The politics of aesthetic autonomy in interwar Britain and mandatory Palestine, 1918-1939

Abstract

This dissertation examines the intersection of aesthetic autonomy and self-determination between 1918 and 1939 in Britain and Mandatory Palestine. Challenging the conventional view of autonomy as an apolitical, solipsistic concern with the aesthetic, it argues that aesthetic autonomy, in its historical manifestations, was entwined with political concerns. During the interwar period, two key concepts of freedoms gained prominence in the political discourse—individual liberty and national self-determination. While British modernists interpreted autonomy as aligned with liberal democratic values, Jewish modernists in Mandatory Palestine engaged with it as a means of fostering national self-determination.

The first section focuses on abstract art in 1930s Britain, analysing its reception and production in relation to democratic values. Chapter one examines the debate in the 1930s British press about the political and social value of modern art, showing how aesthetic autonomy was framed in political terms, associated either with democratic ideals or with degeneration and cultural decline. Chapters two and three examine the abstract practices of Barbara Hepworth and Jessica Dismorr, demonstrating how each interpreted aesthetic autonomy in alignment with democratic freedoms, particularly personal autonomy and freedom of expression.

The second section turns to Jewish modernism in Mandatory Palestine to examine how aesthetic autonomy shaped cultural claims to national self-determination. It explores British-Jewish relationship and how modernists negotiated national self-determination within the cultural politics of the Mandate. Chapter four investigates British cultural policies and how imperial attitudes shaped official responses to Jewish art. Chapter five examines how Jewish modernists navigated this political landscape, interpreting autonomy to assert peoplehood.

Date of Award	3 Dec 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Sam Rose (Supervisor)