Admission requirements
None.
Description
From the 1960s, significant cultural changes are occurring in the Western world. A revolution in values is taking place, manifesting itself in many areas of society, taking many forms and having global effects. Central to this process of transformation is the idea of the unique, authentic individual that is called on to lead a life peculiar to him/her/themselves. It is an idea that has developed since Romanticism and in a more specific form has become almost universally accepted since the 1960s. In fact, it has evolved into a near moral demand: as human beings, we are supposed to give expression to who we essentially are. Nowadays, consumer society and social media offer numerous opportunities for this. A ‘culture of self’ has developed in which self-realisation and self-representation play a central role. Creativity has become a key concept and the artist the paradigm for being human.
In our late-capitalist society, a moral individualism has become predominant; everyone lives in their own world of values and wants to create and present their own selves. With it the new and extraordinary becomes the driving force in social and economic development. For this, creativity is a prerequisite. Not wanting to be creative is completely outside the value system of our current society. We show our individuality by presenting ourselves in a distinctive way on social media and surround ourselves with aesthetically pleasing objects. Consumerism and self-creation have become completely intertwined.
As a result of this development, art practice is also changing. The image of the autonomous artist that was dominant until the 1970s is being challenged by the practice of artists in various ways. Artists started to question the self-understanding of art as a cultural practice. This was done, for instance, by disconnecting the artist as maker from his work, by alternately using or combining different artistic media, by seeking collaborations outside the artistic domain, by working in collectives, or by emphasising or autonomising the research aspect of the creative process. The concept of art is broadened and the division between art and non-art becomes fluid.
This course will focus on the development of the subject concept and Western individualism since Romanticism. We will explore how the moral command ‘to be yourself' becomes increasingly intertwined with aesthetic notions and will lead to what Reckwitz calls the contemporary 'creativity dispositif': the development of an aesthetic capitalism in which inventiveness and creativity play a crucial role. Thinkers to whom we will pay attention are Rousseau, Kant, Nietzsche, Freud and Foucault and contemporary authors such as Taylor, Reckwitz, Han, Roy and Charim. We will try to answer the following questions. How did the modern idea of self and individualism arise and why is it intrinsically linked to the arts? How did this view develop in the 19th century and in what ways was it criticised at the time? What is the connection between Romanticism and modern consumerism? What important changes did late-capitalism bring in the social and cultural domains? What role does the concept of creativity play in this context? In what ways have the visual arts tried to distance themselves from the annexation of the concept of creativity by market thinking?
Course objectives
At the end of the course the student:
gained insight into the essential aspects of the notion of self as it developed since Romanticism;
has knowledge of some of the fundamental critiques of the modern subject concept;
gained an understanding of the correlations between consumerism, individuality, self- creation and the concept of creativity in late modern capitalist society;
is able to connect important contemporary developments in the visual arts with the social changes of recent decades;
is able to understand some crucial texts by philosophers, sociologists and artists on the subject.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Weighing
30% attendence weekly seminar
20% group presentation
40% final essay
10% active participation in class
Resit
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
For those students who want to prepare themselves on the main topics of the course, here is a small list of literature. We will use parts of the literature mentioned below, supplemented by other articles and text fragments.
Rüdiger Safranski, Romanticism: A German Affaire, Evanston, Northwestern University Press, 2014.
Colin Campbell, The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1987.
Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity, Stoddart Publishing, Ontario, 1991.
Andreas Reckwitz, The Invention of Creativity. Modern Society and the Culture of the New, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2017.
Jacques Rancière, Politics of Aesthetics: The Distribution of the Sensible, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013.
Byung-Chul Han, The Expulsion of the Other, Cambridge Polity Press, 2018.
Eva Illouz, Emotions as Commodities. Capitalism, Consumption and Authenticity, Taylor & Francis, Oxfordshire, 2017.
Olivier Roy, The Crisis of Culture. Identity Politics and the Empire of Norms, Hurst & Company, London, 2024.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
Remarks
- Overview of ACPA's elective courses in music and fine arts: https://studiegids.universiteitleiden.nl/studies/9814/keuzevakken-academy-of-creative-and-performing-arts