תרבות חומרית, זהות לאומית: בין צייתנות לביקורת

The seminar is centered around the notion of identity, with an emphasis on different patterns of identification formed between the local artistic object and its addressees. We will analyze perceptions that underlay the definition of "identity": primordial-essentialist models, models that celebrated the human ingenuity and imagining, and singular, transient and fluid "constructs", forming (and decomposing) around a specific subject, issue, or dilemma. These perceptions will be examined vis-à-vis the local cultural context and its social and political characteristics. Among other things we will discuss the ways in which the artistic object sought to create a cohesive national identity, and the transition from dealing with the "large" collective and with meta-narratives, definitions, and borders, to addressing the dynamic, temporary, and "unstable" aspect of affinity and identification.