Art of Suppression: Confronting the Nazi Past in Histories of the Visual and Performing Arts (Volume 50) (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism)

This provocative study asks why we have held on to vivid images of the Nazis’ total control of the visual and performing arts, even though research has shown that many artists and their works thrived under Hitler. To answer this question, Pamela M. Potter investigates how historians since 1945 have written about music, art, architecture, theater, film, and dance in Nazi Germany and how their accounts have been colored by politics of the Cold War, the fall of communism, and the wish to preserve the idea that true art and politics cannot mix. Potter maintains that although the persecution of Jewish artists and other “enemies of the state” was a high priority for the Third Reich, removing them from German cultural life did not eradicate their artistic legacies. __Art of Suppression__ examines the cultural histories of Nazi Germany to help us understand how the circumstances of exile, the Allied occupation, the Cold War, and the complex meanings of modernism have sustained a distorted and problematic characterization of cultural life during the Third Reich. One thinks of the arts in Nazi Germany as struggling in an oppressive system, yet evidence has repeatedly shown that conditions were far more favorable than we assume. Potter conducts a historiography of Nazi arts, examining writings from the last seven decades to demonstrate how historical, moral, and intellectual conditions have sustained a distorted characterization of cultural life in the Third Reich. Showing how past research has revealed the decentralized nature of Nazi arts policies, Potter argues that the insulation of academic disciplines allowed outdated presumptions about Nazi micromanagement of the arts to persist. German exile experiences in the 1930s first inspired these notions, and they gained currency during the occupation of Germany (as careers and trends from the Third Reich continued despite implications of the “Zero Hour”) and throughout the Cold War (as direct comparisons of Nazi and Soviet repression gained momentum). The first histories of Nazi arts, which appeared in the late 1940s, reflected these immediate concerns, but over the next decades, arts scholarship failed to benefit from debates that problematized concepts of totalitarianism, intentionalism, and fascism. They also adhered to explicit definitions of modernism that sustained a narrative of Nazi antimodernism comparable to that of Stalin. The end of the Cold War spawned new comparisons between Nazi Germany and East Germany, but recent considerations of popular culture, economics, and global conditions in the 1930s and 1940s can offer a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences between culture in Nazi Germany and the rest of the industrial world This Provocative Study Asks Why We Have Held On To Vivid Images Of The Nazis' Total Control Of The Visual And Performing Arts, Even Though Research Has Shown That Many Artists And Their Works Thrived Under Hitler. To Answer This Question, Potter Investigates How Historians Since 1945 Wrote About Music, Art, Architecture, Theater, Film, And Dance In Nazi Germany And How Their Accounts Were Colored By Politics Of The Cold War, The Fall Of Communism, And The Wish To Preserve The Idea That True Art And Politics Cannot Mix. She Doesn't Deny That The Persecution Of Jewish Artists And Other Enemies Of The State Was A High Priority In The Third Reich, But This Did Not Erase Their Artistic Legacies From German Cultural Life. Art Of Suppression Examines The Cultural Histories Of The Third Reich To Help Us Understand How The Circumstances Of Exile, The Allied Occupation Of Germany, The Cold War, And The Complex Meanings Of Modernism Have Sustained A Distorted And Problematic Characterization Of Cultural Life In The Third Reich--provided By Publisher. Visual And Performing Arts In Nazi Germany: What Is Known And What Is Believed -- The Exile Experience -- Occupation, Cold War, And The Zero Hour -- Totalitarianism, Intentionalism, And Fascism In Cold War Cultural Histories -- Modernism And The Isolation Of Nazi Culture -- Cultural Histories After The Cold War. Pamela M. Potter. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 319-367) And Index.

This provocative study asks why we have held on to vivid images of the Nazis’ total control of the visual and performing arts, even though research has shown that many artists and their works thrived under Hitler. To answer this question, Pamela M. Potter investigates how historians since 1945 have written about music, art, architecture, theater, film, and dance in Nazi Germany and how their accounts have been colored by politics of the Cold War, the fall of communism, and the wish to preserve the idea that true art and politics cannot mix. Potter maintains that although the persecution of Jewish artists and other “enemies of the state” was a high priority for the Third Reich, removing them from German cultural life did not eradicate their artistic legacies. Art of Suppression examines the cultural histories of Nazi Germany to help us understand how the circumstances of exile, the Allied occupation, the Cold War, and the complex meanings of modernism have sustained a distorted and problematic characterization of cultural life during the Third Reich.

This provocative study asks why we have held on to vivid images of the Nazis' total control of the visual and performing arts, even though research has shown that many artists and their works thrived under Hitler. To answer this question, Potter investigates how historians since 1945 wrote about music, art, architecture, theater, film, and dance in Nazi Germany and how their accounts were colored by politics of the Cold War, the fall of communism, and the wish to preserve the idea that true art and politics cannot mix. She doesn't deny that the persecution of Jewish artists and other "enemies of the state" was a high priority in the Third Reich, but this did not erase their artistic legacies from German cultural life. Art of Suppression examines the cultural histories of the Third Reich to help us understand how the circumstances of exile, the Allied occupation of Germany, the Cold War, and the complex meanings of modernism have sustained a distorted and problematic characterization of cultural life in the Third Reich.--Résumé de l'éditeur A study that asks why we have held on to vivid images of the Nazis' total control of the visual and performing arts. To answer this question, it investigates how historians since 1945 have written about music, art, architecture, theater, film, and dance in Nazi Germany and how their accounts have been colored by politics of the Cold War.