Revolutions Aesthetic: A Cultural History of Ba'thist Syria

In Revolutions Aesthetic, Max Weiss offers a comprehensive cultural and intellectual history of Ba'thist Syria, spanning from the rise of Hafiz al-Asad in 1970, through the transition under Bashar al-Asad, and into the Syrian War. Weiss explores how a state-sponsored Ba'thist cultural revolution attempted to align artistic production with the regime's ideological goals, and how independent artists, novelists, and filmmakers resisted or bypassed these official aesthetics. Drawing on a rich array of original sources, including novels, films, and cultural periodicals, this book examines key themes such as heroism, gender, comedy, surveillance, and memory, highlighting the aesthetic struggles that have shaped Syrian state and society over the past half-century.