Freedom and Oppression | Som jeg sidder her og retter STX B eksamensopgaver, er det svært ikke at blive side-tracked af det faktum, at USA tilsyneladende nu er blevet et fullblown militærdiktatur. I skrivende stund er massedemonstrationer og protester mod Trump administrationens deportationsprogram i gang på fjerde dag i Los Angeles. Op i mod 4000 soldater fra The California National Guard og 700 Active Service Marines er blevet indsat af den føderale regering i modstrid med Californiens guvernør, Gavin Newsoms, ønsker.
Derfor har jeg besluttet at begynde næste skoleår med et nyt forløb om USA. Titlen The Captive Mind: Freedom and Oppression er inspireret af den polske forfatter Czeslaw Milosz studie af livet i Polen under det totalitære Soviet-regime i 1950erne og undersøger den politiske polarisering i USA gennem en kombination af Star Wars-serien Andor, klassisk politisk retorik, grundlæggende amerikanske myter, dystopisk fiktion og Hannah Arendts definition af den banale ondskab i bogen Eichmann in Jerusalem – A Report on the Banality of Evil.
I arbejdet med forløbet får eleverne viden og træning i The American System of Government og The American Media Landscape, Dystopic Fiction og The European Convention on Human Rights samt Literary, Rethorical, Stylistic og Discourse Analysis. Sideløbende med det faglige indhold holder eleverne sig orienteret om udviklingen i USA gennem præsentationer af relevante nyhedshistorier fra såvel etablerede som uafhængige medier.
The Trail of Political Consciousness
Star Wars-serien Andor er i høj grad et studie af den banale ondskab der driver totalitære regimer og de mekanismer der driver helt almindelige folk til at gøre oprør. Serien undersøger disse temaer gennem udviklingen af hovedpersonen Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) og de karakterer han møder på sin vej gennem universet: idealisten Karis Nemik (Alex Lawther) – hvis politiske manifest er en narrativ grundsten i serien – den kyniske oprørsleder Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgaard) og samvittighedsfulde politiker Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), kæresten Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) og ikke mindst antagonisterne Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) og Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) hos imperiets hemmelige politi ISB. I lyset af de totalitære strømninger der i øjeblikket skyller henover USA, er det svært ikke at se Andor som en slags politisk allegori i tråd med George Lucas’ kritik af Vietnamkrigen i den oprindelige trilogi. Andor handler om den rolle helt almindelige mennesker i helt almindelige samfund spiller kampen mod overmagt og tyranni.
There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.
– Andor: Season 1; Episode 12: “Rix Road”
The Instruments of Power
Som i Andor løber begreberne freedom and oppression side om side gennem amerikansk historie. Med punktnedslag i centrale tekster af f.eks. Frederick Douglass, Margaret Atwood og Timothy Snyder undersøger forløbet forholdet mellem undertrykkelse og frihed i USA fra opgøret med den britiske kolonimagt i The Declaration of Independence over borgerkrigen og abolition, Jim Crow-systemets raceadskillelse og The Civil Rights Movement til nutidens afvisning med WOKE-kultur og den konservative dagsorden i Project 2025 og MAGA-bevægelsen.
Forløbets indhold
- Excerpt from The Declaration of Independence (Nonfiction, 1776)
- Excerpt from The Constitution of the United States of America: “Preamble” and “The Bill of Rights” (Nonfiction, 1789)
- Arendt, Hannah: Excerpt from Eichmann in Jerusalem – A Report on The Banality of Evil (Nonfiction, 1963)
- Atwood, Margaret: Excerpt from The Handmaid’s Tale (Novel, 1985)
- Bradbury, Ray: “The Pedestrian” (Short Story, 1951)
- Cooke, Sam: “A Change is Gonna Come” (Song Lyric, 1963)
- Douglass, Frederick: Excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – An American Slave” (1845)
- Glover, Donald (Childish Gambino): “This is America” (Song Lyric, 2018)
- Haggard, Merle: “America First” (Song Lyric, 2005)
- Heritage Foundation: “Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership – The Conservative Promise” (Nonfiction, 2023)
- King, Martin Luther: “I have a Dream” (Political Speech, 1963)
- Lamar, Kendrick: “Alright” (Song Lyric, 2015)
- Lincoln, Abraham: “A House Divided Cannot Stand” (Political Speech, 1858)
- Lincoln, Abraham: “The Gettysburg Address” (Political Speech, 1863)
- Malcolm X: “The Ballot or the Bullet” (Political Speech, 1964)
- Milosz, Czeslaw: Excerpt from The Captive Mind (Nonfiction, 1953)
- Newton, Huey P and Seale, Bobby: “The Black Panther Party 10 Point Program and Platform” (Political Manifesto, 1966)
- Rage Against the Machine: “Know Your Enemy” (Song Lyric, 1992)
- Rushdie, Salman: “Step Across this Line” (Essay, 2002)
- Scott-Heron, Gil: “The Revolution Will Not by Televised” (Song Lyric, 1971)
- Snyder, Timothy: Excerpt from On Tyranny (Nonfiction, 2017)
- Snyder, Timothy: Excerpt from On Freedom (Nonfiction, 2024)
- Starwars: Andor Season 1, Episode 10 “One Way Out”: Luthen’s Monologue (TV Show, 2021)
- Starwars: Andor Season 1, Episode 12 “Rix Road”: Nemik’s Manifesto (TV Show, 2021)
- Trump: Donald: “Speech to a Joint Session of Congress” (Political Speech, 2025)
- Village People: “Y.M.C.A” (Song Lyric, 1978)
- Young, Neil: “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” (Song Lyric, 1989)
- Zweig, Stefan: Excerpt from The World of Yesterday (Autobiography, 1942)
The Sacrifice of Resistence
I en verden og en tid der kræver at vi tager stilling til vores værdier og tvinger os til at vælge mellem det rigtige og det nemme, sætter Andor fokus på de menneskelige omkostninger ved magtmisbrug og modstand. Der er ingen nemme valg, ingen nemme udveje, kun ofre.
Supervisor Lonni Jung: My sacrifice? It means nothing to you, does it?
Luthen Rael: I said I think of you constantly and I do. Your investment in the Rebellion is epic. A double life? Every day a performance? The stress of that? We need heroes, Lonni, and here you are.
Supervisor Lonni Jung: And what do you sacrifice?
Luthen Rael: Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet. What is my sacrifice? I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!
– Andor, Season 1; Episode 10: “One Way Out”
Viden er magt. Sprog skaber betydning. Husk det. Prøv.
