Art as Resistance
Pessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Will
How do we respond to the new political reality in this country? I’m grateful to Emma for this call to “create sanctuary for dissent.” ~ Rev. Erik
We are artists. Storytellers. Unapologetic voices. We rally thousands from the stage, or quietly rebel in our studios and homes. Artists seek direct, emotional impact. In any way we can, we wake you up. Then together, we tackle impossibility.
Nothing is more dangerous to authoritarian rule than freedom of artistic expression.
Resistance of the soul, made tangible. Sustenance for the forces that organize our jumbled thoughts, gather hope, and plan the fight. Inspiration for the crowd and fuel for private defiance. In human strife, the creative spirit endures.
Romain Rolland — dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian, Nobel Prize winner — advocated “pessimism of the intelligence, which penetrates every illusion, and optimism of the will… this natural bravery that is the flower of a good people… [who] struggle over and above suffering.”
So question inevitability. Fight complacency.
Imprisoned by Mussolini’s Fascist regime, political dissident Antonio Gramsci distilled Rolland’s idea into a motto: “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.” Two essential weapons against despair.
In the wake of this election, as the waves of discord continue to break, our activism will be as compelling as it is innovative.
Last week, columnist Margaret Sullivan echoed Gramsci and Rolland in The Washington Post. “Look the situation in the eye; know how bad it is. That’s the pessimism of the intellect. As for the optimism-of-the-will part? For journalists, it’s writing and reporting aggressively and fearlessly, and being willing to fight for access.”
In this fearless fight, artists are irreplaceable.
We draw power from diversity. Amplify the voices of the vulnerable. Engage in the raw and free exchange of ideas. Create sanctuary for dissent.
Emma Strother is a musician and scholar of social change and the arts. She currently serves as the Development Associate at The Sanctuaries, a racially and spiritually diverse arts community in Washington, DC.
References:
Romain Rolland, “Review of R. Lefebvre’s The Sacrifice of Abraham,” quoted in David James Fisher, Romain Rolland and the Politics of Intellectual Engagement (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988).
Antonio Gramsci, Quaderni del carcere, 4 vols, ed. V. Gerratana, (Turin: Einaudi, 1996).
Margaret Sullivan, “Our First Amendment test is here. We can’t afford to flunk it,” (Washington, DC: The Washington Post, November 13, 2016). http://wapo.st/2g8iASU.
