Bez teorie a bez absolventů: ke dvěma normalizačním hrozbám dějin umění

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.