For roughly two decades now, an unmistakable intercultural diversity has been leaving its mark also on contemporary German-language literature. By Klaus Hübner...
more
The
writers Hans
Christoph Buch, Wolf Biermann, Klaus Harpprecht, Uwe Kolbe, Günter
Kunert, Gert Loschütz, Monika Maron and Peter Schneider have all signed the following condemnation of the new "Linkspartei", the leftist alliance spearheaded by Gregor Gysi (former
chairman of the PDS) and Oskar Lafontaine (former SPD finance minister
and rival of Chancellor Schröder).
"The 'Linkspartei', the new
party of the Left, is neither new nor Left. Just as the PDS, whatever
name it might go by, does not stand for democratic socialism. On the
contrary: the successor to the SED (or East German Communist Party) has
distanced itself just as half-heartedly from the East German police
state as its figurehead, Gregor Gysi, from his Stasi contacts. And
there is something unintentionally funny about the PDS preaching for a
return to the West German welfare state it fought so bitterly in the
past. The coalition with Oskar Lafontaine lends little credibility to
their politics because there is no turning away from a globalised world
and the European Union to a closed national state which believes in
creating social security by closing its borders.
Seen in this light,
Oskar Lafontaine's word on the "fremdarbeiter" (a populist word meaning foreign workers, with strong
racist associations for German ears as it was the euphemism for
"Zwangsarbeiter", the workers in the Nazi labour camps; ed.) who supposedly steal the
bread and butter from German workers, was not a slip of the tongue but
an oath of disclosure. Lafontaine follows in the footsteps of Jürgen P.
Möllemann (Chairman of the FDP liberal party who published what many saw as
anti-Semitic leaflets criticising Ariel Sharon's actions against the
Palestinians; ed.) and other populists on the edges of society. It is
telling that the PDS in East Germany did nothing against the rampant
xenophobia, but rubbed its hands gleefully behind closed doors - side by
side with the neo-Nazis of the NPD (German Nationalist Party).
The
convergence of Left and far Right ideology is more than just an
election manoeuvre. The no of the PDS to the European constitution
indicates this just as clearly as Lafontaine's objection to
reunification. If our insecure citizens were to be taken in by populist
demagogues and anti-Europeans such as Gysi and Lafontaine, the
democracy of the Federal Republic would be under threat just as it was
during the Weimar Republic."
*
The article originally appeared in German in the Die Welt on June 30, 2005.
Translation: lp.
RSS
Dragan Klaic arrived in Skopje on the day that Greece vetoed Macedonia's bid to join NATO at the summit in Bucharest. He found a nation reeling from this unexpected slap in the face.
No-one knows what the anti-Koran film 'Fitna' by the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders contains exactly. But fearing Muslim anger many are ready to make concessions regarding the fundamental freedom of expression. Gelijn Molier looks to nineteenth century philosopher John Stuart Mill for advice.
The deportation of Romanians from Italy in the wake of a murder committed by an ethnic Roma has caused a stir in Romania. Yet whereas Romanians object to this discrimination abroad, they fail to see that at home the Roma are treated with nothing but hatred and disdain, and neither the Church nor the state is doing anything about it. By Mircea Cartarescu
Since the 19th century Ukrainians have been dreaming of a return to the paradise lost of Europe. But Ukraine's rich and painful history remains a blank spot in the European collective consciousness, or a mighty underground river flowing out of Europe's cellar, littered with corpses. By Oksana Zabuzhko
The Amsterdam district of Slotervaart, where Theo van Gogh's murderer lived, continues to be plagued by outbreaks of violence from youths in the immigrant communities. Many of their parents have withdrawn from what they perceive as the hostile outside world, which they invariably blame when their children go astray. By Margalith Kleijwegt
The sexual revolution has run itself aground on the back of standardisation and banality. It's time to fight Hefnerism with radicalisation not restriction, declares Dylan van Rijsbergen 
No sooner were the fires put out reelected the government that bore the than Greek votersbrunt of responsibility for the tragedy. Did those who suffered so much learn no lesson from their distress? Crime writer Petros Markaris looks at why the Greeks have failed to find their way out of the political crisis rocking their country. 
The third anti-porn campaign of the women's feminist magazine Emma is absolutely necessary and, at the same time, hopelessly old-fashioned. You can't use the tools of the 70s to fight the pornographication of today's market - at least not if you want to win. By Iris Radisch 
Russian journalist and Putin critic Grigori Pasko talks with Tobias Goltz about the North Stream Pipeline, Russia's state-controlled media and how his like-minded colleagues are dropping off like flies. 
The elites of East Germany lack orientation, as only the West has left its imprint on the power structure. Roland Mischke talks with political scientist Gunnar Hinck about imbalances and incompetences among East German leaders.