Resistance through culture

Resistance through culture (also called cultural resistance, resistance through the aesthetic,[1] or intellectual resistance)[2] is a form of nonconformism. It is not open dissent, but a discreet stance.[3]

A revolt "so well hidden that it seems nonexistent",[4] it is a quest "to extend the boundaries of official tolerance, either by adopting a line considered by authorities to be ideologically suspect, or by highlighting certain contemporary social problems, or both."[3] Criticized for being "utopian, and thus inadequate to the realities of that age",[5] during the time of the Communist regimes in Europe, it was also a surviving formula, a modality for writers and artists to cheat Communist censorship without going the whole way into open political opposition.[6][7]

  1. ^ Simion, Eugen (May 20, 2010). "Insemnari marunte despre rezistenta prin cultura si despre un român care schimba lumea" (in Romanian). Cultura. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  2. ^ Corbea, Andrei (30 May 2000). "Exilul, inainte si dupa exil" (in Romanian). Observator cultural. Retrieved 10 Aug 2015.
  3. ^ a b McDermott, Kevin; Stibe, Matthew (eds.). Revolution and Resistance in Eastern Europe: Challenges to Communist Rule. Oxford, New York: Berg. pp. 90, 91. ISBN 978-1-84520-258-3.
  4. ^ Marcu, Luminița (2002). "Rezistenţa culturală la începuturile comunismului" (in Romanian). România literară. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 Aug 2015.
  5. ^ Bradatan, Costica; Oushakine, Serguei Alex., eds. (2010). In Marx's Shadow: Knowledge, Power and Intellectuals in Eastern Europe and Russia. Plymouth, UK: Lexington Books. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-7391-3624-9.
  6. ^ Cesereanu, Ruxandra (2005). "Memorie si exil" (in Romanian). romaniaculturala.ro. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 10 Aug 2015.
  7. ^ Copoeru, Ion; Sepp, Hans Rainer, eds. (2007). Phenomenology 2005: Selected Essays from the Euro-Mediterranean Area, Part 1. Zeta Books. p. 74.