The Stage As A Work Of Art

Stage designers is developing more and more into the most important element of stage productions. It is set designers or ?spatial artists? like Johannes Schütz, Muriel Gerstner, Stéphane Laimé and Olaf Altmann who are ?to blame? ? they are the ones who can turn an evening at the theatre into a total work of stationary art.... more more

GoetheInstitute

My Germany

Monday 24 April, 2006

I want to see Turks en masse waving the German flag. Jobs, rules, the German language and free religion – these must be the pillars of a new German society. Today's West Germans, East Germans and foreign Germans are perhaps only the forefathers of the curious folk we will be in thirty years. And then, what belongs together will grow together. An appeal by Feridun Zaimoglu.
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Happier without father

Monday 10 April, 2006

Turkish-born German sociologist Necla Kelek has been accused of painting the Turkish community in Germany in a bad light. In an interview with Michaela Schlagenwerth, she explains that what she sees is what she writes. More dangerous than her portrayal, she says, is the pervasive blindness to the facts. (Photo Lebeck)
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Taking the immigrant test

Wednesday 15 March, 2006

As Germany toys with the idea of introducing tests to screen prospective immigrants, Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht cautions not to confuse rules with culture and asks: what is the norm, anyway?
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Separating truth and belief

Monday 6 March, 2006

A clash of cultures? No, of mindsets. Philosopher Andre Glucksmann on truth and belief, and why the Danish Muhammad cartoons and cartoons about the Holocaust are two different things.
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Muhammad Cartoon Special

Thursday 16 February, 2006

Since they were published in September last year, the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons have excited responses from every corner. We've translated a daily press review, a distinction between truth and belief by French philosopher Andre Glucksmann, a balanced appraisal by Islamic scholar Navid Kermani, an interview with the Lebanese poet Abbas Beydoun, an open letter by eleven French writers, a statement of indignation by Sonia Mikich and a piece on how it all began by Jörg Lau.
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Rousing the lethargic bull

Wednesday 15 February, 2006

Anyone familiar with Middle Eastern literature knows it abounds with jesters who heap scorn on God, the mullahs, and rulers. But if Western media show endless stereotypes of Muslims - hooded men with machine guns and faces distorted with rage - you should not be surprised when hatred escalates and turns violent. By Navid Kermani
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The right to blaspheme

Tuesday 14 February, 2006

The disconcerting thing about the cartoon conflict is having to remind people that we have the right to commit blasphemy, that picking on the parish priest has long been a national sport. When we talk about anti-Muslim racism, we ask: what race are we talking about? Is Islam genetically transmittable? An open letter by eleven French writers.
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Under suspicion

Wednesday 8 February, 2006

Tariq Ramadan is the most important thinker in Switzerland, even if most Swiss have never heard of him. Who is this man that some consider to be a terrorist hero and others, a Muslim Martin Luther? By Martin Beglinger
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"What next, bearded one?"

Tuesday 7 February, 2006

We are offended. Our traditional values have been quashed. Freedom of speech and reason are sacred to us. And let's not forget, the world isn't flat. A wake-up call. By Sonia Mikich.
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Who's afraid of Muhammad?

Thursday 2 February, 2006

In September, the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Some Muslims were not amused. Jörg Lau explains how the seemingly innocent pictures caused an international crisis.
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The twelve Muhammad cartoons

Thursday 2 February, 2006

A new Rushdie affair? The European press is full of the heated debate over the Muhammad cartoons. A survey.
Updated on Friday, February 24.
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French Riots Special

Wednesday 06 December, 2005

After weeks of heavy press coverage on the rioting in the French suburbs we have compiled a dossier with four related feature articles as well as a comprehensive collection of international voices from In Today's Feuilletons and our Magazine Roundup.
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So long, Marianne

Tuesday 22 November, 2005

The riots in the French suburbs are taking place in an atmosphere rife with male violence where girls and women live in fear. If we really want to address the problem of burning cars, then we must also tackle the problem of burning girls. By Alice Schwarzer
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Integration through negation

Tuesday 15 November, 2005

French philosopher Andre Glucksmann sees the rioting French suburbs as an expression of hatred. You can blame socio-economic conditions, he says, but you won't get to the root of the problem until you look this hatred in the eye.
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The price of disdain

Friday 11 November, 2005

French author Francois Bon has spent years giving writing workshops to youths in the suburbs that are now being set ablaze. He looks critically at where the violence originated and with despair at where it's headed.
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