Aesthetic or political activism: Communist discussions about Art in the '30s

Abstract

In the field of culture and art, in the period between 1935 and 1945, there was an intense debate in the world and in Argentina regarding aesthetic languages. At that time, intellectuals and artists who were linked to political and cultural organizations which arose in the heat of socialist revolution, participated in discussions about the best new ways and content in order to represent the working class in its struggle for power.
In Argentina, and specifically within the cultural initiative and activities displayed by the Argentine Communist Party (PCA), one of the debates involved, on the one hand, the intellectuals and supporters of an art atached to the "socialist realism" parameters and, on the other hand, those who defended aesthetic vanguards linked to abstract language.
The issue between realism and abstraction has been addressed by diferent disciplines and approaches. Our work reflects on some aspects scarcely developed so far, for instance, in which way they influenced and what the correspondence was between these aesthetic and political concepts, such as in the cases of Raul Lozza or Córdova Iturburu and their party militancy, in the context of the intense political and ideological struggle that was imposed by the dispute with Peronism and the anti-fascist war.