Jean Dubuffet, Poiro Zanzibare (1962)
- Freedom, “that terrible word inscribed on the chariot of the storm,” is the motivating principle of all revolutions. Without it, justice seems inconceivable to the rebel’s mind. [Albert Camus, The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt (1951), Part Three, “Historical Rebellion”.]
Along with the desire for progress, discontent is a primary emotional force behind change. Major change is unsettling, so an unsettling emotion like discontent may be necessary to overcome inertia and resistance.
Real
True Narratives
Sophie Scholl was a young German political activist who opposed Hitler. The Reich executed her, along with her brother and a friend after they tried to distribute anti-Nazi leaflets.
- Inge Scholl, The White Rose: Munich, 1942-1943 (Wesleyan, 1983).
- Jud Newborn and Annette Dumbach, Sophie Scholl and the White Rose (Oneworld Publications, 2007).
Other narratives:
- Wendy Lesser, Music for Silenced Voices: Shostakovich and His Fifteen Quartets (Yale University Press, 2011): “The music is marked by extravagant willfulness, but also by an excruciating sense of futility; powerful assertions collapse in submission or despair; we are not always sure when the music is serious and when it is sarcastic. Dramatic principles of unity are widely violated.”
- Romain Gary, Promise At Dawn: A Memoir (Harper & Brothers, 1961): “Gary believed all people suffered from this need, to break their bonds asunder again and again.”
- Tim Mohr, Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall (Algonquin Books, 2018): seething in alienation, punk rock paved the way toward revolution, but what will survive?
Technical and Analytical Readings
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Bob Marley was the king and is the icon of Reggae music. “The relationship between reggae music and political radicalism has long been apparent in both Jamaica and abroad. Reggae is the only Third World musical form to become widely accepted in the West . . .” “Marley’s music grew out of both severe and constant economic impoverishment as well as political discontent with the government and its policies; and it is in this context that as well his music must be analysed and understood.” “. . . Marley had huge significance . . . among the dispossessed the world over.” “Marley’s timeless music has historically been a place of solace for people around the world, especially during times of civil unrest.” “His rich anthems of peace and struggle, hope and discontent, still reverberate globally and especially in his native Jamaica, a small nation whose rich culture its most famous son popularized on an international stage.” Books about Marley are by Timothy White, Roger Steffans, Chris Salewicz, James Henke, Richie Untenberger, Rita Marley, and Kwame Dawes. Here are links to his releases, some playlists, documentary films, interviews, and live performances. Other live performances include:
- Concert at Harvard Stadium, 1979
- Live at Santa Barbara, 1979
- “The Legend” concert, 1979
- Live in Paris, 1980
- Live in Oakland, CA, 1979
Other albums, in a similar vein:
- Keith Hudson, “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood” (1974): “This is another welcome step in Basic Replay's reconsideration of the erratic (and mostly out-of-print) discography of 'The Dark Prince of Reggae.'”
Compositions:
- John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera (1728) (approx. 80-133’) (program and text) challenges conventions, especially those intersecting with corruption. “The point of this slight work, if it has one, seems to be that frolicsome gentlemen, by introducing chaos into society, have only themselves to blame if that chaos leads to their own downfall.” Performances are conducted by Britten, Dalla and Rogers [on BBC, act 1, act 2, act 3].
Music: songs and other short pieces
- U2 - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (lyrics)
- Radiohead, "No Surprises" (lyrics)
- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, "Ohio" (lyrics)
- André Prévost (composer), Scherzo for String Orchestra
Visual Arts
- Joan Miró, May 1968 (1973)
- Wassily Kandinsky, Red Spot II (1921)
- Wassily Kandinsky, White Stroke (1920)
- Marc Chagall, To Russia, with Asses and Others (1911)
Film and Stage
- Sophie Scholl, chronicling the final days of a young German woman, her brother and friend, who paid with their lives for telling the truth about the futility of the Third Reich’s midadventures
- Viridiana, Luis Buñuel’s masterful confrontation of “the piously insulated mind . . . (and) social conditions in Spain”, presented through the tale of a young and beautiful ex-nun whose uncle offers her his “charity”