Monday 11 April, 2005

Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 11.04.2005

On the hundredth birthday of the hapless Hungarian poet Attila Jozsef (1905-1937) who committed suicide at 32, Karl-Markus Gauß writes: "During his whole life, Attila Jozsef was unable to free himself from the poverty that had marked his childhood. And that, although the authoritative men of letters of his time were certain that Attila Jozsef, who pubished his first book of verse at 17, was one of the major poets of their language. Attila Jozsef himself was also fully aware that although he came from the very dregs of Hungarian society, he had a calling to become the bard of the entire nation. He sang his song from the margins, but with it he stirred the hearts of the epoch. He agonised over so much, yet did not doubt the quality of his poetic work. Yes, he knew that he himself was in a way the voice of things. 'Be it gruesome or grandiose: / It is not I who clamours, the earth drones'." Click here for poems by Attila Jozsef in English.

Belgium was founded 175 years ago, when the Walloons and the Flemish decided to forge a common national identity. Marc Zitzmann looked for commonalities: "Typical Belgian qualities include an enormous capacity for (lazy) compromises, a distrust – transmitted in mother's milk - of any form of authority, a great enthusiasm for building single family homes (or on the part of the state, highways) which goes together with a pervasive blindness in urban issues, the ability to muddle through the deepest mess and impulsiveness- often paired with mental laziness. The first head of state after the war, Achille Van Acker, earns the prize for summarising most succinctly the approach of countless politicians and/or citizens: 'D'abord j'agis et puis je reflechis' – act first, think later."


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11.04.2005

Wilfried Wiegand has visited two exhibitions in Berlin featuring the works of 19th century Berlin painter Adolph Menzel (1815-1905), who died one hundred years ago aged almost 90. "For a long time, Menzel was seen as something of a Prussian court painter because of his historical paintings. Only with the advent of the 20th century was he freed from this role, when critics laid greater emphasis on the impressionistic Menzel, and less on the painter of Frederick the Great. Sketch-like early works like the "The Balcony Room" were granted central importance, while his later work moved to the margins of interest. Since the major exhibition of 1996/1997, the tides have been changing again, in part because at that time, Parisian critic Edmond Duranty's grandiose formula about Menzel's 'névrose du vrai' with reference to the last period, came to light once more. For Duranty, Menzel was in perfectly good health, but had 'an almost neurotic urge for artistic truth'." The exhibitions "Menzel und Berlin: Eine Hommage" (Menzel and Berlin: an homage) at the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett and "Menzel und der Hof" (Menzel and courtly life) at the Alte Nationalgalerie can be seen until June 5.


Die Welt, 11.04.2005

Berthold Seewald asks why the impetus for historical debates comes from outsiders to the discipline such as Jörg Friedrich or Götz Aly. Seebald's answer: academics are too cautious, roundabout and require an entire book to prove that, for example, Hitler was responsible for the Holocaust. "Simple, clear answers, or as in the case of Aly, concise answers are needed. And those who provide them are invested with the confidence that society does not grant those who are state-financed." According to Seewald, it is in particular the clear language that distinguishes Aly from his colleagues in academia. "'The German pension funds also profitted from forced labour' - most of Aly's professorial colleagues would only dare to make such a statement behind a wall of footnotes, theoretical references and dashes."

Mark Leonard, Director of International Policy at the Centre for European Reform in London explains why Europe will be more powerful than the USA in the twenty first century: "The lonely super power can bribe, persuade, silence or exercise its will almost anywhere in the world – but as soon as it turns its back, its effect disappears. The strength of the EU, on the other hand, is wide and deep: when countries enter its sphere of influence, they change permanently. In the course of the last 50 years, Europe, under the protection of the USA, founded a community of democracy and used the power of the market as well as visions to renew societies from the inside. As India, Brazil, South Africa and even China develop economically and mature politically, the model of Europe develops an irresistible drawing power; its realm of prosperity and security will expand. Together with us, the countries that are attracted to the EU will found a new European century."


die tageszeitung, 11.04.2005

The taz features a complaint by Robin Detje about the growing influence of advertising and the shrinking of article space in the quality newspapers. "The old days were perhaps no better for other reasons. But one day back then the capricious and creative editors of the innovative Zeit Magazine were sitting in the hall of the editorial office smoking a joint. A small, cantankerous man came down the hall, dressed in a trench coat and the type of hat worn by East German leader Erich Honecker. 'Who's that square?' a stoned editor called out. It was Gerd Bucerius, owner of the whole establishment, who was disappearing into his office... Bucerius could tolerate people who were different from him, because as a businessman he knew that was useful. This self-confidence was the hallmark of the old-style publishers. These men should not be idealised, they were no sweetie pies, with them there were other things to worry about. But the comparison with their successors is well worth it. The publishers of today are so insecure that they don't want anything to do with people who aren't managers like themselves."


Saturday 9 April, 2005

Die Welt, 09.04.05

In the literary section, the British journalist Christopher Hitchens praises the "depressing, alarming and courageous book by Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, "Putin's Russia", which has hardly received any attention from the German press. "Anna Politkovskaya's book was written in hot blood, which is nothing to be ashamed of. It describes things you can't talk about without emotion: the abhorrent brutality of the Russian officer corps, the undisguised prejudice and cowardice of the courts, the corruption that eats away at every member of the business oligarchy like gangrene, and the malignant cynicism of public opinion. The heart of it all – if there is one – is the systematic cruelty of Moscow's policies in Chechnya. That is fitting, as it reminds one of the bad old days in the Caucasus which Lermontov, and later Tolstoy, referred to so frequently. But the book also brings us up to date on the crisis facing people of good conscience in Russia today." Anna Politkovskaya is winner of the Lettre Ulysses Award, the most prestigious international prize for literary reporing.


die tageszeitung, 09.04.05

In the taz mag culture magazine, Peter Münder portrays the former Washington-based KGB agent Viktor Cherkashin, whose book "Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer" has just appeared in the USA. "Even in the KGB, paranoia was ever-present; Lenin's maxim 'trust is good, control is better' was internalised, and set the general trend. Of course, a major task was to weaken the opponent through infiltration and enticement. But it was also dangerous for people to change sides, risking being exposed as traitors – that generally meant immediate execution."