Saturday, August 22, 2009

Prokofiev receiving the Order of the Red Banner of Labor from Mikhail Kalinin, Moscow 1943


"Art is not blameless. Art can inflict harm. The Taliban know that. It's about time we learned"

Richard Taruskin

4 comments:

Kirbycairo said...

Hi Morton
Being an artist and a fan of Prokofiev this post interested. But I must say I am not sure about your point. Are you saying Prokofiev was inflicting harm??

I am puzzled,(Not a new phenomenon)
Kirby

James C Morton said...

Kirby,

I am a fan of his music too -- my point, which is a touch obscure (i have been under the weather) -- is that he wrote hymns to Stalin which, sadly, helped Stalin stay in power. We cannot be blind to that -- it has a meaning.

james

Kirbycairo said...

Oh, now I follow you. Indeed it has a meaning. But what I find interesting is the way people in Western Capitalism imagine that art and entertainment play little or no ideological role. More people should look at the direct relationship that the US armed forces have with Hollywood. Millions are poured into the film industry every year by the armed forces to directly boost enrollment and indirectly to maintain an pro-US and pro-Western ideology. And this says nothing of the ideological roll played by, say, various 'reality' television shows. WIth Prokofiev most people knew what they were getting. For us the 'spectacle' quite effectively hides the ideological function as entertainment.

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