In the television series Krimi.de, young detectives carry on investigations in four German cities: all without a special police unit and staff cars, but with courage and good ideas....
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Nepszabadsag | The Spectator| Letras Libres
| L'Espresso| L'Histoire | The New York Review of Books | The Times Literary Supplement | Elet es Irodalom | Le point | Die Weltwoche | Przekroj
Nepszabadsag 21.10.2007 (Hungary)
In the lead up to October 23, the anniversary of the 1956 Uprising in Hungary, complaints are coming in from all sides that the national day cannot be fittingly celebrated and that it means nothing to younger generations. Journalist Petri Lukacs attributes this disconnect to the absence of a culture of remembrance. "To this day, society has never discussed what these days of revolution meant to individual families. And yet we expect our children to understand everything that they are seeing now: crypto-Nazi protesters or national celebration days emptied of their meaning. We first have to inspire them to show an interest and gain familiarity with the history of their parents and grandparents. This means enlisting the help of schools and families to encourage children to discuss issues they learn about in school with their parents at home. This could lead to a much more nuanced picture of 1956 in the minds of the young."
The Spectator 20.10.2007 (UK)
Historian Norman Stone won't tolerate politics interfering with his work. Which is why he believes that the latest effort of the US Congress to "recognise the Armenian genocide" is counter-productive for all sides. "On the whole historians who know the subject and the sources (they are very difficult) do not take the 'genocide' line: the best recent account of it all is Guenther Lewy's 'A Disputed Genocide'. But whether they are right or wrong, it is surely nonsense for Congress to be involved at all, or any other body.(...) None of this is any help to Armenia; she is a poor and landlocked place, dependent for energy on of all places Iran, and without diaspora money she would be in an even worse state. She regularly loses people to emigration - 60,000 of them incidentally to Istanbul - and she badly needs good relations with Turkey. Perhaps such countries, once they are independent, should make a second declaration of independence from their diasporas."
Letras Libres 20.10.2007 (Spain/ Mexico)
Writer Gabriel Zaid lists a number of key misunderstandings about culture. "The belief that we are not animals, or that we are nothing but animals; the belief that everything has been discovered already, or that we could simply ignore all discoveries and 'start from scratch'; the belief that all traditions should be respected, or totally disregarded; the belief that everything was better in the past, or that it will be better in the future; the belief that all experiments are dangerous, or that no experiment is dangerous; the belief that culture should not or could not be commercial, or that it is a business like any other. "
L'Espresso 19.10.2007 (Italy)
"Mammoni" or "bamboccioni" are words used in Italy to describe young people who remain ever longer in the parental nest because of high rents and low wages. The minister of the economy Tommaso Padoa Schioppa has now suggested that these stay-at-homes who among other things are being held responsible for the low birth rate, should be tempted out of their hidey-holes by tax bonuses for living away from home. In his Bustina di Minerva Umberto Eco applauds this suggestion and takes up the fight for the minister and his controversial plan. "These thirty somethings are mostly graduates or doctors (as anyone who completes a three-year degree is absurdly called in Italy), who consider themselves too good to deliver parcels. Almost all American biographies of major writers or politicians show that they polished shoes after university, washed plates or sold newspapers. Why will Americans to do this and not Italians?"
L'Histoire September 2007
The French are fighting over the latest decree by Nicolas Sarkozy, ordering that the farewell letter written by 17-year-old Resistance fighter Guy Moquet to his parents be read out on the radio, TV and in schools. Moquet was a communist Résistant who was shot by the Nazis, along with 26 other hostages, in revenge for the murder of the Field Commander of Nantes, Fritz Hotz. Sarkozy wants the letter to revive the memory of the Resistance. For leading historian Jean-Pierre Azema, it is the job of teachers to plan history lessons. "Many people are opposed to this militarisation of remembrance: a letter which is to be read aloud in all educational establishments, every year at the same time? While the pupils basically stand to attention? We should leave it to the teachers to plan lessons, and if they decide to read out this letter, they should read it when they so choose and with the aid of works which shed light upon it."
More on this subject in Le Figaro: read the letter and its historical background, read the newspaper report. Watch a - somewhat kitschy - video on the subject on Telerama, and listen to sections of the letter read aloud.
The New York Review of Books 08.11.2007 (USA)
Malise Ruthven reviews a series of recent books on Islam, among them John Kelsay's "Arguing the Just War in Islam,"
Hans Küng's "Islam: Past, Present and Future" and Michael Bonner's "Jihad in Islamic History: Doctrines and Practice." All three deal with the question of whether Islam is actually a peaceful religion as Bush and Blair have insisted, or whether it doesn't sound the battle cry from the start.
Ruthven fears the worst: " Like it or not, these terrorist campaigns
were inspired by the example of the Prophet's struggle - his 'just
war'- against the Quraysh, the pagan tribesmen of Mecca. In the context
of the original conflict between the early Muslims and the Meccans, the
sources, including the Koran and the narratives of Muhammad's life,
suggest that 'fighting is an appropriate means by which Muslims
should seek to secure the right to order life according to divine
directives.' In militant readings of the Sharia, the historical
precedents are not so much interpreted as applied."
The Times Literary Supplement 19.10.2007 (UK)
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum has read the latest book by psychologist Philip Zimbardo, who became famous with his 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. The book is called "The Lucifer Effect," and investigates what makes people evil.
"Zimbardo concludes that situational features, far more than underlying
dispositional features of people's characters, explain why people
behave cruelly and abusively to others. He then connects these insights
to a detailed account of the abuses by United States soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison,
where, he argues, the humiliations and torments suffered by the
prisoners were produced not by evil character traits but by an evil system that,
like the prison system established in the SPE, virtually ensures that
people will behave badly. Situations are held in place by systems, he
argues, and it is ultimately the system that we must challenge, not the
frequently average actors." Nussbaum doesn't buy it: People, she
writes, "are not all alike. The research described by Zimbardo shows a
surprising level of bad behaviour in the experimental situations, but
nothing like uniformly bad behaviour."
Elet es Irodalom 19.10.2007 (Hungary)
Hungary has dropped to 17th place on the new worldwide ranking of press freedom
recently published by the organisation "Reporters without Borders."
Although this puts Hungary above all of the G8 countries, it
nonetheless gives critic Janos Szeky cause for thought.
"In 2004, Poland ranked roughly equal to Hungary, it then dropped to
56th place. This began – perhaps – with a steep fine for a journalist
said to have made an insulting comment about the Pope. The moral of
this and other stories is that one should be more careful with phrases
like 'something like that would never happen here' or 'Brussels would
never allow it.' Something like that is entirely possible here, and
Brussels is no frowning kindergarten teacher, but a
self-contented, somewhat cynical and hesitant political veteran with
almost no inkling of how to handle the fierce deviance of elites from
different schools. The questions must be put the other way around: do
the secret services have a stronger hold on society here? Are there
politicians here who see the media as a means and critics as an
enemy? And if yes, how many? Is there a tendency among the political
elite to establish and foster taboos? And how much freer is the press
in Hungary than in Poland? The answer is blowing in the east wind."
Le point 18.10.2007 (France)
Anthropologist and philosopher Rene Girard has discovered astonishing parallels between his own ideas and those of Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz. In an interview with Elisabeth Levy he explains the dire image of society painted in his book "Achever Clausewitz": "The world wars marked an important step in the rise of
extremes. September 11 2001 was the beginning of a new phase. Today's
terrorism still has to be thought through, because we haven't yet
grasped that a terrorist is ready to die in order to kill
Americans, Israelis or Iraqis. What's new here in relation to Western
heroism is that suffering and death are called for, if necessary by
experiencing them oneself. The Americans made the mistake of 'declaring
war' on Al Qaeda, without knowing whether Al Qaeda exists at all. The
era of wars is over: from now on war exists everywhere. Our era is one of universal action. There's no longer any such thing as an intelligent policy. We've almost reached the end."
Die Weltwoche 18.10.2007 (Switzerland)
Die Weltwoche prints a critical commentary by Swiss journalist Roger Schawinsk on Die Weltwoche, its editor in chief Roger Köppel – an admirer of the right-wing populist billionaire politician Christoph Blocher – and other Swiss journalists. Die Weltwoche is
"by far the most interesting publication in German-speaking
Switzerland," Schawinsky writes, and much of the credit goes to Köppel.
"No other major publication has anyone who can even
remotely measure up to him. In the publishing houses directed by
managers and run-of-the-mill publicists, other qualities are in demand. That's why nowadays – as opposed to in the recent past – no one else rises above tactical mediocrity.
This makes it very easy for Köppel to set the tone and
select the topics of the day. This is fatal. Because he takes
ice-cold advantage of a second asset: by siding with Blocher, he
profits from reactions similar to those that made the SVP Switzerland's
dominant party."
Przekroj 18.10.2007 (Poland)
Rafal Kostrzynski examines the future of Kosovo,
sensing a danger to the cohesion of the EU. "A unilateral declaration of
independence would mean a further blow to the common foreign policy of
the EU. Romania and Slovakia will have nothing to do with an
independent Kosovo, due to their Hungarian minorities. Greece fears Albanian separatism
in neighbouring Macedonia. Even Cyprus and Spain fear secession. The
opponents of sovereignty for Kosovo, however, can only do one thing:
demonstratively refuse diplomatic relations." But the disunity of the
EU and the dissatisfaction of Russia and Serbia will not stop the
Kosovars, Kostrzynski writes. "According to expert Adam
Balcer, the worst-case-scenario after the declaration of independence
would be a KFOR intervention to preserve the integrity
of Serbia under international law. Or the Serbian army will take care
of things, which would be tantamount to a repetition of 1999."
RSS
The New York Times investigates the new hunger for reality. In Salon, Andrzej Stasiuk sees only individual realities. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, the ethnologist Tomasz Rakowski describes the reality of the Polish poor mines. Sometimes you can turn reality on its head, El Pais reads in the Financial Times. Le Monde diplomatique gives the low-down on the ACTA talks. And the New Yorker dreams of less polish and a bit more grit.
In Magyar Narancs Agnes Heller demands more civil courage of the Hungarians. Mohammed Ali Atassi explains in Qantara, why conservatives in Egypt see women as candy: either wrapped or covered in flies. Oliver Roy outlines in Resetdoc, why's there not so much as a hair's breadth between the Christian right and the secular left. In Magazin, the philosopher Ludwig Haslar tells the Swiss that if they want mediocrity today, they cannot expect the superman tomorrow. Jonathan Safran Foer tells Prospect why he neither wants a chicken in his bed nor on his plate. The NYT embarks on a human-flesh search and finds a kitten killer.
The New Yorker tells the story of how corrupt podiatrists almost brought down the US health system. In Polityka, the Kapuscinski biographer Artur Domoslawski explains how he thinks the legendary reporter should be read. In Tygodnik, Zygmunt Bauman calls for more understanding for Kapuscinski. Magyar Narancs celebrates the ban on Holocaust denial in Hungary. In Le Point, Jorge Semprun asks whether Claude Lanzmann is the only person who's allowed to talk about the Holocaust. Wired describes how Google learned how to tell the difference between a hot dog and a poached pooch.
In Eurozine, the Transylvanian-Hungarian-Armenian writer Kinga Kali tells the story of a "virgjinesha". Prospect celebrates the next art superstar, Argentinian painter Guillermo Kuitca. The Gazeta Wyborcza explains how young people use the web. The New Yorker sends out a message to the depressed: stay away from psychiatric literature. Outlook Indian learns to play Carnatic music online. The London Review swims with the salmon sages.
The Atlantic finds out why the Chinese are not enemy number one in cyberspace. Elet es Irodalom asks why no one in Hungary is interested in former informers. In New Statesman, Tariq Ramadan can't tell us what a moderate Muslim is. The Guardian hearkens to the ticking bomb in Emily Dickinson's bosom and links it to the shards of crockery on the floor. And if it can't smoke, El Pais Semanal wants everything painted black.
In Prospect, Tim Berners-Lee invites the world to play with the British government's data. England, not Nigeria belongs on the terrorist list, literary Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka informs The Daily Beast. In Rue 89, Beppe Grillo explains why Sarkozy is more dangerous than Berlusconi. In Tygodnik Powszechny, Stefan Chwin mourns for the Polish idealist. Polityka reveals where a Pole turns to when he's not allowed to marry. Olga Tokarczuk walks her Polish tangle around Amsterdam for Salon. And the Guardian thinks about Armenian women rubbing their soft breasts on a stone.
In Wired, Chris Anderson celebrates the next industrial revolution - taking place in garages near you. The Boston Globe serenades the camel - Nabati style. In El Pais Semenal, the sociologist Edgar Morin complains about European lethargy. Outlook India asks why the Australians hate the Indians. Odra and Tygodnik are still debating the impact of freedom on literature. In OpenDemocracy, Salome Zourabichvili mourns for the wilted petals of the rose revolution. In Prospect, Martin Amis divides the literary sheep from the goats, according to the pleasure principle. The NYT profiles a dyed-in-the-wool jihadist from Alabama.
Das Magazin reports on the dramatic increase in the number of pupils who have threatened to gun down their classmates. The Spectator warns City bankers about gun-wielding dominatrices in Switzerland. In Sinn und Form, Marc Fumaroli remembers the man whose name shall not be mentioned: Mario Praz. In the New Humanist, Laurie Taylor remembers the holy men who sexually abused him as a child. The Guardian asks why Theo von Doesburg slipped into avant garde oblivion. And in the NYRB, Garry Kasparov asks why computer chess programmers are so uninspired?
OpenDemocracy explains why a novel called "Paranoia" suddenly disappeared from Belarussian bookshops. Prospect fears that a ban on Islam4UK could undermine British democracy. The Gazeta Wyborcza explores Polish-Jewish relations. Le Monde diplomatique watches the carving up of Africa. In El Pais Semanal, maths whizz Marcus du Sautoy explains the sex appeal of suduko. And Gerhard Richter manages to surprise the Nation.
The New Yorker buries itself in the Arab novel. In Le Monde, Bernard-Henri Levy heaps scorn on the state-run caricature of a debate. Qantara points to the person responsible for all the misery in the Arab world: Daddy. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco takes a pin to the overblown daily paper. The Nation has earmarked 30 billion dollars to save journalism. In Tygodnik Powszechny, the writer Wojciech Albinski explains what makes Poland exotic. And the Spectator waves a tear-stained old hanky as shabby chic fades into the past.
In Merkur, art historian Wolfgang Ullrich defines a new type of artist: the contractor. In Nepszabadsag, writer Peter Nadas considers the crisis in Hungary and how it might end. In NouvelObs, Francis Ford Coppola explains why DVDs should be free. Eurozine introduces Lithuanian literature. In the New York Review of Books, Wyatt Manson asks why Pleiade is omitting Celine's anti-Semitic trilogy from the collected works. In Express, Philippe Gavi reminds us that Mohammed was not a crazed killer. A Californian marvels in NZZ Folio, at the reincarnation of an Indian factory worker. And confronted with the recent proliferation of literary cuddling, the New York Times yearns for a bit of Philip Roth.
Wired tracks James Cameron's 32-year quest to out-Lucas Lucas. In Nouvel Obs, Alain Finkielkraut and Alain Badiou tear each other apart over immigration and national identity. Tygodnik Powszechny introduces the pioneering artist Miroslaw Balka. Andras Bozoki asks why Hungarians are undermining democracy. In The New Statesman, Leo McKinstry explains why the bombing of Coventry was an inspiration to the British Air Staff.
Vanity Fair goes in search of a superpartner. Elet es Irodalom reads a new collection of essays by Imre Keresz. Outlook India complains about journalistic corruption. The New Yorker reads a new Koestler biography. Nepszabadsag foresees the next French revolution. Rue89 wonders about the provenance of prawns. And in the New Republic, Moshe Halberthal celebrates the sublime humility of Amartya Sen.
In Wilson Quarterly, the economist Tyler Cowen sings an ode to multitasking. Prospect has seen the monsters of the left. The Boston Globe follows James C. Scott to the new Shangri-La in the mountains of Tibet. Weltwoche is up in arms about the criticism of Switzerland's anti-minaret vote. In the Novel Obs, Pierre Nora applies his mind to the bestseller. New Criterion knows why the Pop art bubble won't pop. NZZ Folio examines the chicken nugget. Al Ahram asks what political Islam wants. The Walrus mourns for the first victim of the C-58. In Resetdoc, Joseph Massad explains why Arab homosexuals are an invention of the West.
Slovenian poet Ales Debeljak argues for a fusion of cultures in Eurozine. Umberto Eco agrees in Le Monde. The Nation portrays the Salvadorian author Horacio Castellanos Moya, who himself explains in Babelia why 200 years after independence there's nothing to celebrate in a number of Latin American countries. Polityka lies Poland down on the couch. La vie des idees reads a book on Jews and the resistance in France. Americans read more than Europeans, writes historian Peter Baldwin in Merkur. And in The New York Review of Books Robert Darnton makes two bold proposals for a new Book Settlement.