Was it widely distributed?
o Was it on public display?
o Was it published or displayed outside of the country of origin in order to gain sympathy for its cause.
• Examine whether the art for each was considered a success.
o For moralistic, did it help propel the moral or ethical message?
o For protest art, was it banned in its country of origin? Did it spark further protest?
o For propaganda, was it successful in promoting its cause? (Note that I’m asking about promoting the propaganda, not whether the movement was successful. For example, propaganda for the Nazis in Germany during WWII was successful even though the Nazis were not.)
Submit your presentation to the assignment page in PowerPoint, Keynote, or Prezi format.
Important: APA documented research is required for all resources used, even assigned readings. For more information on plagiarism, please visit Purdue Owl