Een artistieke guerrillagroep. Hugo Claus, Harry Mulisch en de opera Reconstructie

Samenvatting

Abstract – In 1969 seven well-known artists – five composers and two literary writers – worked together on an opera called Reconstruction. They had been inspired by the Cuban revolution and had chosen the figure of Che Guevara as their main character. For the two writers, Hugo Claus and Harry Mulisch, this was a period in which they questioned the function of their work: they were eager to be politically committed, but also wanted to guarantee the artistic autonomy of their profession. The collective strategy of the Reconstruction group seemed a way in which they could put aside their reservations. A closer look at the opera, however, reveals that the problem of political commitment versus artistic experiment still had to be dealt with.