דיסטופיות: הדמיון הפוליטי ומגבלותיו

While utopias present visions of ideal futures, dystopias – from Swift's "Gulliver's Travels", through "Children of Men" to Octavia Butler's "The Parable of the Sower" – examine the failures, paradoxes and unexpected consequences of these political projects.  In the current dystopian moment, the problem seems not to be a lack of optimistic visions of the future, but the destructive dimension that emerges on the way to their realization. A dystopian work of art does not simply present a bleak view of the future but demonstrates the negative potential of the political imagination – relating to the regimes of representation and the cultural mechanisms on which it is based. In the seminar, we will analyze literary works, listen to musical works and watch dystopian films. We will analyze contemporary artistic practices and examine curatorial projects that deal with the dystopia of our time.