School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemLeft wing Melbourne artists and the Communist Party during the early Cold War period( 2013)Although the 1950s remain in the collective psyche as a distinct period of dull, uneventful, complacency, there have been some intellectual reassessments which present the period as a more fluid and formative time in our social and political history. I will reinforce this view by examining the cultural landscape of Melbourne. For a section of society, including cultural workers, this was a challenging and difficult period, when lives took a turn towards a new kind of political intensity. Progressive, left-wing artists wished to have a say in the building of post-war culture and sought a stake for the underdog in the future of the nation in the face of the Menzies Government’s political and moral war against the Left. I explore issues such as how artists’ participation in the early Cold War political scene affected their strategies for professional survival. I highlight the relationship of artists to the Communist Party of Australia, by focusing on its cultural policies and political practices and by asking, what was its role and degree of significance in the lives of artists? How did left-wing cultural workers negotiate the tension between following the Party line and their own creative expression? By exploring these themes I will demonstrate that the 1950s was a time of highly engaged creative and artistic endeavour and a period of ferment around issues of left-wing politics and art. The thesis studies individual artists as well as relevant left-wing cultural institutions from the 1950s. I submit that a significant effect of the cultural Cold War in Melbourne was to encourage artists to join groups which provided support, political activism and means of expressing their art-forms. There were important ‘warrior’ institutions that were part of the Left during this period. I discuss the activities of a number of these and examine their relationship with the Communist Party. They are the New Theatre, the Realist Film Association and the Victorian Division of Actors Equity. I also discuss the role of the Guardian weekly newspaper and the CPA’s theoretical journal, the Communist Review. The activities of these individuals, groups and institutions provide evidence of an effective role played by art and culture within the political sphere. The picture emerges of a melding of art with political life to an extent that counters popular descriptions of Melbourne as unstimulating and lifeless during the 1950s. For those artists who saw themselves in combat with conservative forces, life was indeed far from dull.