This study analyzes the methodological manipulation of the field of art history and its personnel at Charles University and the Academy of Sciences during the 1970s and 1980s, tracing the consequences of public declarations of support for adopting Marxism Leninism as foundation for all theoretical approaches to the work of art. Adoption of this framework was advanced as the only appropriate response to the widespread application of non Marxist ideas and methods in the field of art history, seen by agents of normalisation as a dangerous hotbed of revisionism. The study also considers the consequences of reducing the admission of art history students and staff during the period of normalisation to those who would be willing to work exclusively within the Marxist framework. The author follows these issues in the larger context of the field of art history and with an analytical focus on the history of fine arts. He also considers the implications of these practices for the current state of the field.
This study draws on archival documents to trace the concrete implementation of ‘normalisation processes’ in Czechoslovak society, research fields, and the university during the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on the field of Russian studies in the Charles University Faculty of Arts. What makes this case of particular interest is the story of a Russianist at Charles University who studied the languages and cultures of countries whose leadership had decided to send military forces to participate in the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Writing on events through her perspective (a student at the time), the author examines in particular the environment of the late 1980s. In terms of methodology, the study combines witness accounts with a more thorough and intensive approach to evaluating the impact of normalisation on the field before and after November 1989.
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