Dramaturgie im zeitgenössischen Tanz ist ? positiv gemeint ? ein heißes Eisen. Idealerweise sind Dramaturginnen und Dramaturgen während der Erarbeitung eines Stücks die besten Freunde der Choreografen.
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Is
globalisation levelling out cultural differences? Or should we draw the
line and reject everything that comes from the West? Nonsense, says the
Slovenian poet and cultural critic Ales Debeljak (here in English):
"Instead of subscribing to the ideology that views the world through
the 'hard' lens of conflict between 'the West and the Rest', let us try
a theory that looks at the world through the 'soft' lens of 'westernistic'
civilization. An analogy between Hellenistic and westernistic
civilization is helpful. [...] The Hellenistic civilization of
Alexander the Great emanated from classical Greek heritage, but
territorially it stretched across the entire world then known to man,
reaching to Egypt and India, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. ... A special
fusion of Middle Eastern and Indo-Iranian cultural traditions on the
one hand, and ancient Greek tradition on the other, gave rise to forms
of collective life in which classical Greek ideas represented only the
backbone rather than the entire social body. Alexander the Great
systematically expanded both the borders of his multi-national empire
and the minds of his multi-cultural subjects. He encouraged 'mixed marriages' between Greek colonists and locals with the same fervour that he supported merging of Greek and local ideas and technologies."
Natasha Wimmer portrays the Salvadorian author Horacio Castellanos Moya, a friend of Roberto Bolano's, who has his own way of dealing with the cruel reality of Latin America: "The civil war, which ended in 1992, shaped Castellanos Moya's life and his fiction, but it never seems to have conquered his imagination. Though most of his novels (there are now nine) revolve in some way around the war and its aftereffects, Castellanos Moya never assimilates or romanticizes the culture of violence, never loses his hyper-awareness of its strangeness. As a writer, he is at once highly sensitive to brutality and unsentimental about it. In the brilliantly funny and unsettling 'Senselessness', which in 2008 became his first novel to be translated into English, the narrator is a writer who has taken a job copy-editing an eleven-hundred-page human rights report on the massacre of Indians during the civil war in an unnamed Central American country, and who finds himself struck by the strange beauty of the language in which the victims describe the violence of their aggressors. The phrases he copies down migrate into his banal accounts of office politics and failed seductions, until gradually the horrors that the Indians describe leak into his consciousness and turn what was a mild case of the jitters into raging paranoia."
As the debate over Imre Kertesz's interview in Die Welt spirals out of control, the writer Laszlo Darvasi points
to a failure to get to the crux of the matter. "Of course a Nobel laureate must expect his words to
engender countless interpretations, commentaries and footnotes. But is
that a normal reaction? Is it normal for such words to provoke an
emotional reaction in the 'entire community'? Is it normal that the
words of a Nobel laureate will affect the entire writing community,
even society as a whole, teachers, porters, fishermen and parking
attendants, just because a Nobel laureate is a 'representative figure'
and the country and we in it seem more important through the eyes of a Nobel laureate? Really? [...] Everything that Kertesz stands for is about not complying
with representative expectations. And he is not complying with them
now. Does it not make a lot more sense to view Kertesz, in spite of his
words, as a free writer who is responsible only for himself, and to
allow him a writer's existence based on normal circumstances,
which is the right of any artist? Not to see him as an immovable fixed
point, but as a living, problematic figure?"
The Polish are a neurotic lot, writes Joanna Podgorska (here in German),
with a generally positive view of themselves and a deep mistrust of
everyone else. "In a study carried out in 2007 by Piotr Radkiewicz and
Krystyna Skarzynska, almost 70 percent of Polish people said they were
satisfied with their lives, and 90 percent said it was important to be vigilant against deception;
84 percent were convinced that society is full of people ready to
attack others for no reason, out of pure malice. Over 60 percent agreed
that, as the years go by, fewer people deserve respect, and that there
are increasing numbers of people with no moral backbone, who represent
a threat to others. According to this survey, we feel comfortable living in hell. Where does this schizophrenia come from?"
Historian of ideas Michel Winock outlines his misgivings about the French debate on "national identity" that was the brain child of Nicolas Sarkozy and which is being carefully watched over by integration minister Eric Besson: "A deeply suspect
debate. Is the idea to define 'identity', so that it can serve as a
role model for new immigrants to France, or it is meant to protect
against them? National identity cannot be decreed. If the state pokes
its nose in here, surely it will only be to be to draw normative
conclusions, in order to define a sort of quintessence of Frenchness, that will be used to distinguish between good and bad French people?"
The
art market boom is over for now, but you could hardly call it a crash.
This, at least, is the conclusion of a sweeping study, which The Economist presents in detail: "The World Wealth Report,
published by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch, charts the spending habits of
the rich the world over. It includes art as one of a range of luxury
items they like to buy. According to the report, in 2007 there were
over 10m people with investible assets of 1m dollars or more. Last year
that number dropped to 8.6m and many rich people scaled back their 'investments of passion'—yachts,
jets, cars, jewellery and so on. But the proportion of all luxury
spending that went on art increased as investors looked for assets that
would hold their value in the longer term."
Umberto Eco is no Bible basher but, he asks,
if you can't tell your Moses from your Matthew, how will you cope in a
museum? "Three-quarters of western art is completely indecipherable to
someone with no idea of what happened in the Old and New Testaments and
in the history of the saints. Who's that woman with the eyeballs on a plate? Is she from Night of the Living Dead? And that knight
tearing his coat in half, is he on some anti-Armani mission? In plenty
of cultural situations, school kids learn everything about the death of
Hector, but nothing about the death of St. Sebastian; everything, perhaps, about the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia
and nothing about the marriage at Cana? In his some countries, there is
a strong tradition of reading the scriptures and the children know all
about the golden calf but nothing about the wolf of Francis of Assisi." Lucky we've go the Internet then, eh?
The USA might not be as European as Sweden, but it can offer the UK, Italy and France a run for their money, writes the historian Peter Baldwin, and dispels a number of cliches about social spending, criminality, religion and education. "Simone de Beauvoir
was convinced that since the Americans do not think, they do not need
to read. Thinking is difficult to quantify, and reading, even less so.
And the Americans, it emerges, do read. The percentage of illiterate
Americans corresponds to the European average. There are more newspapers per capita
in America than anywhere in Europe, with the exception of the
Scandinavian countries, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The long tradition
of well financed public libraries in the United States has left the
average American with more with books than their counterparts in
Germany, England, France, the Netherlands, Austria and all
Mediterranean countries. They also use the libraries more than most
Europeans."
America's best reporter Seymour Hersh talks in an interview about the pitfalls of investigative journalism, such as the dangers of quoting unnamed sources
or what he describes, later on in the article, as a "higher-level
former senior intelligence official": "I hate that. Therefore, the way
in my own mind that I cope with that anomaly, that disgrace, if you
will, is that I say I welcome people suing me. I've been in a
lot of litigation. I welcome that on the grounds that it is an
appropriate measure. I think I've been in seven. We were in court once
and the critical issue was that the judge was going to make me reveal
my sources. I was going to have to say that we conceded the point and
be found guilty of libel. The judge was a Reagan appointee in
Chicago a couple of decades ago, and the Reagan appointee ruled that I
didn't have to name sources. I went on camera and we went to the judge,
and we gave an account of six people and gave a description of them,
and the judge accepted that they were real -- that I was serious and I
had sources. But if he hadn't, I think I would have had to concede the
case."
People
no longer trust their governments, the average citizen and his
aristocratic leader are growing ever further apart, and the power of democracy in Europe is waning. One reason for this, according to journalist Robert Friss,
lies in the outmoded European model of the nation state, and the
increasing contempt of the citizens for its representatives. "If the
European community doesn't want to be increasingly sidelined, it must
do away with the divisive romanticism of the nation state. The
first step is to strengthen European awareness and wave goodbye to the
omnipotence of the domineering nation state. Consideration must be
given to the formation of a delicate balance between the freedoms and
the guaranteed quality of life, not of the national but of the European
citizen; and decisions must be made on jurisdiction at collective,
member-state and regional levels. There is no role model here:
Europe has to create its very own, new and efficient political
structure, which allows and also controls the free flow of capital.
Namrata Joshi describes the huge Arab interest in the Indian terror films - Kabir Khan's "New York", Jai Tank's "Madholal Keep Walking" and Dr Biju's "Raman, Travelogue of Invasion" - which were screened at the film festival in Cairo. Although this also unleashed a storm of pirate copies, Director Kabir Khan is unperturbed. "Despite grossing US 1.5 million dollars at the box office, 'New York' is estimated to have lost close to a million dollars to piracy in the Middle East. But its success could open up newer markets for Indian films. 'We have managed to make inroads into territories where our films don't get released theatrically,' says Kabir. Yashraj has been approached by Arab distributors for theatrical and television rights of New York in Egypt and Morocco. Karan Johar's forthcoming film, 'My Name is Khan', which is being distributed worldwide by Fox, will also get released in Cairo next year. Perhaps then, SRK, Aamir and Salman will inch their way towards becoming the Power Khans."
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The Republicans are waging a war against women, the New York Magazine declares. Perhaps it's because women are so unabashed about reading porn in public - that's according to publisher Beatriz de Moura in El Pais Semanal, at least. Polityka remembers Operation Reinhard. Tensions are growing between Poland and Hungary as Victor Orban spreads his influence, prompting ruminations on East European absurdity from both Elet es Irodalom and salon.eu.sk. Wired is keeping its eyes peeled on the only unassuming sounding Utah Data Center.
In Telerama, Benjamin Stora grabs hold of the Algerian boomerang. In Eurozine, Slavenka Drakulic tells the Venetians that they should be very scared of Chinese money. Bela Tarr tells the Frankfurter Rundschau and the Berliner Zeitung that his "Turin Horse", which ends in total darkness was not intended to depress. In die Welt, historian Dan Diner cannot agree with Timothy Snyder's "Bloodlands": National Socialism was not like Communism - because of Auschwitz.
In Perfil author Martin Kohn explains why Argentina would be less
Argentinian if it won back the Falklands. In Il sole 24 ore, Armando
Massarenti describes the Italians as a pack of illiterates sitting atop a
treasure trove. Polityka introduces the Polish bestseller of the season:
Danuta Walesa's autobiography. L'Express looks into the state of
Japanese literature one year after Fukushima.
In Merkur, Stephan Wackwitz muses on poetry and absurdity in Tiflis. Outlook India happens on the 1980s Indian answer to "The Artist". Bloomberg Businessweek climbs into the cuckoo's nest with the German Samwar brothers. Salon.eu.sk learns how to line the pockets of a Slovenian politician. In the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Navid Kermani reports back impressed from the Karachi Literature Festival. 
In La Vie des idees, historian Anastassios Anastassiadis explains why we should go easy on Greece. Author Aleksandar Hemon describes in Guernica how ethnic identity is indoctrinated in the classroom in Bosnia and Herzogovina. In Eurozine, Klaus-Michael Bogdal examines how Europe invented the Gypsies. Elet es Irodalon praises the hygiene obsession of German journalists. And Polityka pinpoints Polish schizophrenia.
The New Republic sees a war being waged in the USA against women's rights. For Rue89, people who put naked women on the front page of a newspaper should not be surprised if they go to jail. In Elet es Irodalom, historian Mirta Nunez Daaz-Balart explains why the wounds of the Franco regime never healed. In Eurozine, Stephen Holmes and Ivan Krastev see little in common between the protests in Russia and those in the Arab world.
In Letras Libras Enrique Krauze and Javier Sicilia fight over anarchy levels. In Elet es Irodalom Balint Kadar wants Budapest to jump on the Berlin bandwagon. In Le Monde Imre Kertesz has given up practically all hope for a democratic Hungary. Polityka ponders poetic inspiration and Wislawa Szymborska's "I don't know". In Espressso, Umberto Eco gets eschatological.
Poland's youth have taken to the streets to protest against Acta and Donald Tusk has listened, Polityka explains. Himal and the Economist report on the repression of homosexuality in the Muslim world. Outlook India doesn't understand why there will be no "Dragon Tattoo" film in India. And in Eurozine, Slavenka Drakulic looks at how close the Serbs are to eating grass.
In the French Huffington Post, philosopher Catherine Clement explains why the griot Youssou N'Dour had next to no chance of becoming Senegal's president. Peter Sloterdijk (in Le Monde) and Umberto Eco (in Espresso) share their thoughts about forgetting. Al Ahram examines the post-electoral depression of Egypt's young revolutionaries. And in Eurozine, Kenan Malik defends freedom of opinion against those who want the world to go to sleep.
Il Sole Ore weeps at the death of a laughing Vincenzo Consolo. In Babelia, Javier Goma Lanzon cries: Praise me, please! Osteuropa asks: Hungaria, quo vadis? The newborn French Huffington Post heralds the birth of the individual in the wake of the Arab Spring. Outlook India is infuriated by the cowardliness of Indian politicians in the face of religious fanatics.
In Nepszabadsag the dramatist György Spiro recognises 19th century France in Hungary today. Peter Nadas, though, in Lettre International and salon.eu.sk, is holding out hope for his country's modernisation. In Open Democracy, Boris Akunin and Alexei Navalny wish Russia was as influential as America - or China. And in Lettras Libras, Peter Hamill compares Mexico with a mafia film by the Maquis de Sade.
Are books about to become a sort of author-translator wiki, asks Il Sole 24 Ore. Rue 89 reports on the "Tango Wars" in downtown Buenos Aires. Elet es Irodalom posits a future for political poetry. In Merkur, Mikhail Shishkin encounters Russian pain in Switzerland. Die Welt discovers the terror of the new inside the collapse of the old in Andrea Breth's staging of Isaak Babel's "Maria". And Poetry Foundation waits for refugees in Lampedusa. 
Technology Review sees Apple as the next Big Brother. In Eurozine, Per Wirten still fears the demons of the European project. Al Ahram Weekly features Youssef Rakha's sarcastic "The honourable citizen manifesto". Revista Piaui profiles Iraqi-Norwegian geologist Farouk Al-Kasim. Slate.fr comments on the free e-book versions of Celine's work. And Die Welt celebrates the return of Palais Schaumburg.
Andre Glucksman in Tagesspiegel looks at the impact of the Putinist plague on Russia and Europe. In Letras Libras Martin Caparros celebrates the Kindle as book. György Dalos has little hope that Hungary's intellectuals can help get their country out of the doldrums. Le Monde finds Cioran with his head up the skirt of a young German woman. The NYT celebrates the spread of N'Ko, the West African text messaging alphabet.
MicroMega cheers recent landmark Mafia convictions in Milan. Volltext champions Hermann Broch. Elet es Irodalom calls the Orban government’s attack on cultural heritage "Talibanisation". Magyar Narancs is ambiguous about new negotiations with the IMF. Telerama recommends the icon of anti-colonialism Frantz Fanon. Salon.eu.sk quips about the dubious election results in Russia, and voices in the German press mark the passing of Christa Wolf. And in the Anglophone press Wired profiles Jeff Bezos, while the Columbia Journalism Review polemicises the future of internet journalism.