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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Memorial's Arseni Roginski talks about Katyn and Russia's distorted self-image. Olga Tokarczuk pens an essay on the "neurotic theatre of Catholic nationalism" in Poland. Islam expert Olivier Roy distances himself from the term "Islamophobia". In Google's stats of government censorship requests, Germany is currently standing proud in second place. And can we expect more from a 50-year-old Neo Rauch than an endless stream of pseudo-connections?
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If you think old age is peaceful, says the 87-year old writer Ilse Helbich, think again. The German reggae star Gentleman tells us to accept Jamaican homophobia: it's part of the culture. The Süddeutsche Zeitung rushes, cassock flapping, to the side of the Pope. Film director Rosa von Praunheim sends a love letter to the grave of his fellow filmmaker Werner Schroeter, whose talents even Fassbinder admired. Pawel Huelle is stunned by the apotheosis of Lech Kaczynski. And Peter Nadas blames the west for the success of the far-right in Hungary.
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Lazlo F. Földenyi prepares for the shock of an 80 percent victory by the far-right and the populists in the Hungarian elections. The sexologist Volkmar Sigusch explains that paedophile tendencies are no more curable than attraction to adult women. The author Thomas Hettche explains why he would never dream of starting a blog. Die Welt is cautiously optimistic about Putin's attendance of the Katyn memorial ceremony. And Japanese society is sagging at the prospect of longevity.
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Die Zeit probes the "silence of the men" about the child abuse scandal at the Odenwaldschule. Die Welt looks at the silence of the West in response to Iran's "green movement". Christoph Schlingensief remembers the magic moments of his musical education under Wolfgang Wagner. Markus Martin meets Chinese poet Bei Dao, whose books are back on the Chinese market although he is not allowed home. And we learn why social networking is the only thing that can save us from the Matthew effect of the Google algorithm.
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The Feuilletons this week were preoccupied by two issues: child abuse by the Catholic Church, and (again!) copy-paste abuse by the young German writer Helene Hegemann. The FAZ looks back at the days when castration was considered an acceptable method of producing angelic voices. Die Zeit looks to the narcissistic principle of similarity in a patriarchal society for an explanation. On the eve of the Leipzig Book Fair, a list of German writers, Günter Grass and Christa Wolf among them, sign a petition against plagiarism - although, as we discover, Christa Wolf might be considered a pioneer in such matters herself.
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The Dutch author Hans Maarten van der Brink lists a number of contradictory reasons why his compatriots might give Geert Wilders their vote in June. Ai Weiwei defends his heavy surfing habit. Die Welt prints a reportage on the first ever critical edition of the Koran, coming to you from Potsdam. Mircea Cartarescu explains why he's too old to write poetry. And the taz and the NZZ report on reprisals against writers in Iran.
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Having been apprehended on his way to the lit.cologne, Liao Yiwu sends his German readers a song for the dongxiao. Die Welt describes Ryszard Kapuscinski as a partisan writer who was prone to self-censorship. In the NZZ, Martin Pollack explains why he won't be translating the Kapuscinski biography into German - not becuase of its truths but because of its tone. The pianist Krystian Zimerman explains the difference between volume and dynamism. The FAZ bemoans the influence of the collector in today's art market. And Gunter Grass has opened his Stasi file.
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Frank Rieger of the Computer Chaos Club looks at the algorithmic structure of state surveillance. The feuilletons are all happy about "Honey" getting the Golden Bear at an otherwise lame duck of a Berlinale. Theatre director Frank Castorf explains why the poet Michael Reinhold Lenz is not Kurt Cobain. And Adam Krzeminski mourns the 'curse' of being Romanian, Polish, Latvian or Slovak.
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Polanski's "Ghost Writer" has brought architectural torment to the Berlinale, of the type only a good brandy can relieve. Audiences booed at Oskar Roehler's "Jew Suess - Rise and Fall", as soon as a nerve was touched. Benjamin Heisenberg provokes sympathy with the bank robber and marathon runner "Pumpgun Ronnie". In the plagiarism scandal surrounding Helene Hegemann's book "Axelotl Roadkill" the criticism is now being directed back at the critics. And Czech writer Radka Denemarkova is furious at her country for sweeping the past under the carpet.
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While Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick focusses his attention on culinary cinema, Werner Herzog describes how to organise your own Berlinale. Psychiatrist and writer Ion Viona explains why post-communist Romania is built on quicksand. The feuilletons were shaken, but not really, to discover that child prodigy Helene Hegemann copied and pasted much of her celebrated novel "Axolotl Roadkill". The Tagesspiegel sets out on the trail of the clan behind the "honour killing" of Hatun Sürücü. And the SZ reports on an impressive show of solidarity at Hrant Dink's trial in Istanbul.
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The FR tells Germany to grant its immigrants suffrage. The FAZ observes Austria's desperate struggle to hold onto its remaining sovereignty. In die Welt, Zafer Senocak turns the attention of the Europeans towards the modern face of the Muslim woman. The SZ is spellbound by Maurizio Pollini, who just does everything right. An obituary to J.D. Salinger celebrates his androgynous style. And Tehran's Fajr Film Festival is haemorrhaging jurors.
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Henryk Broder explains why being dubbed a "hate preacher" can feel like a compliment. Andrzej Stasiuk visits the bare patch of earth that was once a death camp in Belzec. Necla Kelek tugs at the Islamic veil. Die Welt applauds the young and philanthropic German playwright Nis-Momme Stockmann. The NZZ listens to the exhilarating and highly complex compositions of Conlon Nancarrow for the mechanical piano. Die Zeit skips Virgil and heads for gluttony level in 'Inferno'.
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Feuilletonistic debate has become increasingly vicious since the Swiss minaret ban and the attack on Kurt Westergaard. The critics of Islam have been denounced by the Christian heads of Germany's quality feuilletons as "hate preachers" and "holy warriors". "No one is going to stop me from criticising my religion," counters Necla Kelek, one of the three Muslim women and a lone Jewish man who make up the opposition this week.
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It's not Poland that should westernise, says Polish author Stefan Chwin, but the West which should recognise Poland as one of its own. Philosopher Abdolkarim Soroush explains why Iran's green revolution needs a theory. Writer Peter Shneider is tired of being treated like a minor at the airport. The head of Berlin's Museum of Islamic art explains why, unlike the Met, it will be showing its paintings of Mohammed. And the taz learns that Deleuze could not stomach Wittgenstein, but was partial to brain, tongue and marrow.
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After the attack on Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, the editor of the SZ feuilleton says it's not worth defending something as stupid as his Mohammed cartoons. Henryk Broder, on the other hand, remembers how the media leapt to Rushdie's defence, and paints a picture of creeping capitulation. Arno Widman remembers Albert Camus as the writer who taught us the value of the individual over society, and not the other way around. The head of Surhkamp, Ulla Unseld-Berkewicz, wonders whether quality publishers have any edge at all today. The NZZ traces the highs and lows of pop falsetto.
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