A Critical View on American Demagoguery

Join us for a monthly, multimedia exploration of popular literature and film. Demagoguery has played a significant role in American history and has for decades been grist for both imaginative literature and Hollywood.

This quarter, we’re going to explore the works of literary novelists and prominent directors who portrayed the darker elements of America’s political culture. Narratives about demagogues comprise a significant sub-genre of political fiction and American cinema. The characters in these stories are loosely based on real-life figures: radio evangelists, fast-talking hucksters, populists, and far-right radio hosts. In retrospect, these cynical  and humorous works sometimes even seem prophetic.

Further Dates:
1.9. Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry (1927: film, 1960)
6.10. Robert Penn Warren, All the King’s Men (1946: film, 1949)
3.11. Budd Schulberg, Your Arkansas Traveler (1953: film: A Face in the Crowd, 1957)
1.12. Robert Stone, A Hall of Mirrors (1966: film: WUSA, 1970)

In English

Location: d.a.i. hall