ìñtèrkùltùràlnòst - Zavod za kulturu Vojvodine

Transcription

Magazine for stiMulation and affirMation of intercultural coMMunication / octoBer 2013 / no. 06
Aleksandra Perović
issn 2217-4893
ìñtèrkùltùràlnòst
ISSN 2217-4893
Magazine for stimulation and affirmation of intercultural communication / OCTOBER 2013 / NO. 06
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INTERCULTURALITY
Magazine for stimulation and affirmation of intercultural communication
Publisher: Institute for culture of Vojvodina, Vojvode Putnika 2, Novi Sad,
phone no. +381 21 4754148, 4754128, [email protected]
President and Chief Executive Officer: Vladimir Kopicl
Editor-in-Chief: Aleksandra Đurić Bosnić, M.Phil.
Assistant Editors: Dušan Marinković, Ph.D, Novi Sad / Ivana Živančević Sekeruš, Ph.D, Novi Sad /
Željko Vučković, Ph.D, Sombor / Aleksandra Jovićević, Ph.D, Belgrade, Rome / Dragana Beleslijin, M.Phil, Novi Sad /
Dragan Jelenković, M.F.A, Pančevo, Belgrade / Ira Prodanov, Ph.D, Novi Sad, Andrej Mirčev, Ph.D, Osijek, Rijeka /
Vera Kopicl, Novi Sad / Miroslav Keveždi, MA, Novi Sad
Contributing Authors: Franja Petrinović, Novi Sad / Sava Stepanov, Novi Sad / Ivana Vujić, Belgrade /
Saša Brajović, Ph.D, Belgrade / Nicolae Manolescu, Ph.D, Bucharest / Serge Pey, Paris / Majda Adlešić, M.Phil, Novi Sad /
Tanja Kragujević, Belgrade / Nada Savković, Ph.D, Novi Sad / Damir Smiljanić, Ph.D, Novi Sad / Tomislav Kargačin, Novi Sad /
Boris Labudović, M.Phil, Novi Sad / Ivana Inđin, Novi Sad / Radmila Gikić Petrović, Ph.D, Novi Sad /
Aleksandra Izgarjan, Ph.D, Novi Sad / Aleksandra Kolaković M.Phil, Beograd / Aleksandra Đurić Milovanović Ph.D, Beograd
Council: Jasna Jovanov, Ph.D. / Gojko Tešić, Ph.D. / Vasa Pavković, M.Phil. / Milena Dragićević Šešić, Ph.D. /
Gordana Stokić Simončić, Ph.D. / Predrag Mutavdžić, Ph.D. / Nikola Grdinić, Ph.D. / Vladislava Gordić Petković, Ph.D. /
Milorad Belančić / Mladen Marinkov, M.F.A. / Mikloš Biro, Ph.D. / Lidija Merenik, Ph.D. / Kornelija Farago, Ph.D. /
Svenka Savić, Ph.D. / Svetislav Jovanov, Ph.D. / Milan Uzelac, Ph.D. / Janoš Banjai, Ph.D. / Ljiljana Pešikan Ljuštanović, Ph.D. /
Žolt Lazar, Ph.D. / Zoran Đerić, Ph.D. / Zoran Kinđić, Ph.D. / Dragan Koković, Ph.D. / Dragan Žunić, Ph.D. /
Milenko Perović, Ph.D. / Ildiko Erdei, Ph.D. / Dinko Gruhonjić M.Phil. / Nedim Sejdinović / Dubravka Valić Nedeljković Ph.D.
International Council: Nebojša Radić, Cambridge, England / Ivana Milojević, Ph.D, Sunshine Coast, Australia /
Dragan Kujundžić, Ph.D, Gainesville, Florida, USA / Branislav Radeljić, Ph.D, London, England /
Nataša Bakić Mirić, Ph.D, Almaty, Kazakhstan / Samuel Babatunde Moruwawon, Ph.D, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria /
Marharyta Fabrykant, Ph.D, Minsk, Belarus / Nina Živančević, Ph.D, Paris, France / Nataša Urošević, Ph.D, Pula, Croatia /
A. K. Jayesh, M.Phil, Hyderabad, India / Dušan Bijelić, Ph.D, Portland / SAD, Maria Koundoura, Ph.D, Boston, SAD /
Tomislav Longinović, Madison, USA / Jerry Chidozie Chukwuokolo Ph.D, Abakaliki, Nigeria
Coordinator of the International Council: Dragan Kujundžić, Ph.D
Legal Affairs: Olivera Marinkov PR Manager: Milica Razumenić Proofreading: Language&Translation Centre
Translated by: Language&Translation Centre Technical Editor: Dunja Šašić
International Cooperation: Ileana Ursu, Meral Tarar Tutuš
Visual Identity: Dragan Jelenković
Photography Director: Vladimir Pavić Layout: Pavle Halupa
Editorial Photographers: Matt Lief Anderson, Cody Cobb, Aleksandra Perović, Katherine Squier, Nemanja Knežević
Printed by: “Stojkov Printing House”, Laze Nančića 34–36, Novi Sad Copyright: The Institute for culture of Vojvodina, 2012.
Circulation: 300
The magazine is sponsored by the Provincial Secretariat for Culture
and Public Information of AP Vojvodina
Interculturality was categorized as a scientific publication of national importance (M52) in 2013 by the Ministry of Education,
Science and Technological Development - Serbia and the National Council for Science and Technological Development.
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cõntéñts
èdítõr's ñòtê
Aleksandra Đurić Bosnić, The Mission of Interculturalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ïñtércûltúrål stûdíës
Damir Smiljanić, The Inclusion of the Third A Short Contribution to the Cultural Logic . . 14
Boris Labudović, Habermas or Luhman: The Public qua Measure of Communication . . . . . 22
Milorad Đurić, Ideological Dimensions of Anti-Globalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Sergej Beuk, Intercultural Theology: The Problem of Christian Identity
and Contemporary Missiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Hristina Mikić, Cultural Industries and the Diversity of Cultural Expressions:
International Institutional Framework and the Current Conditions in Serbia . . . . 60
Svenka Savić, Veronika Mitro, Education for gender - Equal Society of Female Students in Serbia . . 88
Miroslav Keveždi, National Councils of National Minorities in Serbia and Their
Activity in the Culture Field since 2009 to This Day – An Overview of the Most
Important Scientific and Expert Papers, Analyses and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Svetislav Jovanov, A Tragic Conflict in Goethe’s Egmont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Vladislava Gordić Petković, From the Wife of Bath to Generation X:
Gender Identity and Character Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Senka Gavranov, On a Construct Hunt: Destruction and Reconstruction of Gender in
Kathy Acker’s Empire of the Senseless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Dragana V. Beleslijin, Types of Male Characters in Judita Šalgo’s Poetry and Prose . . . . 168
Jasna Jovanov, Constantin Brancusi: Flight of the Divine Machinist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Vera Kopicl, Deconstruction of Gender Stereotypes in Video Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Mixhait Pollozhani, The Image Censorship in Albanian Soc-Realistic Painting . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Aleksandra Đurić Bosnić, The Ideological Speech of Culture: Circulus Vitiosus . . . . . . . . 226
pêrspëctîvés
Nenad Daković, On the Historic Task of Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Dušan Marinković, Werner Sombart and the spirit of capitalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Nina Živančević, Women and War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Mikloš Biro, psychological Aspects of Reconciliation:
the Example of serbs and albanians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Sava Stepanov, The Initiatives of Milan Konjović
in Serbian Painting in the 20th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Dragan Kujundžić, Ghost Scriptum, or, Nothing to Play With . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
diãlôgüés
Samuel Weber on Benjamin’s -aBilities
(Interview conducted by Arne De Boever and Alex Murray) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
cóõrdínätês
Samuel Weber, Clouds: On a Possible Relation of Terror and Terrorism to Aesthetics . . 306
Ljiljana Pešikan Ljuštanović, The Joy of Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Nataša Bakić-Mirić, An Integrated Approach to Intercultural Communication . . . . . . . 332
Slobodan Vasić, Inquiring women, Feminist and Muslim identities:
Post-Socialist Contexts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Pavel Gatajancu, “Europa” Magazine, Novi Sad and its Interculturality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Sonja Jankov, Film and Video in Vojvodina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Instructions for Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
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èdítõr's ñòtê
Aleksandra Đurić Bosnić
The Mission of Interculturalism
The most concise and probably the most adequate explication of the mission of the
Interculturality magazine would go like this: Interculturality is an attempt at subtle theoretical intervention in the space of contemporary social practice, established or only presaged models of communication, thinking and acting. Somewhere among hypertrophically
ecstatic, often superficial global communications and trends, regardless of our wishes or
affinities, there is, completely immersed into reality, a luxuriant, unpredictable potential
for the Different. As opposed to univocality, closedness, absolute determination and the
paranoid escape from diversity, in other words, as opposed to the philosophy of a completed world, there lies a hidden, but also found, like in every lucidly constructed labyrinth,
kaleidoscopic brewing of fictional provinces and metropolises that includes simultaneous
mapping and discovering of the world of otherness. The common denominator of current
definitions of the term ‘interculturality’ points at the definition of such terms as intercultural understanding, intercultural confrontations, intercultural circumstances, processes,
states, possibilities of permeation, influences and recognition, cultural contacts without
misunderstandings and conflicts... Theoretical determinations of the term ‘interculturality’ often point at its semantic framework: in this context, the prefix ‘inter’ is taken as an
indicator of the contact and coexistence of cultures as the varieties that always require
certain knowledge of oneself and the understanding of alterity.
Therefore, if we accept the formulation according to which intercultural communication is capable of opening new space, and intercultural competence means the ability to
create this new inter-space by means of openness, empathy and tolerance, then the mission
of the Interculturality is a creative engagement, a continuous action in terms of being tuned
for the cancellation of closedness and finiteness of stigmatizing banalities and given patterns, being tuned for the recognition of mental megalopolises within us and around us, as
a recognition and always exciting discovery of the novelty, both in ourselves and in others.
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èdítõr's ñòtê
The Interculturality magazine was started in March 2011 as a part of the project after
which it was named, carried out by the Institute for Culture of Vojvodina, with the aim of
promoting interculturality as a fact of the contemporary world, and communication of the
different as a privilege, since every violence directed at the existence is at the same time
directed at the meaning, and its necessary premises are the absence of dialogue and the
inability of the feeling for anything that is other and different.
At the turn of the 21st century we no longer discuss only tolerance, but rather the creative
communication of cultures, as a space for achieving planetary closeness. Since we accept the
fact that interculturality is the logical global order, intercultural communication will always
emerge as a very conscious and articulated, personal or collective choice. In the field of the
creation of this awareness or consciousness tuned for openness and dialogue, science and
art share certain competences and responsibilities. In those terms, the scientific magazine
Interculturality was envisioned as one of the potential signs on the road to that state of socialness that sees any kind of closeness and stigmatization as banality, and is based on the
idea that the world is a place where there are no others who would be unwanted or foreign.
Finally, the INTERCULTURALITY is published in today’s Vojvodina because we believe
in the creative order without any forms of narrowing the meaning, the world and the
existence. The mission of the Interculturality was hinted at in its very first issue, but only
the lasting existence will be its proof. Since communication is always also a metaphysical
category, inconvenient for being closed and placed into a finite sign, we believe that the
possibilities for our research will be inexhaustible and unpredictable in their diversity.
You are looking at the 6th issue of the Interculturality magazine. We would like to express our gratitude to all the members of the international community who gave us their
trust and, together with us, took part in the creation of this project, making the mission of
encouraging the intercultural communication possible locally, regionally, globally...
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ïñtércûltúrål
stûdíës
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f o t o
M a t t
L i e f
A n d e r s o n
m a t t l i e f a n d e r s o n @ g m a i l . c o m
s t r a n a :
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9 ,
1 1 ,
3 4 ,
3 5 ,
4 7 ,
8 5
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UDC 130.2
Damir Smiljanić
University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Faculty of Philosophy
The Inclusion of the Third
A Short Contribution to the
Cultural Logic
Summary: In this article the author considers the consequences that the inclusion of the figure of the Third could have for the cultural logic. As examples, we
will use the concrete figures of stranger, love triangle, transgender. It will be
shown what kind of structural changes in human interrelations (especially the
conflicting ones) have been caused by the Third Person, and in which way the
cultural and social theory has to deal with the relevance of this figure.
Key words: the figure of the Third, cultural logic, Georg Simmel, formal sociology, stranger, conflict, ménage à trois, transgender
Thomas S. Kuhn, the famous American philosopher of science, once suggested the
formula called the paradigm shift for describing the structural changes that take place in
the history of sciences.1 Even though his intention was to shed new light on the dialectics
of continuity and discontinuity using the development of natural sciences as an example,
the consequence of his rather original (or, at least, provoking) approach was that the above
mentioned formula could be applied to an even greater extent to the sciences that have
not yet acquired the status of ‘exact’ ones, and it is uncertain if they ever will. Namely, the
human, social, historical or cultural sciences are even more subject to paradigm shifts than
the natural ones. This can be seen on the example of sociology: it assumes a completely
different form depending on whether its paradigm is the society as a whole of all individuals, or an individual as a social atom. Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that one
science is dominated by more paradigms at the same time.2 The paradigm shift can also
1 Compare to Kuhn 1962.
2 One could even talk of the multiparadigmatic format of human sciences.
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be demonstrated using the example of a certain type of sociological thinking about the
problem: in this sense, Niklas Luhmann postulates a turn from the paradigm of wholeness
and parts towards the paradigm of system and environment or, in other words, a difference
between identity and difference (in short: from reference to self-reference) as a key factor for
the Systems Theory as a sociological discipline.3
The effect of the narrative regarding the paradigm change or shift can be purely
descriptive, meaning that the history of a certain scientific discipline is actually reconstructed as a change in one style of thinking within that discipline, as it was once suggested by the Polish microbiologist Ludwik Fleck, the forerunner of the idea of paradigm
in the field of the Philosophy of Science.4 However, subconsciously, the narrative about the
alleged paradigm shift can also reflect a wish to change something in that field, a projection of a change that has still not taken place, but is foreshadowed by certain tendencies of
the epoch. The idea that pointing at a certain change is already a contribution to science
is a very attractive one. Who would not like to be a harbinger of a significant scientific
change! First of all, in the contemporary philosophy, the observation of a current situation
and the anticipation of a new (desired) one were mixed in a specific way, which is reflected
by a whole semantics. In that respect, the so-called linguistic turn had been dominant here
for a long time, until the intellectual scene got tired of it and resumed its pursuit of new
upturns and turmoils, which recently gave rise to the story of the alleged pragmatic turn,
or iconic turn. However, the question remains to which extent we are dealing with radical,
pragmatic changes, and to which with an immoderate projecting of personal desires into
the observed object, which is often a consequence of the sensationalism of our times, from
which not even science is spared.
In other words, regardless of the danger of the narrative of changes and shifts becoming a fruitless intellectual fashion, one cannot deny that one such discourse (a word that can
be applied here) could be an indicator of real changes. With this danger in mind, but at the
same time recognizing the potential indicative power of ‘pragmatic discourse’, in the following pages I would like to make an observation of a certain potential paradigm shift that
allegedly took place in the field of cultural sciences. I will illustrate this on the example of
the current intellectual situation in Germany, where there has recently been talk of a new
cultural-scientific paradigm: the figure of the Third.5 (I will write this term with a capital
letter to demonstrate its importance, similar to the custom of writing the term Other with
a capital letter in the philosophical context).
3 For comparison, please refer to his main work, Social Systems: Luhmann 1995.
4 His main work is The Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, published in 1935. See Fleck 1979.
5 The German cultural-scientific collection of articles The Figure of the Third could become paradigmatic
in this respect. Please refer to Eßlinger/Schlechtriemen/Schweitzer/Zons 2010.
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Since there is supposed to be a radical turn – from I to the Other or the Third – my speculations will remain in the domain of principles. As logic is used for dealing with principles
in the scientific domain, my reflections were envisioned as a contribution to what might be
called cultural logic (logic for cultural sciences). From Neo-Kantianism to Jürgen Habermas,
the basis for building cultural sciences had been a much contemplated topic. To that effect, a
methodological distinction between explaining and understanding was proposed, the hermeneutical approach was forced, or a hybrid concept (such as the one of communicative action)
was constructed to denote the specific subject of social sciences. On the horizon of that
logic, the relationship of two individuals (Ego and Alter [Ego]) was used as the paradigmatic
model of human communication. In that sense, the logic was already conceived of as having
a dual nature. However, it turns out that this logic should be subjected to revision, keeping
in mind the fact that the inclusion of the third person into the communication between Ego
and Alter leads to additional intensification and complexification of interpersonal communication. It is only the addition of the Third that makes the communication and, by extension, the interaction, rich enough for a social-cultural reflection.
If we wanted to play with words – even though it is not a mere wordplay – we could say
that the cultural logic should insist on the inclusion of the Third rather than its exclusion.
Of course, the Law of the Excluded Middle was used by Aristotle to rule out the possibility
that, besides one notion and its opposite, there also be a third option. The dialectical logic
intervened against that, introducing synthesis besides thesis and antithesis. The Third, in
the sense in which we are using this term, is neither the superfluous third element of formal logic – an element that does not add to the interaction anything that had not already
been added by Ego and Alter – nor the dialectic concept of synthesis, which is supposed to
give meaning to the communication between the one and the other one. Its inclusion into
the interaction between Ego and Alter has a structural impact on their relationship: both
the Self and the Other need to take a stand regarding the Third and, taking into account its
presence (or, sometimes, absence!), define, and maybe even redefine their relationship. To
illustrate this, we can use the change in the life of a married couple brought about by the
birth of a child, or by a lover’s potential rival in the relationship ménage à trois. Including
the Third means more than merely adding up three persons – it means changing the
structural composition of dual interaction, and the beginning of complex networking of
individuals, whose outcome remains uncertain. This always involves a certain risk – but
without risk there would be no dynamics in the interpersonal relations.
One of the first thinkers to point out the structural role of the Third in generating
new interactive relations was the German sociologist and philosopher Georg Simmel. One
of the chapters of his Sociology (1908)6 explores, on almost one hundred pages, the issue
of quantitative determination of social groups or, more precisely, the importance that the
number of members has for the group. One of the main Simmel’s hypotheses in that con6 See Simmel 1992.
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text is the argument about the dynamics that the third person brings into the relationship
of two persons, about the additional differentiation of that relationship. The relationships
are intensified: as A and B get into a closer relationship with the third person C, their
relationship can change. They can grow closer, but the result is often the opposite (in the
above mentioned example of a child as the Third, the child can either add stability to the
marriage, or imperil it). Simmel gives several special figures of the Third: the mediator,
one who mediates in a conflict, and who must be neutral and impartial; the so-called
‘laughing Third’ (lat. Tertius gaudens) – it is enough to remember the proverb about the
third person laughing while two are fighting, to understand what Simmel wanted to say
with this figure; then, the Third who, according to the principle divide et impera, tries to
damage the relationship between two individuals for his/her own benefit.
With his research into the forms of socialization, Simmel made a contribution to the
constitution of a specific research area, named formal sociology.7 He thus established a
new way of thinking in sociology and cultural sciences (or, at least, prepared the path for
it) – a way that proved to be extremely fruitful in the exploration of social and cultural
problems. It is enough to mention the Figurational Sociology by Norbert Elias, the Systems
Theory by Talcott Parsons and Niklas Luhmann, or the Actor-Network Theory by Bruno
Latour, all of which dominate the sociological debate of today. The process of civilization
can be described as a certain historical figuration within which one can reconstruct the
interdependencies between the Self and the Other in such a way that, by the actions of
the Third, the outer coercion is transformed (sublimated) into self-coercion, leading to
the cultivation of a knight as a typical medieval figure, and also to the rise of the court
(feudal) society. A potential pitfall of ‘monadological’ thinking, which is partially given in
the Systems Theory8, has in the recent years seen certain attempts at overcoming it by new
thought models such as the one of the (social) network. The network does not consist of a
dyad (relation between two elements or agents), but emerges from the connection of two
agents with the third one, and that one with the others, etc, which in the end results in a
complex configuration of relations. This trend can be noticed in media sciences, certain
economic theories or the Theory of Science (known as the Actor-Network Theory). In any
case, the basic unit of this type of connections between people is a triad rather than a dyad,
and the figure of the Third is therefore attractive as a differentiation mechanism not only
for social, but for theoretical structures as well.
7 This is unusual for someone who also wrote essays on various topics, such as the aesthetics of the handle
or the psychology of jewelry. But that shows that the formal-theoretical way of thinking and the essayist
way of writing are not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, this model of writing has been lost in the postmodern age, because of the radical ‘essayism’ that is being forced.
8 The theorem of double contingency was decisive here, starting from the fact of double uncertainty about
the outcome of the communication on the part of both (!) partners, Ego and Alter, which has some consequences for the self-reflection – the Third has been left out here, and maybe it is him/her who should be
integrated into elementary social interaction.
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His speculations on the ‘triangular’ character of social interactions (one could even
talk of a ‘communication triangle’ as a quasi-logical figure) acquired additional attractiveness due to the fact that Simmel was able to find concrete examples of abstract thinking
types. In his Sociology, the excourse about the stranger is a remarkable example of this.9
The stranger is defined as one who comes today and stays tomorrow. This means that he
is defined topologically – as one who goes from one place to another, and stays there. The
stranger is always a stranger in relation to the local population. Of course, from a perspective of one community or one society, the stranger has a (complete or partial) function of
the Other. But there are also situations in which the stranger incorporates the Third – first
of all, the situations in which two groups or two individuals are in a conflicting relationship.
(It is not a coincidence that Simmel was also interested in the sociology of conflicts. In fact,
one chapter of his Sociology is dedicated to the issue of conflict). Depending on his/her
motivation or on the objective constellation of relations, in a conflicting situation the stranger can play the role of the Third in various ways. He/she can be an outsider, someone who
is outside the events and therefore does not want to get involved into the conflict. However,
it is because of this neutrality that he/she can be involved into the conflict as a mediator or
even as a judge, if both sides agree. He/she can also be an additional rival, joining one of the
sides to help in the battle against the other one; in case of victory, this can bring him/her
certain benefits. But he/she can also be the Tertius gaudens: one who uses a well-developed
strategy to trick both sides and secure the largest benefit for himself/herself.
This last case – maybe the most interesting one – can be illustrated by fictional examples that could really happen. Such examples have the status of thought experiments, and
are also significant for the cultural logic. This motive has also been used in the works of
popular culture. One of the first authors to use it was the American crime story writer
Dashiell Hammett, in his 1929 novel Red Harvest. Furthermore, Akira Kurosawa, in his
1961 film Yōjimbō, as well as the Western variant of this film made by Sergio Leone, entitled For a Fistful of Dollars [Per un Pugno di Dollari] in 1964.10 In these examples the plot
is almost identical, only the context is different. The protagonist of the Hammett’s novel is
a nameless (!) detective who manages to cheat two gangs fighting for primacy in the city
of Personville. In Kurosawa’s film, instead of the detective, there is a wandering samurai,
who also first seeks affiliation with one clan, and then the other one, while in the Italian
Western, a secretive stranger in a Mexican village craftily changes sides in order to cheat
two large families – the American Baxters and the Mexican Rojos. In all three cases, the
stranger enters the conflict of two gangs or clans, and is forced to play a double role. And
despite all the hardships, the Third triumphs in all three cases. The fact that he sometimes
9 See Simmel 1992, 764–771.
10 To complete this list, we can also mention the 1996 film The Last Man Standing by Walter Hill – half
Western, half crime story – which deliberately continues the film tradition of the ‘inclusion of the Third’.
In temporal terms, the plot of this film is the closest to the context of the Hammett’s work.
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does not have a name only proves the anonymity of the category of the Third: his reference
(the thing he refers to) is not important, but his function (to configure relations) is crucial.
In structural terms, the inclusion of the Third leads to the intensification of social relations, which can happen in different ways: the relations can become even more tense if the
stranger gets involved into the conflict and sides with one of the rivals, or it can be alleviated, if the stranger wants to achieve reconciliation. They can also be resolved, if he successfully plays his role of the mediator (or even a judge). Of course, conflicts do not have to be
the only field where the change of ‘quality’, brought about by the arrival of the Third, is especially obvious, but it is symptomatic that conflicting relations are the best environment for
discerning the role of the Third in the differentiation of social relations. This might be due
to the fact that a conflict in itself represents an indicator of structural changes in a society.
As a further example of conflicting situations in which the figure of the Third is present, we could mention amorous relations between three persons. The motive of ‘love triangle’, often used in literature, where it often represents the rivalry of two men because
of their love for the same woman – even though two women can get into a conflict over
one lover. The motive of love rivalry is especially present in the Romantic literature. This
triangular constellation was so fascinating because of the shift of perceiving and practicing
the love itself, as described by Luhmann in his classical (we can call it that) study of love
as passion.11 Romance no longer insists on the separation of love and marriage, or friendship and sexuality, as opposed to the intimacy code dominant in the previous centuries,
where love as passion (passionate love) and the marriage as institutionalized form of love
constituted two opposite poles.
An example for this can be found in the story Undine by Friedrich de la Motte
Fouqué, published in 181112, whose protagonist, a knight called Huldbrand, is the Third
torn between his love for a nymph called Undine, and the young duchess Bertalda. He first
marries Undine, and then Bertalda – but both marriages end in failure. Passionate love
for a magical being does not tolerate the institutional coercion, while the marital love is
destined to fail if it stems only from pragmatism, excluding passion. Such constellation of
relations has to end in a way so common to the Romanticism: death. Banished, Undine
kills Huldbrand with a kiss, as is demanded by the customs of her world. Unlike in the
previous example, in this case the Third is a loser.
When it comes to amorous relations, in the contemporary social context, the category
of the ‘third’ gender is becoming increasingly dominant, and can be used for exploring the
relations between genders. The fact that transsexuals do not belong exclusively to either
the male or the female gender raises some questions related to the gender as a social construct. They are often the ‘invisible Thirds’, as they usually hide from the public, or the
public keeps them out of sight. The coercion of one-sided identification with one gender,
11 Compare to Luhmann 1986.
12 See Fouqué 1998.
19
still dominant in the European society (the Serbian society is a different story, as is well
known by anyone who has followed the happenings of October 10th 2010 when the adherents of the Pride Parade were attacked by non-like-minded hooligans), can be considered
as a kind of ostensible (if not real) violence. That is not the only mechanism of social
identification or socialization that is being challenged more and more, as can be seen from
the contemporary tendencies to recognize marital relationships between homosexuals,
as well as to provide all the border cases and the cases diverging from the still dominant
heterosexual relationship model (so-called queer-oriented individuals and groups) with
equal chances for development and emancipation in the society. A profile of research on
gender ‘anomalies’ has thus emerged (Queer Studies) with the aim of showing that this
is essentially nothing abnormal, but rather a set of discriminating social constructs that
need to be overcome. The emancipation of the Third as a separate gender category will
not endanger the distinction of the two ‘recognized’ genders, as might be feared by some
short-sighted critics of the Queer Studies; on the contrary, it will only enrich the image of
a man as a being not fixed on just one modality of existence. The man is, by his nature, a
transformer, a being that changes the forms of its existence and for whom it is not normal
to exist in only one way. The figure of the Third might serve as an impetus for anthropology to change its image of the human being.
Several figures of the Third, which have been briefly presented here, show that the
cultural sciences must gradually become accustomed to the transition from the binary
to the tertiary way of thinking, if they want to make a contribution to the better understanding of modern society. The existential pathos of the narrative about the Other must
be replaced with the social pragmatics of the narrative about the Third. Likewise, the
naïveté of the ‘myth’ about the directness, that was supposed to guarantee the access to the
Other, could not possibly survive due to the complications brought by the third person
into the relationship between Ego and Alter – complications that should not be avoided,
but rather faced by the theoretician of interpersonal relations. In both the theoretical and
the practical terms, the category of the Third is important for the exploration of social
interactions. Firstly, it is a theoretical innovation: human relationships are perceived differently if viewed from the perspective of the Third or, more precisely, if the perspective
of the Third is included into the scientific discourse about the relationship of two individuals or two groups.13 The scientific view should become accustomed to the inclusion
of the Third (not only as a third person, but generally as a third entity) so that the horizon
of scientific reasoning could continue to be broadened. Even the fiction of the Third can
have heuristic significance for science. Secondly, the figure of the Third is an emancipatory
category – it can be used for pointing out the injustice in a society, suffered by all who have
been excluded from the dual interaction of binary discourse. Establishing the Third could
13 After all, does the theoretician of society or culture not automatically assume the position of the Third
when he explores the relations between two individuals?
20
be a contribution to the improvement of interpersonal relations, since his/her inclusion
into the communication, as an equal player and partner, can help us to feel the respect for
others. The tertiary logic, therefore, comes with a tertiary ethics: the theoretical respect for
the Third can contribute to having greater respect for others in practice. But regardless of
all the positive consequences that the inclusion of the Third can have for the exploration
of social relations that make up one or several cultures, one should not exaggerate with the
enthusiasm that has recently been accompanying the narrative about the Third. In other
words, the triangulation of relations should not be talked up as the ‘Holy Trinity’. Science
should never end up fetishizing a certain number. This is why certain methodological caution is needed, so that the figure of the Third does not become an obstacle for scientific
insight, but encourages it instead.
LITERATURE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Eßlinger, Eva; Tobias Schlechtriemen; Doris Schweitzer; Alexander Zons (ed.): Die Figur des Dritten.
Ein kulturwissenschaftliches Paradigma, Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2010.
Fleck, Ludwik: The Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1979.
Fouqué, Friedrich de la Motte: Undine, Stuttgart, Reclam Verlag, 1998.
Kuhn, Thomas S.: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press, 1962.
Luhmann, Niklas: Love as Passion: The Codification of Intimacy, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1986.
Luhmann Niklas: Social Systems, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995.
Simmel, Georg: Soziologie: Untersuchungen über die Formen der Vergesellschaftung (Gesamtausgabe
Bd. 11), Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp Verlag, 1992.
[email protected]
21
UDC 316 Luhmann N.
UDC 1 Habermas J.
UDC 316.774
Boris Labudović
Communication Direction Center, Novi Sad
Serbia
Habermas or Luhmann:
The Public qua Measure
of Communication
Summary: The paper sheds some light on the way Niklas Luhmann (18271998) theoretically approaches mass media and the public, and compares his
key observations with the paradigm of Jürgen Habermas.
Key words: Niklas Luhmann, Jürgen Habermas, public, mass media, system,
communication
If there is no interculturalism without reciprocity, exchange, interaction, desegregation, interdependence and solidarity, then there is no interculturalism without the public.
For the most part, technical terms used in communicology in Serbia today come from
English and German languages, and that seems natural enough if one takes into account
the long tradition of studies in the field of communication, mass media and public opinion in these countries. The importance of publicity and public relation practices had been
acknowledged almost at the same time in Germany and in the USA; moreover, in both
countries, penetrating and well-developed studies in the field have been pursued. Some
of the most important theories in the area of communication, media efficiency and public
opinion were developed by German intellectuals who, having been forced to leave their
country after the Nazis had gained power, immigrated to the USA, and, of course, by those
who willy-nilly colaborated with them. Without underestimating in any way the contribution of other scientific communities, we may say that Germany and the USA laid the
foundations for contemporary approach to studying mass media and the public sphere.
For these reasons we shall first explore the meaning of the terms ‘audience’ and ‘the public’
in English and German, and after that turn to the semiotic aspects of the words in Serbian.
The words audience and public (both adjective and noun) have many meanings in
the English language. Firstly, the noun audience means the act or state of listening, then
22
formal hearing or interview, an opportunity of being heard (as in the expression “ being
given an audience with”), and secondly, a group of listeners or spectators; a reading or
hearing public, a group of fans or devotees and the like. The word is of Latin origin: audientia (from audire - to listen to) and under the influence of French and Middle English
comes into the vocabulary of contemporary English with the typical use of referring to a
group of people receiving, grasping something communicated publicly as spectators or
hearers regardless of whether they are located at one particular place or disseminated all
over some territory as spectators of TV programs, or those listening to the radio, or those
attending a concert, or being present at a political rally. The term connotes that people
are recipients rather than participants in the process of communication; it suggests that
the masses (an aggregate) are passive rather than active. It was not until the nineties that
John Fiske introduced the verb audiencing, suggesting a somewhat more active role of
the audience in communication (this can, for example, be interpreted analogously to the
theory of benefits and pleasures).
The word public as an adjective in the English language means being open to the
knowledge (view) of all (the community), being open, being well-known, important (as
in “a public figure”); material, what can be perceived, what concerns the whole nation or
state (public law); what matters to the whole community. As a noun it refers to a people
as a whole, to a populace, or to a group of people having something in common (some
interest, for example) or some characteristic (reading public). This word is also of Latin
origin, from publicus, an adjective, meaning belonging to the people, or to the state. The
use of the word is very broad, signifying what can be seen, what is prominent, what can be
perceived, what belongs to a nation, a community, to a people as a whole, what is open to
everyone. As a noun, it refers to a people as a whole, a community at large and then to a
specific group of people sharing common interests, concerns, attitudes or needs. The connotations of the word are related to a relatively homogenous collective body, unanimous
in actions and attitudes. The plural form, publics, is used rarely, and represents a recent
academic attempt to emphasize heterogeneity of certain groups
The word has a lot of idiomatic expressions and derivations which can be translated
in Serbian with different expressions. For instance, public domain as javna sfera, public enemy as državni neprijatelj, public relations as odnosi s javnošću, public school as
državna škola. The expressions publishing and publicity should be mentioned here as well.
In dictionaries, it is hard to find any connection between the word public and participation, deliberation or mobilization, although in academic circles public is essentially
treated as rational and active.
For the English word audience in dictionaries we find the expressions anhören, Gehör,
Audienz, Zuhörerschaft and Publikum. The most often used word in the context of mass
media is Publikum that has the same root as the English word, but has a somewhat different meaning. It is used for designating spectators or hearers taken as a collective body,
those who are familiar with the achievements of arts and sciences, who frequent muse23
ums, restaurants and cafés. The German communicologists more frequently use the term
Rezipient (with the same meaning as in Serbian, both from the Latin recipere – to receive).
The German equivalent of the English term public is Öffentlichkeit. This expression is
well-known to students of public opinion from the title of a famous book by Jurgen Habermas – Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit – translated into English as The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, and into Serbian as Javno mnenje. We will analyze the expression
javna sfera, which has become adopted in Serbian as a translation of the German Öffentlichkeit, later. The word Öffentlichkeit signifies something that is open, available, accessible
to everyone, something that everyone can see or hear. Some compounds carry the same
meaning: offentliche Veranstaltung – public assembly or event, or offentliche Wohl – the
common good (well-being). This word has a long history in German theorizing, and has
gained a relatively strong normative sense with a positive, active connotation, in contrast to
the negative one of the word Masse ( the masses, the multitude).
At this point, some clarification considering the words publika and javnost is in order.
The noun publika, as we may find in the newest Veliki rečnik stranih reči i izraza (Klajn i
Šipka, 2006), is a word stemming from the Latin publicus and having a wide range of meanings: the group of persons present, spectators, listeners; people with the same interest, taste
or attitude, those who follow a certain cultural, artistic or entertaining activities; and even
public opinion or the public or general public. Derivations include: publikacija (publication), publicistika (journalism) and publicitet (publicity).
The word javnost has the same form and meaning in Serbian, Croatian and
Slovenian(although in Slovenian there is the word občinstvo as well, cognate to the word
opština meaning community) etimologically stemming from the Old-Slavonic javiti, meaning to make known or visible; javiti in Serbian means to let someone know, reveal, and
inform as well, while in the expression javlja mu se it means to see. In the well-known lexicon
Sinonimi i srodne reči srpskohrvatskog jezika (Lalević,1974) we can only find the adjective in
its indefinite form javan ( accessible, unhidden, obvious, open, well-known) and the definite
form of the adjective javni (of the people, of the state, common, general), while the noun
javnost is not explained separately, but cross-referenced to the synonimous narod (folk, people as a whole) and svet ( world).
In Serbian, therefore, the word javnost has a double function. Its first meaning is related
to something open, available, visible, unhidden,while the other meaning is related to the
community, folk, people at large and specifically to a populace having (potentially) an attitude or making a decision. Thus one might say: nema javnosti bez javnosti – there is no
community without general openness. In other words, without a problem, say, being known
to a populace, or a subject accessible to everyone, there is no community that would be able
to take a stand or have an attitude toward any issue. In colloquial usage the most frequently
used synonyms for javnost are narod (people, folk) and nacija (nation) (this is nearer to
Allport`s sense of the term than to the notion of active or critical public) and this seems to be
the case due to the lingering lack of public (civic) culture, tradition and terminology, which
24
is why the public has frequently been equated with the will of people or the attitude of nation
(political leaders and demagogues usually make sure that this is generally acknowledged).
When the word is used in the sense of openness, availability, accessibility, it can best
be recognized in the familiar democratic expression public and transparent political life,
wherein by public the freedom of speech, the transparency of decision making and public control is meant or, succinctly put, the transparent functioning of the institutions is
demanded. There is an expression in Serbian – javna tajna (public secret), something
that is known to everyone and still remains a secret because it is not publicly expressed.
Therefore, in order for something to be public, it is not enough that it is generally known
or acknowledged by everyone, but it must be made public, manifested in the language,
uttered. Conversely, whenever the politicians are criticized for making decisions or signing contracts behind closed doors, they would reply that the document or whatever in
question is public just because it can be found on the internet site of some ministry or
other. What they mean is that public is something at everybody’s disposal, even if no one
bothered to exercise the right to look it up. In this sense public is not something declared,
nor known to everyone, but something that is simply available.
Sometimes javnost is used to signify an imaginary group of people that occupy a
certain territory (novosadska javnost – the public of Novi Sad, srpska javnost – the public
of Serbia) and whose hypothetical representative attitude can be statistically accounted
for. In other words, the public does not exist without having a potential or actual opinion.
This can be detected in the expressions to javnost neće dozvoliti (the public won’t allow
this), javnost nije prihvatila (nešto) (the public didn’t accept something), (nešto je) naišlo
na osudu javnosti (it is condemned by the public). This is related to the expression javno
mnenje (public opinion). Although some researchers claim that they identify and measure
attitudes of the public, that is something rather difficult to prove. For the public does not
have an attitude; the public does not have an opinion either, except when it is statistically
measured, determined and represented. This is so because the very notion of attitude is
rather problematical. Attitudes are studied because they are constitutive of actions and it
is not beyond dispute in psychology that human actions are consequences of attitudes. On
the contrary, one thing that is certain is that it depends on the context whether a human
being will act in accordance with his/her (professed) attitude or not( Rejk i Edkok,1978,
Aronson i drugi, 2005). Opinion is an apt expression for `attitudes` we ascribe to the
public, because it implies `logically and empirically insufficiently supported thoughts,
beliefs or points ofview` (Trebjesanin, 2004). Mainly, opinion can be reduced to taking
sides regarding the alternatives offered by the interviewer.
The relation between the public and an audience is not clearly defined as either. It
is usually assumed that both are imaginary aggregates – groups – of the very same individuls, at some point having the role of the recipient, and the role of the respondent at
some other. It is natural to assume that the public first must be an audience in order to
become the public, that is, to be able to respond or to express a reaction. But this is not
25
the case. The public is a much wider notion than the audience, as has been often pointed
out by the researchers of public opinion; it is not unusual that the interviewees either
declare themselves insuffciently informed regarding a given question, declare themselves
ignorant or even refuse to give a statement – hence they were not part of the audience in
any way – and despite this their answers are accepted and included in the opinion poll and
thus become an integral part of the general public opinion. Therefore, the public becomes
the public even if insufficiently informed. It should be noted, however, that there is an
expression – pojaviti se u javnosti (to show up in public) – wherein the public is equated
with the audience, since the public here implies the audience in the sense of (physically)
witnessing someone’s appearance.
The public is often considered an audience that reacts; that is the case with the
expressions such as javnost (je) osudila (the public condemned) or javnost nije dobro
prihvatila (the public has not accepted well) in a newspaper article, TV program or
whatnot. All the same, one should not assume that those who condemn (the public) are
in fact the very same ones that watched the program or read the article (the audience).
Anyway, in Serbia the public is being appealed to much too often, even when nothing is
known about its probable response.
By the public, to repeat, we usually mean an abstract, imaginary group of individuals
that belong to a certain community; when we say the public we do not mean any person
in particular. Except when we use javnosti (in plural); then we refer to the segmented public segmented and we are usually able to name some of the representatives of the kind in
question (expert or professional group etc.).
In this paper, by (the) public we will mean accessibility, openness, availability on the
one hand, and on the other a community that (potentially) responds, has opinions and
beliefs; moreover, we will mean a representation of the opinion. Thus the English expression public relations, literally meaning, javni odnosi, is translated into Serbian as odnosi s
javnošću (relations with the public) without losing its original sense.
HABERMAS AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE
After these terminological remarks, it is important to devote our attention to Habermas’ notion of public sphere and his theory of the subject. Since the publishing of his book
Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit in 1962 (English translation: The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere; Serbian translation: Javno mnenje 1969), the notion has become
one of the key concepts in communicology, sociology, politicology and philosophy, in all
the disciplines whose area of research and subject of study is concerned with the public.
One could say that this concept is not precisely defined, not even by the author; we claim
that this is one of the reasons why different theorists so enthusiastically addressed this issue.
Having considered the structural transformations of the public sphere, Habermas
states as a fact that the public sphere is not some timeless aspect of society; on the contrary,
there have been different forms of it at different times, of which he mentions the ancient
26
(Greek) Olympic Games, the feudal representational public (as a form of representation),
eventually arriving at his true subject – the civil bourgeois public. This concept of public is grounded in the private sphere (civil society, family as inner space, literary public,
political public and the city itself) on the one hand, and in the public sphere (the state as
the sphere of coercion and the court as the arena of nobility) on the other. The bourgeois
elite was made up from those who did not govern, and the exercise of public reasoning,
that is, the process of self-enlightening, was the province of the literary public. The public
essence of the public authorities becomes negated by the political reasoning of private citizens. Habermas’ bourgeois public sphere implies the equality of the participants, rational
argument as the highest arbitration, a (public) discourse consisting of problems of common interest and inclusiveness. As the main reasons for declining of the bourgeois public
sphere he sees the mediation of the public, and the passive mass media consumption.
It is important to point out here that the term public sphere comprises two connected
meaning clusters. The first is related to the public as an actual physical entity and national
sovereignty, and the second includes the concept of being public and the openness. The
same duality is what we have encountered while analyzing the English word public, the
German Öffentlichkeit, and the Serbian javnost (or the Russian glasnost). Why is then the
expression public sphere needed at all? It is because the public sphere should include –
apart from the features mentioned – the “so called marketplace of ideas, the rationality of
open discourse and the true sovereignty of the public” (Murphy, 2005, 1964). The public
sphere is not just the public, nor just the condition of equality and general accessibility,
but the process and space within which private citizens form the public opinion. Habermas’ conception is in fact a critique of positivist sociology; he reintroduces the reason
and rational discourse as core concepts, hence the need for the term public sphere. The
English translator rendered the German Öffentlichkeit into English public sphere to avoid
words publicness (with the suffix –ness corresponding to the German – keit) or publicity,
otherwise Habermas’ concept would be unnecessarily burdened – in the American context – with negative connotations from the commercial industry.
Thus, the public sphere is much more than the public. Two years after his book on
transformations of the public sphere, Habermas wrote the entry for the Fischer Lexicon:
Staat und Politik (in English: Habermas1974) where he clearly states that all the domains
of social life belong to the public sphere in which public opinion can be formed or produced in any conversation among private citizens. The necessary condition is the possibility of the dialogue in the public milieu and the persons participating should neither
be motivated by lucrative purposes, nor subjected to legal regulations of the state bureaucracy. In other words, no one should be coerced to participate; no one is a slave of profit.
The public sphere is opposed to clandestine policies; it is the control of the activities of the
state; it is the critic and mediator between the state and the civil society.
Habermas constantly revises and improves on his concept of the public sphere. In his
important work Between Facts and Norms (Habermas, 1996) by public sphere he means com27
munication structure (a systemic expression) immersed in the life-world (Husserl’s term)
through conceptually connected network (systemic expression again) of the civil society.
He claims that the public sphere can best be described as a network for communicating
bits of information and points of view; besides, through the process, the communication
flux becomes filtered and synthesized, gathering into thematically clearly separable units
of public opinion. Habermas points out that public opinion should not be confused with
the results of opinion polls; it can only be the result of focused and public political debate.
We will now present some critical remarks considering the popularity and significance of Habermas’ conception. To begin with, it should be pointed out that the debate
about the public sphere in Germany practically came to an end, the paradigm seems to be
exhausted or, simply put, Habermas is “out of trend”. We repeat, next, that the adequate
translation of the word Offenlichkeit into English is, as a matter of fact, publicness, or in
Serbian javnost. The very word Offenlichkeit has been in use in the German language
since the second half of the 18th century, signifying places where citizens were allowed to
enter – including court protocols, religious services and academic lectures. The expression
public sphere, on the other hand, appeared in 1974 as a translation of the German word.
Habermas’ translators Sara and Frank Lennox quote Peter Hohendahl, an expert for the
transcultural aspect of meaning of words, in the footnote, who said that the new term was
introduced in order to avoid identification of the public with individuals joined, emphasizing that a separate entity was meant. Habermas was obviously happy with this translation
(and the new dimension), for he never noticed “the problem” with the translation. It is
interesting to observe that, according to Habermas, historically the public sphere emerged
first in England and then in France and Germany; conversely, the expression itself (for the
phenomenon) cropped up in Germany first.
Habermas leaves the reader with the impression as though he was the first to write a
comprehensive history and theory of the public sphere, but that is not the case. In a recent
German study on the subject1, a comprehensive bibliography on more than 50 pages was
listed, where one can ascertain that there were lots of books before and after the Habermas’ book appeared. About Habermas as an author relatively little was said: he was mentioned as a historian of the public sphere, the originator of the normative approach and a
political analyst. If this is so, why was his concept so much commented on, and why was
his theory of the public sphere so popular (even outside Germany)? We will try to answer
this question in a quite simple manner.
First of all, the time when the book appeared (1962) is of essence. It was only three
years before the German Social-Democratic Party had publicly repudiated the Marxist tradition and adopted a reformist program. Recognized as a representative of the
German leftists, Habermas was at first interpreted as a theorist who would introduce
the principle of gradual changes with the concept of the public sphere rejecting the
1 Hohendahl, Peter Uwe (ed.) Offentlichkeit – Geschichte eines kritischen Begriffs, Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler
28
inevitability of the revolution. True, his theory is not the one demanding political participation, but being a substitute for the participation (it should be emphasized that he
came up with his theory of deliberative democracy only later). In order to understand
the principle of “conservative modernization” in Germany in the right way, we should
recall the deep rooted tradition of intellectual debates without significant political consequences which is still alive in Germany, occupying selected pages in daily and weekly
newspapers and magazines which are called Feuilleton (from the French feuillette –
leaflet). As Kleinstuber (2001) writes, Jens Jensen, the editor of Die Zeit, a well-known
German weekly review in which Habermas usually published his essays and polemical
texts, has confessed that the feuilletons are places for utopia being tolerated by the politicians because of the fact that they are written in a rather abstract language that limits
the access to the debate to a quite narrow intellectual elite rather than the whole of the
public. Habermas’ influence on the German politics and the public stems from these
texts, and his personal history of participation follows a great political tradition.
Habermas pulled no punches. His controversies with Heidegger, Popper, Albert, Gadamer, Luhmann and Liotard are classics of German philosophy and intellectual history.
Moreover, Habermas has been a fellow in a prestigious institution – Institute for Social
Research in Frankfurt – and was able to present himself as a successor and later as a leader
of an important philosophical and sociological tradition – Critical Theory – in spite of
his differences with Horkheimer and Adorno, the leading figures of the Institute in that
period, regarding his thesis The Structural Transformations of the Public Sphere. He knew
how to identify a social problem – alienation, domination – to offer a solution – communicative action – and to present himself as the gate-keeper of the public sphere.
LUHMANN, MASS-MEDIA, AND THE PUBLIC
Niklas Luhmann developed his theory in opposition to Habermas’ ideas. Their initial controversies included the notions of time, life-world, contextual dependency, the
German Idealism, the concepts of sense, paradox and convergence; however, Habermas
never allowed that the book that they wrote together, a collection of their polemical
texts, be translated into English.
Habermas has always considered sociology to be a critique of society (and science
something very close to moral obligation). By contrast, Luhmann claims that sociology
is a self-examination of the society. Luhmann argues that there is room for improvement, but one should withhold moral judgments until gaining scientific insights into
the complexities of modern society. Habermas divides the society into system-world and
life-world, whereas Luhmann thinks society is but one single system (the global world)
which is subdivided into subsystems. Habermas ascribes communicative action to individuals and their intersubjective understanding, whereas Luhmann claims that the social
systems themselves consist of communication. According to Habermas, communication
is directed at mutual understanding and consensus, while Luhmann thinks that the pur29
pose of communication is to understand preferences and differences, that is, to make a
comparison of mutual disagreement.
Luhmann thinks that in a functionally differentiated modern society there is no
basic, fundamental system. There is no hierarchy; no dominance among the systems, no
social system that could essentially characterize society. What is more, systems develop
unequally; some of them flourish, some decline and disappear. Different systems at different times have different significance in society. The system of mass-media today can
be best described as a “new star among systems”. It came into being with the printing
press and achieved a major breakthrough in the second half of the 20th century. Since
the public – according to Luhmann – is the currency of communication mediated by
mass-media, we will focus on Luhmann’s theses on the mass-media with some help from
Hans-Georg Moeller’s interpretation (Moeller, 2006).
To begin with, Luhmann observes that in the world dominated by technology there
is a partition between those who create programs and the audience and those who receive
the programs, but in contrast to, say, Heidegger or Baudrillard, he does not try to diminish the authenticity of such communication. He says that this can only be the reason for
thinking that mass-media communication is of its own kind, made possible by a certain
technological advance. It does not require spatial or temporal contact and, to a certain
extent, it cannot be controlled (interrupted, contradicted and passed over in silence). In
addition, it is not a technological problem because it is not possible to learn anything
about its codes, symbols and functions by studying the hardware. Technological operations are not the operations of mass-communication.
If mass-media constitute an autopoietic system, then the system must have its own
code. Without operative self-containment there is no autopoiesis of social systems, and
without a code-system the system cannot differentiate itself from the environment.
According to Luhmann, the basic code of the media-system is the opposition information\ non-information. The mass-media observe the environment and select or construct information. What they do may be called a selective production of information.
Information is simply everything that the mass-media select, print or broadcast, while
non-information is anything that remains unpublished. By information we mean generic
information for each and every consumer. Even the restrictions are restricted (there are
films for adults only, but those films are for all the adults). We know that the elements of
autopoietic systems are not ontologically neutral; their mere use makes them elements
of the system. Therefore, information selection is a construction process; something
becomes a piece of information just by its selection and functionalization.
The mass-media system turns permanently information into non-information,
contingent into redundant; with each move of the system, value ceases to be value
(Luhmann, 2000). We do not encounter this phenomenon within other systems; in the
legal system, for example, something legal does not become illegal at the very moment
it is declared legal.
30
The mass-media work fast, faster than other systems. The time is a sign, according
to Luhmann, that somewhere there is something happening, and the media make us conscious of that. Some forms of anachronism and repetition are necessary for science, law
or education, but from the point of view of the media these are excessive. That is why the
media are fast. The very moment it is communicated, a piece of information ceases to be
information and must be replaced with another piece. “Fresh money and new information are the two central motives of modern social dynamism ” says Luhmann (2000, 21).
Luhmann does not have doubts whether there is a connection between the media
and our perception (experience) of reality. His book – The Reality of Mass-media – begins
with an explicit statement that everything we know about our society or about the world
we live in, we know through the mass-media. What is even more important for the social
orientation of an individual is the fact that through the media we do not only get to know
what we know, but we also get to know what is known to everybody. In other words, the
media constitute the world we share with others. Without the media we would not be
able to talk to others about the reality, about the same world we share.
Do the media manipulate the audience? Luhmann says that we know enough about
the media, enough, that is, not to trust them without remainder. We act as though we suspect manipulation; however, no important consequences follow from this. The knowledge
we get through the mass-media seems to be expanding into an ever-growing structure.
We, of course, may challenge this knowledge raising doubts regarding the quality of any
given piece of information; be as it may, we get “what is known to everybody” regardless
of quality or truth, and this becomes the basis for any further communication in a society, including dissent. The public simply accepts mass-media reality as the only reality we
share. There is no other reality we could replace this one with. We live with suspicion, but
if we deny this reality now, we will not be able to connect to any (other) reality tomorrow.
That is why some contemporary German theoreticians of the public and public relations
seldom demand “the truth” from the media, and more often talk about “adequacy and
suitability” instead (Bentele, 2007).
Luhmann’s reply to the human-centrist criticism of the mass-media, which he calls
rationalist romanticism, is that mass-media manipulation should not be reduced exclusively to a group of people in control, since this means that, if we eliminated the group
and thus stopped manipulation, suddenly “the truth” would surface – the truth about the
Gulf War, for example. Such an essential reality, reality in itself, simply does not exist;
therefore, it is hardly possible to “liberate” the media in this way. It is equally naïve to
believe that if politics and big business let the media be, they would suddenly start speaking the truth. Equally improbable is the following hypothetical situation – the politicians
would organize argumentative debates in the campaign, together with free and fair elections, instead of putting up a spectacle for the voters, if the media stopped harassing
them. It is an ancient European error – Luhmann says – to believe that the media is not a
system, but a group of people who can be easily changed and directed toward the truth.
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The mass-media thus do not represent an ontologically neutral, objective reality in
itself, but rather as an autopoietic cognitive system they observe reality and thus constitute it. There is no absolutely authentic and unique interpretation of events, because every
observer has his/her own perspective. The media construct reality for the public and for
society, but this reality is not “more” real or “less” real than the reality of any other system
(mankind, politics, economy). The world in a phenomenological sense is the horizon. The
construction of reality is always reality of the construction.
The fundamental function of the mass-media system in a society is to stabilize the
ratio between redundant and contingent. The media offer limited choice. The system turns
unknown into known. The age-long aspiration of the mankind is to explain the world.
Anything unknown represents fear and threat.
The second function of the system in the social dynamism is accelerating time. The
mass-media make sure society stays alert to adapt to the unexpected. Relentlessly, they confront the society with new problems; they produce new irritations, as it were. The media
is frequently accused of disturbing the public, but that is how they operate. Other systems
cannot simply ignore the production of information and time; they must react. That is why
a number of political campaigns choose the slogan “It is time for changes”, and the economy
keeps investing large sums of money into advertising the products. The media provide the
society with an all-accessible memory. The memory does not have a form of an information deposit, but of an ever-active production of reality (Moeller, 2006). Each system produces its own reality, and the mass-media create a common background for these realities.
The third and, perhaps, the most important function of the mass-media, is to create
the form of reality, which is a starting-point for every other systemic reality. This may be
called the smallest common reality we all share.
Luhmann explicitly criticizes Habermas on this point, saying that our reality is not
some common reality; it is not based on consensus or on any other form of agreement
between the citizens. If this was the case, the media would be a destabilizing factor. On
the contrary, what they offer is always a limited variety of choices and flexibility. That is
why a normative theory cannot be based on a consensus. A subtle ratio of differences and
redundancy is necessary to avoid the risk of communification. There must be freedom of
choice, otherwise we would not be able to tolerate differences, to share a minimum of
common reality. Whenever the media were exclusivist in trying to construct a single and
unique (interpretation of) reality – that reality would fall apart; a very natural question
after watching the news in the Milosevic era was this: Which world do they live in?
WHAT IS THE PRODUCT OF THE MASS-MEDIA?
THE PUBLIC AND PUBLIC OPINION
Luhmann’s early critique of Habermas’ theory of the public sphere dates back some 40
years, in the days they began their controversy. Whenever Habermas would insist on finding some new collective social function of the public sphere, Luhmann would reply that it
32
is impossible to find a solution for a society particularized into specialized subsystems.
Luhmann was convinced that, in the conditions that exist in a post-industrialist society, an
all-inclusive communication process can take place only in specific and exceptional circumstances, so consequently the public sphere loses its distinctive properties, ceasing to
be all-inclusive, rational and based on consensus. The only way out, as he saw it, would be
to initiate relevant topics for political discussions appropriate for developing into the structure of the communication process. In other words, according to Luhmann, it is important
to focus on the systems themselves, because the public sphere comes into being around the
systems following the themes and problems that keep arising. The public sphere becomes
more and more dependent on authorities institutionalized within the systems – parties,
bureaucracy and interest groups. Luhmann rejects the concept of public sphere as a collective subject questioning even the position of the individual in it. He claims that it is
simply not true that an individual person, by virtue of self-reflection, is capable to come
up with something universal, common for the whole mankind, to arrive to a consensus or
to know the truth. Luhmann’s critique had some influence on Habermas, and Habermas’
ideas helped Luhmann to form his conception of social systems based on communication.
The public, according to Luhmann, is the medium (vehicle) of the mass-media. The
non-consensual character of the mass-media reality is definitely related to the fact that
public opinion is not something shared and felt by different people, but is rather a set of
incongruent and impersonal beliefs and attitudes. The public is simultaneously for and
against; the difference is in percentages and it changes daily.
As any other system, the mass-media is absorbed in autopoiesis connecting its own
operations to other, new operations. Here is the space the public occupies; being very efficient and never getting tired (Moeller, 2006) – you can always contact it (that is what people
do every day, Noelle – Neumann, 1974). Public opinion changes every day, it can be reinvestigated every day. And when it does not change – that indeed is a piece of information!
The public opinion from yesterday is a foundation for the public opinion today, says
Luhmann. The result of the previous communication process always forms the basis for
the next one. The public opinion about a new political decision is a new public opinion.
Public opinion is not a sum-total of contents of individual consciousnesses (how could
that be calculated?), but the communicative product of the mass-media. Public opinion
today is neither an attitude en vogue as it was held in the 17th century, nor a medium of
rational enlightening as it was constructed in the18th century. In the 21st century, public
opinion is rather a medium of self-description and of universal description of the complex
modern society. Luhmann says that public opinion is the Holy Spirit of society, the communicative accessibility of the results of communication.
Calling the public and public opinion the Holy Spirit, Luhmann emphasizes with
mild cynicism its functional significance. Public opinion has nothing to do with human
rationality; it is a communicative medium made possible by the expansion of the massmedia in a global autopoietic system. With the production of social memory emerges
33
a need for some sort of “currency” by means of which it will express itself and interact
with other systems. This must be materialized into some shape and form; just like in
economy, where we need money to interchange different things, the reality also needs a
medium to express itself – the public.
Public opinion is a self-description of society. It changes with every new item of news,
transforming itself into an eternal spiral.
CONCLUSION
Luhmann’s paradigm is very important. It may help communicology think through
its subject-matter and distinguish itself from sociology, or simply put, take the place of
third level observation and thus better understand public communication, together with
the processes signifying, giving explanation and constituting sense – in a word, providing
understanding in a society.
Is it possible to accept Luhmann’s theory and, at the same time, remain true to
Habermas’ utopian principles? Or is it possible to put together a new critical and systemic theory? Maybe it is, if someone answered the question from which vantage point to
observe society, and what directions should be prescribed to it in advance in order to make
a critique possible. On the other hand, we believe that Luhmann’s concept of interaction
as a temporal system does not make much sense (because it is based on a perception code
and not on communication and meaning), so Habermas’ idea of communication network
in the life-world should be reaffirmed (so that it could be compatible with Luhmann’s
systemic theory).
A new theory of communication should break away from the mistakes such as assumingthat society is made up of concrete individuals and relations among them, or that society is constituted by means of a consensus, agreement of opinions and complementarity
of individual purposes, or that societies are territorially and regionally limited, or that
society can be observed from the outside as a group of people occupying some space.
Luhmann’s concept of the public is more convincing than Habermas’ as much as his
discursive analytic strategy is more serious and more reasonable than the normativist
theory. Today, the public is, therefore, a construction, the structure and currency of communication mediated by the mass-media.
34
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UDC 316.32
Milorad Đurić
Provincial Secretariat for Culture and Public Information, Novi Sad
The Faculty of Political Sciences, Beograd
Serbia
Ideological Dimensions
of Anti-Globalism
Summary: By analysing ideological dimensions of anti-globalism, this paper
examines the connection between ideology as a type of social/political constitution of meaning, in which partial interests are formed as normative projects, and
the way in which social communication is produced. We assume that changes
in the sphere of ideology, that is the fact that anti-globalism keeps avoiding
traditional ideological divisions, may be observed as changes in the production
of social communication. The contemporary world is constantly circumventing
(the intended) control as a result of permanent self-reflexiveness and large
amounts of information that constantly enter the universe of our social life. In
such an unstable world, assumptions that have so far been fundamental in our
present concepts of ideology radically change too...
Key words: anti-globalism, globalisation, ideology, communication, changes
„Mark this well, you proud men of action.
You are nothing but the unwitting agents of the men of thought
who often, in a quiet self-effacement,
mark out most exactly all your doings in advance“
(Heinrich Heine, 1834.)1
As early as the closing years of the 20th and first years of the 21st century, a series of protests against the institutions of de facto “World Government“ (Chomsky) – World Trade
Organization, G8, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Economic Forum,
OECD, NATO that broke out in Seattle, Washington, Melbourne, Seoul, Nice, Barcelona,
1 Quoted from: Slavoj Žižek, “U odbranu izgubljenih stvari“, Akademska knjiga, Novi Sad, 2011.
38
Genoa, Brussels, Porto Alegre, along with the enhancement of nationalism, growth of
Islamic fundamentalism and alike, raised new issues related to the state of the world.
Although these events are commonly referred to as the “anti-globalist movement“, their
heterogeneity is evident: from colourful carnival and creative protest-performances, occupation of spaces and buildings (“Take the Square“, “Occupy Wall Street“) to destruction of
corporate property, and open conflicts with the police to organising serious conferences
(World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, for example). At first sight they are ideologically
unattainable – beyond the traditional left wing-right wing division, but still with flexible
alliances in different (sometimes unexpected) movements. In terms of organisation – it is
a flexible network of movements, non-structured, non-hierarchical which includes both
“the old“ and “new“ movements, united in infinite cries for freedom and justice. In terms
of territory – it is a spreading movement – Spain, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Italy,
Portugal, France, Greece, Ireland, Brazil, the USA (countries of the Arab world where
the “Arab spring“ erupted are not included here). Finally, “aesthetic-carnival manifestation of anarchic Demos“ (Žižek), a sort of melting pot of the new age iconography, anarchism, fundamentalism, ecologism, anarcho-punk and alike, points to a complicated task
of “decoding“ these events that shook the world (nonetheless).
However, they did not only shake the world lulled, for a second, into a story of the
final domination of democratic-liberal concept, but affected the very “conditions of analysis“, that is, they imposed the change of the paradigm which was the key to our interpretation and understanding of political phenomena.
As this paper is aiming to determine the ideological dimensions of anti-globalism, we
assume that: a) the oratory of old ideological divisions is no longer adequate to the attempt
at understanding contemporary anti-globalist events; b) the inadequacy of clear ideological divisions in respect of the anti-globalist phenomenon is caused by structural changes
in the way of producing social communication; and c) despite announcement, the (utter)
death of ideology has not yet occurred – i.e. anti-globalism, in spite of its extreme heterogeneity, still has a certain ideological dimension; and d) anti-globalism, contemporary in
terms of the time of its emergence, is based on the hypotheses of ”old” ideologies.
However, before we look into these hypotheses specifically – let the cause of things
speak for itself. Thus, it is necessary to make a short genealogy of notions.
The end of century, end of ideology?
Except for bringing us back into the socio/political atmosphere of the first half of the
th
19 century and despite its (inarguably exaggerated) sharpness, the attitude that Heinrich
Heine expressed in his History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany, in 1834, nonetheless
represents an intriguing motive for deliberating on the position of ideology in the infinite
complexity of the contemporary world. Heine’s attitude is unambiguous: it is based on the
assumption that ideas may rule the world; that the world may be ruled by implementing
theoretical structures and models... Therefore, such sense of ideology belongs to the ambi39
ence of political modernism. For, only in the conditions of an open social communication
that is based on the civil society dynamics (the presence of autonomous social groups),
individual rights and the system of institutions protecting/facilitating them – could the
process of producing different, competitive ideological concepts be developed. Therefore,
it is only in a modern, liberal universe that the idea of ideology could emerge – as a set
of ideas, beliefs and doctrines that are to be applied on society in order to encourage its
development – contrary to a chaotic mass composed of individuals absorbed in their own
opinions and values, which ideology should master in order to turn the (masses) into a
political force2.
Whether taken as a passive reaction to social and political conditions or a set of attitudes and values that inspire political actions, ideology has been one of the central and
unavoidable points of political analysis in the previous two centuries3 . In the past two
hundred years, political theory and practice have been passed on by codes/passwords such
as “liberalism“, “conservatism“, “communism“, “nacism“, “anarchism“, “socialism“, “facism“,
“racism“, “nationalism“, “neo-liberalism“, “feminism“, etc. These codes serve as specific
points of orientation in the wide political spectrum to both the participants and observers. In addition, they are a driving force too, in ultimately irrational movements – millions
of people have, only in the last two centuries, been ready to pursue or be pursued, to close
or be closed, to kill or be killed in the name of different ideological “-isms“. On the other
hand, it is almost impossible to find an example of the absolute and consistent application
of ideology in political practice – there is no politician who would not, to some extent,
depart from the (self)proclaimed political identity. After all, in the pragmatic struggle for
coming into power, compromises are a necessity.
Everything: conceptual and practical inconsistency, strong emotional feelings,
undisputable influence on political actions, as well as frequent exploitation in a negative,
stigmatizing context turned ideology into one of the most elusive notions of social and
political theories. Despite the large number of, often strongly opposing definitions and
apparent absence of consensus in the role and significance of ideas in politics, it is possible
to create the group of meanings which, in different theories, are attributed to ideology.
Therefore, ideology, in the broadest spectrum of different theories, has been apprehended
as: the system of political beliefs; set of action-oriented political ideas; ideas of the ruling
class; certain social classes’ or social groups’ view of the world; political ideas that embody
2 Of course, not all political thinkers welcomed this interpretation of ideology. Behavioural perspective, for
example, assumes that human beings and their actions are propelled by challenges of their surroundings,
and Orthodox Marxism apprexends political ideas as a reaction to the “material basis“ that is economic
and class interests. Accordingly, ideology emerges as a “fake conscience“ (Engels), as a means of concealing
deeper realities of social life.
3 Antoine Destutt de Tracy is considered the founder of ideology because it was in 1796, during the French
Revolution that he used the term for the first time, thinking, with enlightener’s enthusiasm, that it would
become a new, objective science about the origin of ideas.
40
or articulate classes or social interests; ideas that disperse fake consciousness among the
exploited or oppressed; ideas that put an individual in the social context and produce
the feeling of collective affiliation; officially approved set of ideas that are used for giving
legitimacy to a political system or regime; comprehensive political doctrine that claims its
right on the monopoly of truth; abstract and highly-systematic set of political ideas. There
is no doubt that this list of different meanings is far too long which is why we are going to
stick to Heywood’s definition of ideology that includes the following:
„...more or less coherent set of ideas that provides the basis for organised political
action, whether this is intended to preserve, modify or overthrow the existing system or
power. All ideologies therefore have the following features:
a. they offer an account of the existing order, usually in the form of a ’work view’,
b. they advance a model of a desired future, a vision of the ’good society’, and
c. the explain how political change can and should be brought about – how to get from
(A) to (B).“ (Heywood, 2005, pg. 12)
As such, the definition points to descriptive and normative aspects of ideology: on one
hand, it advances intellectual/value mapping that could help individuals orientate in the
actual society define their affiliation (or antagonism) in regard to political ambience. On
the other hand, normatively, ideologies “provide“ desired future conditions of the society,
produce a certain type of political identity and therefore lie on a fundamentally enlightening assumption of the possibility/need for (rational) control of the society. Therefore,
ideology may be observed as a type of social/political constitution of meaning, in which
partial interests are formed as normative projects. If “an elementary process that is socially
constituted as a special (partial) reality – the communication process“ (Luhmann, 2001,
pg 206), that is, if the process of producing communication is at the same time the process
of producing meaning (which results in generating certain ideological identities), then
the changes in ideological identities may be observed as changes in the socially produced
communication.
However, in the second half of the 20th century, social changes, which would essentially change the usual perspectives, began to manifest. These changes, the acceleration
of history and intensification of the globalization process, influenced the presence of
“endism“ doctrines, which announced or concluded “the end of something“ – “end of cold
war“, “end of communism“, “end of modernism“, “end of art“ and alike. Accordingly, there
were several theories in the second half of the last century that concentrated around the
idea of the end of ideology. Despite the differences, all these discussions pointed to the
fact that the era of enlightenment in which “the hero of knowledge works toward a good
ethico-political end - universal peace“ (Lyotard, 1988.,2), ended bringing ideology as a
means of organising socio-political life to an end.
One of the pioneers was certainly Daniel Bell. As early as 1960, in his book “The
End of Ideology“ he concluded that the general consensus was reached on the triumph of
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“economy“ over “politics“ in western societies as well as the absence of significant ideological differences and debates among political actors. Political rivalry was reduced to
issues of government efficiency and material prosperity.
Jean-Francoas Lyotard presented another form of the theory about the end of ideology
suggesting that in a post-modern condition “....distrust of metanarratives“ is established.
The distrust is, beyond any doubt, the consequence of scientific progress but the very
same advance, assumes it from its own perspective. (....) Narrative function loses its functors, its great hero, its great dangers, its voyages and its great goal. (...) Nonetheless, those
who decide are trying to rule these forms of sociality by input/output matrices, adhering
to the logic that assumes ponderability of elements and identifiability of the whole. (...)
The implementation of such criteria to all our games is not feasible without some terror,
either gentle or brutal: be operational i.e. ponderable or disappear “. (Lyotard, 1988., 3)
Finally, in introductory parts of the book “The End of History and The Last Man“,
Francis Fukuyama concluded that .......“the consensus concerning the legitimacy of liberal
democracy as a system of government had emerged throughout the world over the past
few years“ i.e. “...that liberal democracy may constitute “the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution“ and “the final form of human government“ and as such constituted “the
end of history“. (Fukuyama, 1997, 19)
This genuine fin-de-siecle ideology became very influential in academic circles because
many papers emerged that followed the approach.... However, the thesis on general consensus concerning liberal democracy (of course, including socio-economic dimensions
too) was questioned quite soon....
Globalization and anti-globalization
There is no doubt that today we are living in a globalized world. The world in which
the continuing technological development, as man’s effort to respond to the challenges
of the nature, resulted with the situation in which the entire mankind is in interaction –
everybody is in relation with everybody. The world which, as Mcluhan concluded...“after
three thousand years of explosion by means of fragmentary and mechanical technologies, (...) is imploding. During the mechanical ages we had extended our bodies in space.
Today, after more than a century of electric technology, we have extended our central
nervous system itself in a global embrace, abolishing both space and time as far as our
planet is concerned“. (Mcluhan, 1971, 37) The electronic instantaneity of communication
has substantially changed the former linear structure of our civilization – now, everything
is in the center and at the same time, everything is peripheral. The contraction, implosion
of time and space, the connection between “when“ and “where“ is discontinued in so far
as the locales are penetrated and shaped by distant social events.
These changes have a strong influence on the position and role of contemporary
state. New, global challenges (environmental crisis, security problems, trans-national
economy, satellite communications and alike) required responses different from those
42
that “old“ states could offer. National borders no longer represent borders between
internal and external relations and connections between “us“ and “them“. The old
international system in which the state represented the basic communication framework underwent a fundamental transformation. National states are no longer capable
of playing the role of dominant controllers of the system for the production of social
communication i.e. can no longer provide consensus on the desired type of identity
and cannot “protect“ their citizens from chain effects in the processes which take place
outside their borders. Now, states are situated within communication fields rather than
communication fields being within the states.
It is obvious that the changes which happened under the influence of science and
technology produce a strong discontinuity compared to traditional social orders. Anthony
Giddens thinks that “modes of life brought into being by modernity have swept us away
from all traditional types of social order in an unprecedented way. In both their extensionality and intentionality the transformations involved in modernity are more profound
than most sorts of change characteristics of prior periods. On the extensional plan, we
have social interconnection globally: that is, we now longer are tied to our locality but
spread all over the world. We have also seen changes on intentional terms – the way we
have altered some of our intimate day-to-day existence“ . (Giddens, 1998., 16)
In such an altered world, there are paradoxical and mutually contradictory processes
taking place, which radically change even assumptions that used to be imperative to our
understanding of not only economics, international relations, ecology but also culture,
tradition, identity and our sense of belonging (who am I? and where do I belong?). Growing beyond boundaries produced by the explosion of communication and then implosion,
followed by eradication and de-territorialisation, has a prevalent influence on processes
and types of integration. Eradication and de-territorialisation, i.e. lifting of social relations out of the local context of interaction and their restructuring within an uncertain
span of time-space, conditioned the formation of a different type of identity. It is actually the structural incapacity to establish the sort of identity that would be characteristic
of cultures based on the printed word (on the principles of mechanical linearity); it is,
therefore, incapacity to develop the identity orchestrated from a single centre. Because,
the culture based on the press provided ...“the introspective life of long, long thoughts
and distant goals to be pursued in lines of Siberian railroad kind, cannot coexist with
the mosaic form of the TV image that commands immediate participation in depth and
admits of no delays.(...) Literacy is necessary for developing uniform habits in all times
and all places. This factor has been neglected to the extent TV is neglected today, because
it nurtures many an inclinations that are in opposition to literate uniformity and repeatability“. (Mcluhan, 1971, 391)
Prevalence of the electronic means of communication, their instantaneity, inability to
fully control them and the effect of de-territorialisation they caused, granted individuals
the choice of multiple options and dilemmas and doubts in respect of their identity as well
43
as the need to adjust their identities, in different ways, to the different requirements of
the groups they belong to. This also explains why we cannot talk about a single dominant
model; why the world, in spite of expectations, is not Americanised/Westernised, i.e. why
multipolarity prevailed over the announced unipolarity and why instead of the complete
realisation of the Western universalism, serious reform of the Western identity is taking
place. Or, as Huntington formulated it, “modernity is separated from Westernisation and
produces neither universal civilization in any contextual sense nor Westernisation of nonWestern societies“. (Huntington, 1998, 20)
Project, Process
Questions related to im/possibility for establishing a dominant, universal model permeate the debate at the theoretical scene, articulated through the dilemma on whether
globalisation is a spontaneous process or a devised, orchestrated project. On one side,
there are authors (Pierre Bourdieu, Immanuel Wallerstein, Noam Chomsky, Susan
George), who see globalisation as an organised, intended project of influential groups,
centres of social power, whose aim is to establish complete dominance of neo-liberal
concepts, erosion of “the welfare state”, relativization or abolition of national borders in
order to create conditions for the free movement of capital. According to their position,
globalisation is the product of political will, an artificially created process based on the
neo-liberal doctrines of Friedrich von Hayek and Miltorn Friedman in order to turn the
entire world into a single market dominated by trans-national companies. This view of
globalisation attracted new leftists, classical liberals, nationalists, and fundamentalists.
On the other side are the authors who interpret globalisation as a realistic social process that is a causal sequence of the process of modernisation. Under this approach, universalist pretensions of the strongest players at the international scene are not negated.
Besides... “hegemony is as old as mankind. But the current global supremacy is distinctive in the rapidity of its emergence, in its global scope, and in the manner of its exercise“. (Brzezinski, 1999, 9) The fall of the Berlin Wall shook the geopolitical structure of
the world established after the World War II. The United States of America became the
strongest player at the world stage thus exhibiting the unipolar structure of power.
However, neither the unipolar structure of power proved to be stable nor was
the complete dominance of a single centre established. Globalisation takes place as a
polycentric process that is continually avoiding any type of control. The main reason for
the incapacity to create a stable picture of the world lies in its extreme self-reflexivity.
According to Giddens, even if we could design a perfect project for the control of world,
unintended (uncontrollable) consequences would not disappear, and the reason lies
in the following...“circularity of social knowledge will actually change social life rather
than affect the natural world“. Giddens thinks that in the conditions of modernity, the
social world could never be a stable place because new knowledge (notions, theories,
inventions) continually change its nature, sending it off in a new direction. Giddens
44
compared the situation with the “juggernaut“ concluding that “we cannot conquer history but simply use it in order to achieve our collective goals. Although we produce the
world ourselves and reproduce it with our actions, we cannot exercise full control of the
social world“ (Giddens, 1998, 147).
Due to permanent self-reflexivity and huge amounts of information that continually
enter and exit the universe of social life, the contemporary world constantly avoids control
thus turning global relations into a complex process in which new challenges continuously emerge. In such an unstable world, paradoxical processes take place that constantly
change assumptions on which our understanding of culture, tradition, identity, economy,
ecology, international relations are founded...
“no global“ – “new global“
The manner in which these social changes are understood and interpreted has great
significance not only in the sphere of theory but also strongly affects the realistic social
life. The distinction between the process-project is of explicit relevance when it comes
to understanding globalism. We use the term “anti-globalism” in this paper but there is
a vast array of other terms referring to this political phenomenon: anti-corporate movement, movement against the American imperialism, neo-liberal movement, global justice
movement, the culture of global solidarity, social justice movement, etc. Terminological
confusion is not coincidental – it is actually a broad and very diffuse political phenomenon. Hence, we are going to use the term “anti-globalism“ in order to enclose the set
of events, from the first counter summits in Davos, Seattle, Washington etc., to actions
such as “Occupy Wall Street“, stances taken by social theoreticians (Immanuel Walerstein,
Naomie Clein), as well as documents and proclamations of the World Social Forum.
We have already found that the anti-globalist movement is very heterogeneous and
in many aspects contradictory4. Guy Verhofstadt, who noticed it in 2001 (then the Prime
Minister of Belgium), noted in an open letter referring to violent demonstrations in Genoa
organised as a reaction to G7 Summit: “Yet another structure is hidden behind the fact
that, despite the opposition to globalisation, you are wholeheartedly advocating tolerance
for the most diverse ways of life. It must be that we owe the fact that we live in a multicultural and tolerant society to the process of globalisation!“ Concluding that “nostalgia for
the closed society of our ancestors is reserved only for the conservatives who glorify past
and extreme rightists“, Verhafstadt warns that “anti-globalist protests, without intending
so conscientiously, hazardously incline toward the extremist, populist, rightist attitudes“
(Danas, September 26, 2001)
4 A classical illustration of the contradictory nature of anti-globalism is the photograph displaying a
protestor who is throwing a stone at the shop window of “NIKE” sportswear, while he is wearing “NIKE”
sneakers himself.
45
Genuine, paradox “eclecticity“ of anti-globalism, that the Belgium Prime Minister also
noticed suggests that the language of old divisions is no longer adequate. Anti-globalism
escapes traditional ideological divisions. It is enough to analyse the content of proclamations from, let say, the Second World Social Forum, held in Port Alegre in order to get
insight into the broadness of the scope of political goals. In addition to clearly expressing attitudes against neo-liberalism, war, militarism in general, sexism, racism, economic
models that cause recessions, poverty, economic sanctions, women trafficking, multinational corporations, ruthless exploitation of developing countries, dictatorship, violation of
elementary social, economic, cultural and ecological rights, those proclamations strongly
advocate for peace, general security and social justice, social solidarity for dignity in life,
human rights and political freedoms, diversity, unity, the people of Palestine and their
struggle for self-determination, legitimate status of all immigrants, unconditional debt
write-off, compensation for historical, social and ecological debts of the North incurred
by the exploitation of natural and social resources of the South, preservation of biodiversity, water, land, forests, respect for rights and freedoms, democracy, right to information,
right to free public education and etc. Although attitudes that could be characterised as
“leftist” prevail, there are “anarchist“, “environmental“ and “feminist“ orientations and in
certain cases even “conservativism“ could be recognized, anti-globalism cannot be consistently and fully aligned with any ideological determination. Naomi Klein, the author
of the best-selling book “No Logo“ and unofficial spokeswoman for anti-globalism, in her
response to this complex mixture of topics and orientations thinks that “....mass demonstrations showed that we overstepped our possibilities. Now is the time to stop and take
action in terms of communication and theoretical work, which doesn’t mean drawing up
a manifest that everybody should agree with but recognizing and defining the group of
questions that are a part of common belief worldwide and then organize accordingly“.
(Danas, August 4-5, 2001)
The absence of agreement on the ideological profile of anti-globalism may seem
unexpected, only at first sight though. We have already concluded that the technological development of means of communication (satellite TV, Internet) has essentially and
irretrievably changed the former linear order of our civilization. The centre-periphery
relation has been relativized fundamentally, communication fields decentralized and
deterritorialized (lifted out of the local context). Let’s use the analogy: communication
structures no longer resemble a spider web encircling a clear centre but acquire the structure of fishing net. This sort of production of social communication significantly impedes
building of identity orchestrated from a single centre i.e. impedes organized self-constituting discourse, which further on affects relatively low integrative capacity of the antiglobalist ”movement”. The organization of the anti-globalist movement itself follows a
similar logic because it acts “…primarily informally, in discontinuity and ad hoc, relying
on mass mobilization and without using traditional political channels of influence on the
state (…), fully discards formal and bureaucratic forms of organization and prefers loose,
46
flexible modules that actively involve common members (grassroots) ” (Krstić, 2003). On
the other hand, anti-globalism, in its scope, is global. Protagonists of these developments
originate from different societies and thus project different views of the most important
problems. All this adds to the extreme thematic complexity of anti-globalism.
And yet, the basic question remains: could we consider anti-globalism an ideology
at all? To what extent could anti-globalism pass the test of Heywood’s definition of ideology that we have adopted at the beginning of the paper? Hence, could we speak of “more
or less – coherent set of ideas” which offers “a view of the current order, usually in the
form of the view of the world”? Besides its heterogeneity, anti-globalism is founded on
the idea that globalization is a project designed by political, military and financial centers of power aiming at establishing total domination of the neo-liberal concept of society.
Financial oligarchy, implementing the globalization logic “There is no alternative” (Krstić,
2003) through the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, imposes conditions to
less developed societies and inevitably pushes them into debt slavery. This imperialistic
expansion of socially irresponsible mega-capital, supported by the theory of “the end of
history” represents for anti-globalists, a self-explanatory situation which more than justifies the reason for their emergence. As regards other characteristic that ideology has to
avail with – a model of the desired future i.e. a vision of a good society, it is less present
or at least less clear in anti-globalist actions. With more of “against” and less of “for”, antiglobalism mainly remains within frames of the reaction to current conditions. “Another
World is Possible”, the slogan of the World Social Forum in Port Alegre has an undisputable utopic force which is however, only a necessary but hardly sufficient condition for the
effect(ive) change of the world. Even less clear is the manner in which the political change
should be made: based on the structure of small, autonomous groups, absence of hierarchy
and decisions based on the consensus, anti-globalism sentences itself to non-efficiency in
advance. The strategic dilemma lies in the questions whether to respond to globalization
locally (“No global”) or to give it a try with new, alternative form of the global response
(“New global”), as well as whether to firmly adhere to non-violent methods or implement
more radical and aggressive forms of protest. Anyhow, anti-globalism dramatically lacks a
clear vision of how to turn the world of non-liberal domination of ruthless capital into the
world of economic democracy, fair distribution and social justice.
In the end, the essential problem, in our opinion, is the anti-globalists’ assumption
that globalization is a designed project, managed by the centers of world capital. Thus,
anti-globalism, although contemporary in terms of the time it emerged, takes on the logic
of old ideologies – that the world can be ruled. Ignoring the fact that the world in the 21st
century is not a stable place but, due to the growing acceleration, an explosion of communication and deterritorialization, increasingly resembling what Giddens called “juggernaut”, anti-globalism, with its “clear” and “definitive” understanding of conditions and
relations in the world, is constructing a building on false foundations, significantly reducing the capacity for exploiting the current utopist energy adequately.
47
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Baudrillard, Jean, Spirit of Terrorism, “Arhipelag“, Beograd, 2007.
Brzezinski, Zbigniew, Grand Chessboard, “CID“, Podgorica, 1999.
Đinđić, Zoran, Demokratija i autoritarni sistemi, „Filozofija i društvo“, IX-X, Beograd, 1996.
Fukuyama, Francis, The End of History and The Last Man, “CID“, Podgorica, 1997.
Giddens, Anthony, Runaway World, “Stubovi kulture“, Beograd, 2005.
Giddens, Anthony, Consequences of Modernity, “Filip Višnjić“, Beograd, 1998.
Huntington, Samuel, The Clash of Civilizations, “CID“, Podgorica, 1998.
Heywood, Andrew, Political Ideologies, “Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva“, Beograd, 2005.
Krstić, Predrag, Misli globalno – deluj antiglobalistički, „Nova srpska politička misao“ vol VII, no. 3-4,
Beograd, 2003.
Luhmann, Niklas, Social Systems, Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stojanovića, Sremski Karlovci Novi
Sad, 2001.
Mcluhan, Marshal, Understanding Media – The Extentions of Man, Belgrade, 1971.
Pečujlić, Miroslav, Globalizacija – dva lika sveta, „Gutenbergova galaksija“, Beograd, 2002 .
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[email protected]
48
49
UDC 316.7
UDC 27-1-76
Sergej Beuk
The Centre for Studies of Religion, Politics and Society
Belgrade Youth Centre, Serbia Intercultural Theology:
The Problem of Christian
Identity and Contemporary
Missiology
SUMMARY: Starting from basic questions and methods of intercultural theology, the author is trying to illustrate the organic connection between Christian
identity, whose essential paradigms are changed to a degree according to the
classical understanding of the positions of believers in society, and contemporary Missiology, Evangelization and diaconate, which are more frequently in
communication with an intercultural reality, especially outside of the common
European context. Also, intercultural theology does not only represent a form
of post liberal theological discourse, but also an ecclesial need for the access
to believers in their differences in a psychological, sociological and religious
sense. Understood in this way, open theology has a chance to leave a mark in
societies which are striving towards dialogue, understanding and a new philosophy of multiculturalism.
KEY WORDS: interculturalism, intercultural theology, identity, Christian identity,
contemporary Missiology, Evangelization, diaconate.
In recent decades we have witnessed paradigm changes in all social aspects, which
inevitably effects the field of religion. Globalization, transition, technical and technological acceleration, ecological crisis, bioethics, and religious extremism are not mere concepts, but the reality in which we live. How these changes apply to contemporary theology
and what is the missiological future of the church – these are questions to which we seek
potential answers.
50
At this point it seems that intercultural theology is inevitable and the only means of
communication among theologians and believers, and with members of other religions
and cultures respectively. Intercultural theology is not inconsistent with systematic theology, it is not opposed to dogmatics or to existing liturgical practice, but it contextualizes
and complements them while conveying a particular message. The same applies to contemporary missiology1 - it can be successful only if it is intercultural, equally treating not
only differences among Christians, but also distinctive traits of religious ideas and institutions which are carriers of some other, often insufficiently understood identities.
Multi-confessionality and multiculturalism have become standards, and theology
- if it wishes to justify and secure its existence and to remain true to the Word and Revelation - must include both tradition and modernity, both the collectivity of the church
and individual freedoms. Hence the need for intercultural theology, one that does not
impose, but proposes.
Interculturalism and intercultural theology
It is very important to underline, at the very beginning, that intercultural theology
represents a specific intellectual and spiritual reflection on intercultural processes in a
particular social reality, which means that it is not a new theological discipline, but a
new method, perception and perspective within theological reflection2. At this point we
can detect two reasons for its occurrence: the first - theologians of Asia, Africa and Latin
America have influenced disciplines of fundamental and systematic theology, which have
essentially been perceived as a European theological entity, without any direct connection to their cultural identities. The second reason is related to the migration explosion
in Europe and North America, where multiculturalism and theological pluralism have
become socio-cultural needs. If we take into account the breakthrough of religious studies, as well as the expansion of contextual theology, it becomes quite clear that interculturalism is an inevitable term in every day life of churches and religious communities all
around the world.
Therefore, Intercultural Theology is a method of actualizing a dialogue between nonWestern forms of Christianity and existing theological forms. Multidisciplinary approach
is obligatory and includes insights from various fields: church history, cultural anthropology, sociology of religion, ecumenical theology and contemporary missiology. It has to
be cohesive, open, markedly ecclesial and intellectually founded: “A true universal and
ecumenical theology must be intercultural.”3 Hollenweger’s conclusion confirms the thesis of many contemporary theorists that theology cannot exist without a multicultural/
intercultural context. Theology must step out from its purely academic status in order to
1 Friedli 1987.
2 Cartledge 2011
3 Hollenweger 1986: 28.
51
synthesize different Christian traditions, regardless when and where they originated. This
does not mean that intercultural theology is automatically anti-dogmatic, nor can it be
fully identified with ecumenical theology, but it is a methodical entity per se, and opens up
various speculative fields within the existing theoretical disciplines:
Ecumenical
THEOLOGY
CONTEXTUAL
THEOLOGY
Narrative
THEOLOGY
POLITICAL /
POST-CONFLICT
THEOLOGY
INTERCULTURAL
THEOLOGY
If we detach ourselves from the strict theological reflection, for a moment, we will
clearly conclude that the philosophy of interculturalism is a cohesive resource for continuous decoding of social functions of religious discourse, especially in the sphere of national,
ideological, ethical and historical identities and different levels of socio-cultural identification. In this sense, philosophy, sociology, culturology, and even theology, have the need
to analyze the new political and religious reality of Europe, North and Latin America.
Such multicultural environment is sustainable only through the premises of intercultural
understanding and dialogue at all levels - from political entities, through education and
the media, to religious institutions and non-governmental sectors. We can conclude that
intercultural theology - if it does not affirm consolidation and acceleration of democratic
culture, which includes diversity of all kinds - cannot be successful and meaningful. It is
progressive and emancipatory, and only as such can have a function that is essential to the
society of the new millennium.
However, intercultural theology does not offer ready-made solutions, but is in constant development, and so is the culture in general: “Cultures are not finished products, but
are processes which are changing through the course of human intervention and which
continuously affect the whole social context on various local, regional and global levels”4.
4 Aquino 2007: 14.
52
Herein we can appreciate the advantage of intercultural theology - it implies constant
development and update of existing theological ideas and immersion in a culture that
transcends ethnic and / or religious constraints: “Theology and culture are not separate
worlds (notions): there has always been mutual interaction and critique.”5 The described
relationship is actualized by globalization as a state of interdependence of nations, cultures and religions, whose benefits and already existing tensions cannot be projected or
assumed without the remainder.
At this point we are interested in seeing which advantages, objectives and methods of
intercultural theology would be acceptable to most churches and which do not affect the
doctrinal differences and ecclesial heterogeneity of modern Christianity:
−− Inter-religious dialogue;
−− Inter-religious and intercultural pedagogy;
−− Inter-contextual communicating the message of Gospels;
−− Analysis of theological, social, economic and political conditions of intercultural
transformation processes;
−− Affirmation of religious studies and religious pluralism;
−− Publication of papers on the subjects of intercultural hermeneutics and missiology;
−− Platform propositions on how to overcome religious antagonisms;
−− Impact on the creation of the media presentation of life and work of churches and
religious communities;
−− Highlight on needs for a wider social democratization and humanization.
Acknowledging that only a part of intercultural theological agenda is listed, we believe
that the theoretical and practical application of some is already possible, especially in the
sphere of religious dialogue, media and education. Here we note another advantage of
intercultural theology, mediation in communication and interpretation of the religious
practices to the Other, who is taken as an associate and not as a competitor, emphasizing
religious universalism, both in the field of theology, and in the field of ethics.
It seems that the right answer to the question of what intercultural theology is for
does not lie only in the theoretical approach of the theological post-liberalism of the West,
but also in particular daily lives of individuals and religious communities – Christians
and their churches – which often go through turbulent changes. Thus a possible answers
to questions about Christian identity and contemporary missiology can be found in the
area of intercultural theology, taken as foundations for keeping individual faith alive and
spreading Logos throughout the world.
5 Newlands 2004: 5.
53
THE CHALLENGES TO Christian Identity
As the term of identity implies an individual quest, a way and constant improvement,
Christian identity is not and cannot be static, fixed and defined in advance. Although the
concept of Christian identity implies a certain tradition and historical heritage, it is now,
more than it has ever been, exposed to changes that modernity brings.6
However, Christians throughout the centuries, as well as today, find sources of their
own identity in the Holy Bible, which can be defined as a belief in one God, the Holy Trinity, and faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer. Faith, taken as such, is reflected
in transcending the ego and awakening higher principles (Holy Son) in us, by whose salvific sacrifice we have been redeemed. With redemption we become God’s servants, who
serve their neighbors and through them the whole mankind. Thus the church is considered as a new eschatological community, whose members act upon faith (and by deeds)
and are directed towards the same goals. Sense and knowledge of identity flows into a
larger whole, and self-realization takes place in Christ’s power, with the help of the Holy
Spirit. Consequently, in the reality of the Christian identity we comprehend the activity
of God as the one of the Holy Trinity, in its entirety, and Jesus Christ as the Incarnation.
Although one cannot speak about Christian identity without a basic insight into the
Gospels, Apostle Paul7 is the most important founder of the Christ-centric view of the
world. Creating new communities of the faithful, he gradually establishes and deepens
the basic ideas of Christian identity, bringing together different cultural contexts and
missionary activity in a relatively monolithic whole. Looking at the work of the Apostle
Paul, from today’s perspective, we can determine which are the basic parameters and
criteria for understanding the Christian identity – they are set in a practical way in which
communities of the faithful function in everyday life and through ministry, in its perception of the world and its adaptability in the frames of the world as such. Starting from the
structure of the very community, its ways of marking important dates, to express solidarity, religious people support each other maintaining the preservation of their unique
identity. Accordingly, many layered elements of Christian identity can be noted: 1. personal relationship with God, 2. feeling of belonging to a particular church, 3. specific
religious language, 4. heritage, 5. common source(s) of religion and 6. cultural characteristics. The established relationship among these constituents and their interaction, which
is achieved through constant competition, compose a fluid space in which identity is
formed, an identity called Christian.
6 The Vatican has announced through its official organ the list of the new Seven Deadly Sins which threaten
society at the beginning of the 21st century, these are the following: genetic modification, experiments with
human beings, the pollution of the environment, excessive acquisition of wealth, taking or selling drugs,
pedophilia, abortion and social injustices that cause poverty and misery. With this announcement the
Catholic Church made a clear statement that the believers today face issues and dilemmas which have
never, for the most part, existed before
7 Campbell 2006.
54
Having mentioned these general characteristics of Christian identity, here we must
note characteristics of identities which are related to certain churches and denominations:
Orthodox identity implies liturgical understanding of personality, with frequent
practice of fasting, praying and worshiping saints. Orthodox churches are organized
nationally, which implies an obvious belonging to certain ethnicity and, accordingly,
historical determinants.8
Roman Catholic identity is identified with the church that is fully centrally organized,
with specifics which clearly separates it from the Orthodox - dogma about papal infallibility, doctrine of purgatory and indulgences, and clergy celibate.
Traditional Protestant identity occurs in the area of individual faith, biblical hermeneutics, general and work ethic and enhanced social learning. Presbyterian Church
organization9 and democratic relations within the church, make the Protestant identity
homogeneous compared to the Orthodox and Roman Catholics.
Evangelical Protestant identity, which emerged from traditional Protestant churches,
in addition to individual faith, focuses on worshiping, public and group praying, and
strong cohesion of its members.
Of course, much more can be said about understanding and experiencing the diverse
religious identity, but currently we are interested how intercultural theology implies Christian identity and which priorities are formed in the interaction with other religious teachings. Entering, inevitably, in the area of ecumenical theology, four basic areas of intercultural Christian identity are highlighted:
1. belief in one God, Creator and Redeemer;
2. belief in His justice and mercy;
3. belief in human equality and the sanctity of life;
4. belief in individual salvation.
The above areas represent indisputable truths of monotheistic religions and are
equally important for both theologians and for believers. As for Christians themselves,
their identity is clearly shown through faith, justice, love and trust in God – equally the
same for all Christians: the Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Protestants. The Future
of Christian identity and the theology is to build peace, dialogue and understanding, in
which intercultural theology has its important place. However, it is not possible without
modern missiology and evangelistic practice, through which the Message is transmitted
and communication is achieved. In this sense, we can now talk about intercultural mis8 Speaking about the Orthodox Church and its identity, we must emphasize that by this concept
the distinguishing properties of certain churches are meant, whose identity is dependent on different
historical circumstances that determined the development of the Orthodox creed in certain areas. Thus we
speak about an Orthodox sub-identity of Serbs as the Saint Sava orthodox identity having certain specific
features in comparison with other nations and churches.
9 Except in the case of the Anglican Church which is episcopally organized.
55
siology as one of the ways in which the church lives in multi-confessional, multinational
and multicultural environment.
CONTEMPORARY missionary and diaconate
Observing missiological studies from intercultural theological perspective, we can
determine that missions and evangelism today are ultimately multidimensional concepts
that encompass anthropology and psychology, but also the media, which until recent decades was not the case.10 However, despite the availability of information and a wide range
of missiological centers, mission and evangelism remain on the edge of the event, without
imposing presence in the lives of most churches. Why is this so? The first reason is the general atheism of societies which were traditionally Christian. The other reason is technologisation and scientification of reality, which is inevitably reflected in theology. The third
reason is the perception of the spiritual needs which transcend the limits of certain churches
and religions. Worship once a week is an insufficient spiritual mover to believers today, nor
is it a way for the believers to take active participation in the life of their communities.
Modern missiology implies an actualization of everyday Christian practice within
the multicultural milieu and an activation of existing church resources on expanding the
Word in the world. This is not a need, but an obligation of the church, according to the
words of its founder, Jesus Christ: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 28, 19). The mission
is, we conclude, the abolition of borders and implication of differences among people
and their autonomous cultures. Understood in this way, Missiology contains two essential
components - the theological and anthropological:
Theological because the message is God’s word, regarding his purpose and promises
he gave to mankind; anthropological because it must be communicated within the structure of human organization. The message is theological because it is related not only to the
inner life of the individual and his spiritual experience, but also to his/ her eternal state. It
is anthropological as it expands in the material environment on which people depend in
their physical existence, and where spiritual experiences have to be transmitted through a
number of human relationships, culturally conditioned. When Jesus spoke to the Apostles
/ followers as those who are not of this world but are also in this world, he actually pointed
to the basic dichotomy of the Christian mission. Both in terms of mission rules and in
terms of missionary activity, these two dimensions must be in equilibrium.11
The balance which Tippet argues about refers to the theory and practice, faith and
action, present and future of the mission in the world, implying intercultural communication and universal - humane message. But missiology, among these listed components,
must also include areas that may or may not be closely related to it, including:
10 Bosch 1991.
11 Tippet 1987: xxi.
56
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
theology of the mission;
history of the mission;
Biblical theology and church history;
ecumenical theology;
missionary training;
communication techniques;
establishment and growth of local churches (church planting and church growth);
Christian pedagogy;
intercultural communication;
practical and applied theology;
media theory;
social and cultural anthropology;
social psychology.
This, of course, does not completely exhaust all areas and topics which directly or
indirectly have to do with the contemporary missionary, but are guidelines to development which ensures the mission’s presence in the world.
As for the diaconal service, we can say that it represents permanency in theological
reflections, historical analysis of the role of the church within a society and pastoral care12,
maintaining continuous contact with all believers. Traditional concept of diaconal service
is related to care of “new members, the poor, widows, orphans,”13 but today the fields of
interest and activities of diaconate are greatly different. Presenting new goals of diaconal
service Engelsviken states:
−− Reestablishing the holistic perspective of church missions;
−− Need for a connection between social work/action and identity of the church;
−− Diaconate detection as an invigorating service;
−− Prophetic dimension of diaconate.14
Analyzing the first two points, an etiological link can be noticed - among the mission,
identity of the church and believers, as well as diaconal practices - which exists in the time
continuum. Diaconate is, therefore, a continuous realization of Christ-centric sense in
society, and through the church it is opened to everyone, extending the borderlines of the
Message in the present. Missiologically interpreted, diaconate in the XXI century must
possess the following characteristics: 1. presence in all ecclesial activities 2. local concentration. 3. cooperation 4. pre-emption 5. charity and 6. interculturalism/multiculturalism.
12 Cummings 2004.
13 Ditewig 2004: 14.
14 Engelsviken 2008: 111.
57
The characteristics listed determine diaconal service as a part of an organic whole of
the church in liturgical and evangelistic sense. Thus diaconate becomes dynamic, dedicated to specific social problems and phenomena, following various transformation processes and detecting the needs of believers. The contemporary vision of diaconal service
is, as confirmed, unequivocally holistic and intercultural, as it should communicate not
only within the church and in it, but be present in the public communication/discourse,
promoting humanistic and democratic values, which is a particular challenge. Modern
diaconal service is mobile and pervasive only when it steps out of the church routines,
transits into general and public, encourages ethical values and knowledge of the Other.
Mission is nothing but a phrase if not followed by strong faith, a desire for change and
responsibility comprehended widely.
Interculturalism AS THE KEY
At the end of this short paper there is a need to remember that interculturalism is
based on three principles (the principle of equality, the principle of differentiation and
the principle of positive interaction)15, it is quite obvious why intercultural theology gains
in academic significance. It equitably treats different, often divergent, religious ideas and
systems, and leads to a dialogue among individuals, groups and institutions, strengthening social cohesion and democratic standards. By expanding their own field of action,
intercultural theology draws a specific religious map where center is not only a Western
European intellectual model, but a variety of contents which remains autonomous, but
inclusive at the same time.
As regards Serbia and Vojvodina, intercultural theology can become an intellectual
and spiritual articulation of needs, aspirations and desires for true coexistence in diversity.
Thus it becomes a transformational force which tends to enlarge the sense of the social
role of religion and its relevance in all fields: political, educational, and even economic.
Fleeing collectivism and reductionism of any kind, together, both intercultural theology
and missiology, constitute a complementary form of meta-narratives and praxis, which
has been in continuous research development.
This key can open the door to genuine intercultural understanding, which was long
defined by the Apostle Paul: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor
freeman, there is neither male nor female, because you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal.
3: 28) . So be it ...
15 Dietz 2009.
58
REFERENCES
Aquino, Pilar Maria, Feminist Intercultural Theology, New York, Orbis Books, 2007.
Bosch, David, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, New York, Orbis Books,
1991.
3. Cartledge, Mark, Intercultural Theology, Norwich, SCM Press, 2011.
4. Cummings, Owen, Deacons and the Church, Mahwah, Paulist Press, 2004.
5. Dietz, Gunter, Milticulturalism, Interculturality and Diversity in Education, Münster, Vaxmann Verlag
GmbH, 2009.
6. Ditewig, William, 101 Questions And Answers On Deacons, Mahwah, Paulist Press, 2004.
7. Engelsviken, Tormod, Mission to the World: Communicating the Gospel in the 21st Century, Oxford,
Egede Instittuten/Regnum, 2008.
8. Friedli, Cf. R., „Interkulturelle Theologie”, in: Müller, K., Sundermeier Th., (Hg.), Lexikon Missionstheologischer Grundbegriffe, Berlin, 1987. 9. Hollenweger, Walter, “Intercultural Theology”, Theology Today, Vol. 43, No 1, Princeton, 1986.
10. Newlands, George, The Transformative Imagination: Rethinking Intercultural Theology, Hampshire,
Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2004.
11. Tippet, Alan, Introduction to Missiology, Pasadena, William Carey Library, 1987.
1.
2.
[email protected]
59
UDC 316.722(497.11)
Hristina Mikić
Modern Business School, Belgrade, Serbia
Creative Economy Group, Belgrade
Cultural Industries and the
Diversity of Cultural Expressions:
International Institutional
Framework and the Current
Conditions in Serbia1
Summary: Our country ratified the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2009, joining the group of
124 countries that have ratified this Convention and, according to their context
of policies and actions in the cultural sector, innovate the measures of fostering and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions and creative powers.
This paper is envisioned as a plaidoyer of the conditions of cultural diversity
in Serbia, and offers an insight into the current measures for its preservation
and nurture in the key areas of the application of the Convention: public policy,
international cooperation and mobility of cultural services and goods, and the
integration of culture into the policy of sustainable development. The first part
of the paper discusses the diversity of cultural expressions, as well as contemporary concepts of cultural governance from the standpoint of international
bilateral agreements. The second part is dedicated to the analysis of the current state of cultural diversity of cultural industries in Serbia, while the third
part provides some insight into the public policies and measures aimed at the
preservation and nurture of cultural expressions.
Key words: cultural industries, diversity of cultural expressions, public policy,
UNESCO, European Council, United Nations, intercultural dialogue, multiculturalism, development.
1 This paper was written in the framework of “Creative Serbia“ project implemented by the Creative
Economy Group and it represented a base for the preparation of the National report about implementation
of UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
60
INTRODUCTION
The institutional framework for the development of cultural industries and the guarantee of the human right of accessing and using cultural contents is comprised of numerous, mutually interconnected strategic documents, political agendas and multilateral
agreements whose goal it is to adequately articulate the connections between culture and
the development of human society. Ideas related to the freedom of opinion, expression,
satisfaction of cultural needs and the free expression of creative potentials of groups and
individuals have had a long tradition. The central point of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights is the importance of each individual regarding personal dignity, freedom
and safety (UN 1948), and the definition of culture as a human right is the most basic
dimension of human dignity (Pascual et al, 2011). Therefore, the right of culture was woven into the founding document of UNESCO, to be carried out through its functions and
activities by “encouraging the wealth of the diversity of cultures and promoting the free
flow of ideas by word and image” (UNESCO 2007: 3). From a historical perspective, it
seems that the role of culture and cultural industries, as well as their treatment in the international institutional framework, had not been clearly defined until the World Cultural
Council published a report entitled “Our Creative Diversity”, giving the culture an essential dimension in the new developmental paradigm with “a human face”, suggesting that it
should be given a central place, as opposed to the margin of the development where it had
previously been (UNESCO 1995). Namely, the culture was given an important role in the
actualization of complete human development, raising the question of public responsibility and public policies that could lead to finding adequate solutions for those potentials.
A further conceptualisation of the above mentioned premises ensued at the Stockholm
International Conference on Cultural Policies for Development in 1998 (UNESCO 1998),
when representatives of around 150 governments reached an agreement to include culture
into their development policies and strategies; another turning point was the publication
of the World Culture Report (UNESCO 2000). The importance of these documents lies in
the fact that they provided certain narratives, explaining how culture can contribute to the
development (in the widest sense possible), at the same time underlining the importance
of cultural creativity and its diversity as a source of human progress.
In 1997, the debate on sustainable development, culture and diversity of cultural expressions was joined by the Council of Europe’s Working Group for Culture and Development, which published a report entitled “In / From the Margin(s)” (Council of Europe,
1997), whose very title points at the main topic of the report: the European perspective
on changing the treatment of culture, by establishing a new thought-framework for evaluating the developmental potential of culture and setting the foundation for the political
debate on this topic in Europe. As the report was made in the time of the establishment
and strengthening of the processes of European integration, when culture as a dimension
of these processes was still not being mentioned in Europe, it is not surprising that the
narrative of this document, as well as those of the ensuing documents, treat the issue of
61
cultural diversity as something too sensitive and deeply rooted into the sovereignty of the
EU member states. Instead of the concept of diversity of cultural expressions, the Council
of Europe promoted the idea of interculturalism, seeing this phenomenon as a process of
co-existence of various cultures getting into contact with each other, and therefore enriching each other. Insisting on the interculturality reflected a certain political attitude of
the Council of Europe, which was to be further established in the European society: the
cooperation and opening of national cultures in order to create a common cultural space,
comprised of various European cultures. Namely, it seemed as though cultural diversity
and its strengthening through the perspective of multiculturalism could be interpreted
in a wrong way, as insisting on the distinctiveness and deepening the differences among
European societies, instead of striving towards universal human values.2
Gradually, it was understood that the issue of preserving and enriching cultural diversity deserves more detailed exploration, and that the process of programming cultural
development in such a complex social and economic environment must be given special
attention. It is important to keep in mind that the environment in which these topics
were discussed reflected the period when cultural goods and services started acquiring
increasing importance for the international trade. This can be seen from the data from
the UNESCO report on the international flows of cultural goods and services (UNESCO
2000a), showing that the value of trade in these goods increased almost fivefold in the
period 1980-1998, reaching 2.8% of global export and 3.8% of global import at the end of
this period. In contrast to the above mentioned tendencies, the question of sustaining and
encouraging cultural diversity and cultural industries had led to contradictory points of
view, and discussions on this topics were started many times at previous conferences in
Monaco (1969), Venice (1970) and Mexico (1982). The initial premise – that diversity of
cultural expressions is not only inevitable, but also desirable, as a state that encourages and
enhances, by leading to mutual encouragement and enrichment of cultures on a global level – could not be taken as something unambiguous. The countries that were in the process
of constituting their political and economic unity, as well as small cultural communities,
were afraid that encouraging the diversity of cultural expressions in the above mentioned
social circumstances could lead to fragmentation, and therefore to the weakening of their
2 It is also worth mentioning that the concepts and notions such as cultural diversity, interculturality and
multiculturality were not clearly defined, nor interpreted in the way they are today. The first associations
regarding cultural diversity were seen strictly as the respect for differences, and the history teaches us
that such differences often led to the foundation of self-sufficient, closed cultures. Therefore, the idea of
multiculturality was first interpreted as something negative, a concept denoting independent existence of
national cultures in one multicultural space. In contrast, interculturality was seen as something positive,
since it was based on the idea that co-existence of cultures and their interconnections can lead to the
acceptance of common values among cultures that are universal and, at the same time, possess authentic
creativity. This could serve as a basis for the reconstruction of the European identity, in which different
European cultures merge and coalesce. For more, please consult: Đurić, J: ‘ Identitet i interkuturalnost –
Srbija kao mesto prožimanja Balkana i Srednje Evrope’, Filozofija i društvo, 3 (2008): 217 -232.
62
social and economic cohesion (Majstorović, 1972). In other words, the strengthening of
cultural diversity was a big challenge for the countries who did not achieve economic and
political stability, since directing the public policies towards this approach would lead to
national disintegration, causing separatism as a consequence of the emphasized cultural
diversity. In contrast to the contradictions intrinsic to this concept, the processes of its
acceptance as a central principle of public policies were affirmed through different work
materials and statements by international organisations. At the same time, the concept of
cultural industries was introduced to public policies. This is very discretely mentioned in
the UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Policies, where emphasizing the importance of cultural industries in spreading cultural contents and ensuring the accessibility of culture are
treated as key mechanisms for the democratisation of culture (UNESCO 1982; UNESCO
1982a). This approach can be related to the period of Cold War, and the division between
the East and the West. Since most international organizations included into their development agendas whose goals aimed at helping and developing the Third World countries, it
was politically incorrect to promote a concept that was then typical of the creative sector
of the developed countries, and that was based on the commercial multinational corporations, mostly from the USA. In the same year, UNESCO published a comparative study
on cultural industries and their role in developed countries where this concept was recognized (Canada, France, Finland), but also in developing countries (Kenya, Tanzania), and
the ones from the socialistic block (Cuba).3
Cultural industries were given a slightly more important role in the World Culture Report (UNESCO 2000), where they started being examined in the light of economic phenomena. They were seen as key mechanisms for decreasing the disbalance in the flow and
exchange of cultural goods on a global level. The idea of improving cultural diversity and
cultural industries was placed in the center of multilateral relations when Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity was published (UNESCO 2001), and later also with the publishing
of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions (UNESCO 2005). That was the period in which, for the first time, an appeal was
made for states to recognize the importance of cultural industries, not only as powerful instruments for the creation of collective individual and cultural identities, but also as leading
forces in the all-encompassing sustainable cultural and economic development.
The Council of Europe joined the global efforts towards the protection and affirmation of cultural diversity by adopting the Faro Declaration on the Council of Europe’s Strategy for Developing Intercultural Dialogue (Council of Europe 2005), and after
that by adopting the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue (Council of Europe 2008).
Both of these documents put an emphasis on the intercultural dialogue as an instrument
for enabling cultural diversity, which is described as an “open and dignified exchange
of opinions between individuals and groups of different ethnic, cultural, religious and
3 For more see: UNESCO, 1982a.
63
linguistic background and heritage, with mutual understanding and respect” (Council
of Europe, 2008:12). This trend, although with modified narratives and perspectives, has
also been contributed to by other UN agencies concerned with the issues of trade and development. For example UNCTAD, after the publication of the “Declaration on Cultural
Industries and Development” (UNCTAD 2004), published two world reports on creative
economy (UNCTAD 2008; UNCTAD 2010), both underlining the cultural and economic
dimension of international trade and development, as well as the importance of including
developing countries into these processes to a larger extent, as they are rich in cultural
diversity and authentic expressions. The beginning of the 21st century ushered in a period
of the strengthening of the dialogues between cultures rich in cultural expressions, at the
same time confirming the dual nature of cultural contents that can be seen as economic
and cultural goods (UNESCO 2007:3-4), which started the process of the affirmation of
the principles of complementarity of economic and cultural perspectives of development.
THE CURRENT STATE OF THE DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL
EXPRESSIONS IN THE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES OF SERBIA
The starting point for the evaluation of the public measures aimed at the protection
and enhancement of the diversity of expression in cultural industries is the evaluation
of their current state. To this effect, a number of approaches have been used, focused on
the issues of measuring cultural diversity and finding adequate indicators for evaluating the measures of public policies, and also for measuring their impact on the protection and enhancement of diversity. Made as attempts to find an adequate solution for
this issue, most of these analyses approached diversity from the perspective of quantitative indicators related to the data on production, distribution and dissemination of
the contents of cultural industries, as well as the configurations of different dimensions
of cultural industries on the market.
When it comes to the infrastructure and resources in the field of cinematography,
there are 341 companies registered for dealing in cinematography in our country: 273
for cinematographic and video production, 50 for distribution and 28 for projection
(with around 126 movie theaters). In terms of film production, Serbia is a country with
small production (an average of 15 fiction films a year), with its annual production of
feature films still higher than that of Greece (14), Romania (14), Slovakia (10) and Croatia (2), which makes it relatively more productive than the other countries in the region. The film production in Serbia has for the most part been dedicated to author film;
therefore, the help it receives outside the market (state stimulations, financial support)
is necessary for its sustainability. In most cases, even the most popular films do not
manage to cover more than 10% of their own production, and only on rare occasions
the profits and the investments have a ratio of 1:1 (Čitulja za Eskobara – Obituary for
Escobar, Zona Zamfirova, Promeni me – Change Me). In the recent years, the biggest
market share has been achieved by Emotion Production (16.8%), Vision Film (8.8%),
64
Work in Progress (5.6%), Baš Čelik film studio (4.9%), Contrast Studios (2.9%), while
the average share of the majority of the active film companies has been between 0.5%
and 1%4. As for the program contents, the biggest part of the audio-visual production
(as well as the profit) comes from commercial contents (commercials), while 45% of the
profit comes from the production of TV series and programs. In the area of audio-visual
production, TV companies play an important role as producers or co-producers of TV
contents, but also as relevant players in the cinematographic system in the sphere of
broadcasting cinematographic production. This segment is characterized by an absence
of efficient coordination, and in some cases by a disrespect of the regulations related to
the broadcasting of domestic audio-visual works (‘small’ TV rights), and it often happens that the conditions of broadcasting are non-transparent, even discriminatory for
certain producers (especially in terms of pricing policies for broadcasting films on television). Because of such situation, except when it comes to the public radio-diffusion
services, it is hard to achieve the diversity of cultural expressions on a local and regional
level. In the sphere of distributive cinematography there are 51 distribution companies
and 200 video-clubs, out of which about 100 were active in 2010. It is also interesting to
mention that the number of videograms sold in cases of film hits was around 50 copies
in 2009, while 95% of video rentals were based on pirate disks.5 As there is no complete
record of the sales of video-discs through retail channels (e.g. chains of kiosks), the latest
estimates show that in 2009 the sales of video-disks were around 2.5 million copies, and
it is estimated that this is six times less than what would be possible in the conditions of
a regulated market in reproductive cinematography.6 As for the resources of the presentative cinematography, it formally exists only in numbers (statistic records). However, in
reality, a number of cinemas have been closed and cannot be used for screening. From
the perspective of program conception, around 80% of films screened are of the USA
origin, while only 20% belong to the European and domestic production.7 Due to the
lack of measures for stimulating the screenings of non-commercial and art films, most
of the distributors are focused solely on blockbusters, with which profit is guaranteed.
4 Mikić H, Rikalo M. “Film Market in Serbia: Development Challenges and Solutions” 9th Annual
International Conference on Communication and Mass Media, Institute for Education and Research,
Athens, Greece, 16-19 May 2011
5 Data and estimates by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Association for Creative
Industries - documentary materials in Filmska distribucija u Srbiji – trenutno stanje, Beograd: Privredna
komora Srbije, 2009
6 Ibid.
7 E.g. in 2011, out of a total of 161 screened films, 97 were of the USA origin, 46 of European origin, and
18 of domestic origin. The structure of the films screened in the past seven years is similar to that.
65
Table 1 – Film production and cinematography in Serbia, 2009-2012
Year
Number of
features
produced
Share of film
co-productions
Number
of domestic
distributors
Number
of cinemas per
1,000 residents
2009
26
10
49
0,014
2010
32
17
50
0,016
2011
29
13
51
0, 016
2012
31
-
50
0,017
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 2012 (accessed 1/02/2012);
Rikalović, G. Creative Serbia – New Line of Development, Belgrade, Anonymous said,
2011. * Film Center Serbia, www.fcs.rs (accessed 01/02/2012); Registers Agency, the national market for goods and services (www.trzistesrbija.com, accessed 01/03/2013)
Table 2 – Radio and television in Serbia (2009-2011)
Annual broadcast time
according to the program type
Number of radio
and TV broadcasters
Television
Radio
Private
Public
Programs
for national
minorities
2009
694,439
1,531,373
192
82
29,441
2010
677,723
1,501,162
194
80
31,288
2011
792,357
1,752,731
229
91
26,728
Year
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, 2012 (accessed on 01/02/2012)
A similar situation can be seen in the area of television and radio. The radio-broadcasting market is comprised of around 320 broadcasters, around 70% of which are private
broadcasters. Non-documentary films are produced only by the Radio-Television of Serbia
and by a few private television channels with national frequency, while around 90% of TV
stations are mainly dedicated to broadcasting foreign TV series (in the recent years dominated by those of Turkish origin). This is partly due to economic reasons. The average costs
of producing a domestic TV series are between 50,000 and 80,000 euros per episode – a sum
that not even the public service for radio diffusion has been able to provide lately, while the
rights for publishing foreign TV series are around 1,000 euros per episode. Music industry
and discography have been in crisis for a long time now, and the only remaining producers
in this area are City Records and Grand Production, and even these record labels are now
66
changing their focus towards the publishing of singles (production of single hits) and not
whole albums. By switching to MP3 formats that can be acquired for free, the music industry
has moved from the sphere of classical discography to that of virtual/digital discography,
while the biggest part of the profit for musicians, producers, composers and musical performers comes from festivals, live music performances and collective copyrights.
Literature and publishing mostly rely on around six hundred companies that, in terms
of territorial distribution, are mostly located on the territory of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš,
Kragujevac and other large cities. The average number of books published is between
10,500 and 11,500 per year, dominated by literature (around 45%), humanities (23%) and
around 10% from the area of applied sciences, medicine and technology. The largest market
share (measured according to the sales profit) belongs to Zavod za Izdavanje Udžbenika i
Nastavnih Sredstava, National Gazette, Laguna, Kreativni Centar, Monomanjana, Alnari.
The market is not sufficiently differentiated, but there are three groups of publishers according to their business and program policies: commercial publishers, publishers specialized in
specific fields (professional publishers) and a group of publishers that emerged in the times
of social transformation, who managed to find a satisfying ratio of market to non-market
interests, and to survive in the market with the help of subsidies (foreign funds, co-productions etc), without the need of achieving economic self-sustainability. The book distribution
is disorganized and inadequate for the existing book market. Publishers’ warehouses contain
an average of 20,000 titles, only 15% of which are available through three minor distributors
(Krug Commerce, Knjiga Info and Book Bridge). Even though the structure of distribution
channels is dominated by bookstores (around 50%), the total number of bookstores, some
299 objects, is unevenly regionally distributed (around 50% of all bookstores are located in
Belgrade). It is alarming that certain large cities, such as Kruševac, Pirot, Prokuplje, Sombor
etc have no bookstores whatsoever.
Table 3 – Trends in the publishing production in Serbia according to the number of
titles (2009-2012)
Year
Publishing
production
(total)
Translation
Belletristics
Book
for
children
Arts
and
Sports
Humanities
2009
15.651
3.514
4.296
1.339
1.502
4.771
2010
15.671
3.071
4.237
1.166
1.408
4.695
2011
15.628
3.378
4.316
1.089
1.371
4.865
2012
14.654
2.813
4.232
971
1.451
4.539
Source: National Library of Serbia (1/01/2013)
67
Table 3a – Diversity of cultural expressions in the field of publishing and literature
(2009-2012)
Year
Belletristics
School books
Humanities
Art and Sport
D.
T.
D.
T.
D.
T.
D.
T.
2009
2.778
1.518
2.136
88
4.075
696
1.280
222
2010
3.101
1.136
2.190
150
4.118
577
1.214
194
2011
3.083
1.233
2.329
189
4.180
685
1.179
192
2012
3.206
1.026
2.171
118
3.983
556
1.212
239
Source: National Library of Serbia (1/01/2013)
* D - domestic production; T - translation
In terms of the production structure, the most numerous titles are the domestic ones, making around 4/5 of the total number of titles, while translated titles make 1/5 of the production.
The ratio of the domestic to translated titles is more or less equal when it comes to literary titles,
with an average of 40-50% of them being of foreign origin, while domestic authors are dominant in all the other categories, making around 80% of the total production. This data show that
the domestic production is relatively strong, despite the bad economic situation and the limited
access to the financing for the publishing purposes. It can also be noted that there has been a
decrease in the number of translations in the literary domain, which can be explained by a relative increase in the costs of the publishing of translated titles in the domestic market. One of
the reasons for this is also the increase in the copyright costs charged by foreign publishers for
publishing books in the Serbian market, which has in recent years been growing in comparison
to the average costs from 7 or 8 years ago.
The book market has been partially monopolized in the recent years, due to the fact that
a large number of bookstores (53%) are owned by publishing houses. On the other hand, it is
evident that, despite a large number of editions, most books never reach their audience. Even
though there is a relatively large number of publishers, almost 60% of bookstores only offer
books by around 50 authors. The discrepancy between book production and offer can be seen
from the fact that around 63% of bookstores offer less than 5,000 titles (which makes up only
30% of average annual publishing production). There are also additional problems in book
distribution, such as the lack of basic networking mechanisms, weak communication channels and the fact that the readers are not adequately informed about the books, as well as the
illegal sales of books (from street vendors, on local fares etc), which is, in many respects, the
main limiting factor for literature and publishing. Manifestations as a means of achieving the
diffusion of literature have had various impacts on animating the readership and promoting
the book. According to the Agenda of Cultural Manifestations, there are around 127 manifesta-
68
tions8 related to publishing, some of which are subsidized by the Ministry of Culture, Information and Information Society, through annual calls for proposals for the sustainment of literary
manifestations. Among the important players in the domain of books and literature there are
also polyvalent cultural centers, which use classical means of cultural diffusion (public presentations, literary evenings, promotions etc). There are also initiatives on the border of citizen
activism and educational animation (such as the “Pesničenje” festival by the Škorekart NGO).
In newspaper industry a total of 193 legal persons have been registered, mostly in the domestic private sector, while the presence of foreign capital has been detected in only 5% of the
companies (Ringer, Adria Media, Media Print, Alpet, Alliance BK Group). There are 217 legal
persons involved in the publishing of magazines, 8 of which are owned by foreign companies.
In the territory of Serbia there are currently 20 daily newspapers, 92 weekly newspapers, 217
monthly, 43 bi-weekly, 78 bi-monthly, 83 quarterly, 10 semiannual, 18 annual and 17 newspapers of other types, plus 104 public internet outlets.9
In contrast to the infrastructural problems, such as certain limiting factors for the sociocultural cycles of cultural industries, the economic aspects of cultural industries in Serbia show
that, in terms of economy, many of these areas are experiencing growth. In terms of economy,
markets for most cultural industries are of national and regional nature, consisting primarily
of the countries of former Yugoslavia. For example, the most important market for publishing
and newspaper industries are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro. For
visual arts, the market is in Macedonia, Switzerland and France. Audio-visual services (television, video and commercial) are exported to Italy, France and Great Britain, while architecture,
engineering and technical services are exported to the markets of Italy, Russia, France and Germany. Over the past ten years, the dynamics of the foreign trade with other countries have gone
through different phases. The period from the year 2000 to 2004 was characterized by a significant growth of import, while in the period 2004-2012 the opposite trends were noticed, with
significantly higher average growth of export (around 21%) than of import (annual growth of
10.8%).10 The most dynamic average annual export growth rates have been noticed in the area
of the new media, handicrafts and publishing, while in terms of import this is the case with the
new media and visual arts. Despite the high average export growth rates, as well as rapid market
penetration of certain industries, in the overall period Serbia has had a status of a net importer
of creative goods, while the disbalance between export and import is still evident.11
8 Agenda of Cultural Manifestations, Belgrade: Center of Study in Cultural Development, www.zaprokul.
org.rs (accessed on 1/02/2012)
9 In accordance with the data from the Registry of Media Outlets, April 11 2011, www.kurir-info.rs
(accessed on 01/03/2013).
10 Rikalović, G. Mikić, H. ‘ Kreativne industrije i trgovinska razmena Srbije sa inostranstvom’, in Ekonomska nauka u funkcuji kreiranja novog poslovnog ambijenta, Priština: Ekonomski fakultet 2011:222-233
11 This is supported by the information that in the year 2000 the foreign trade deficit was nine million
dinars, and in 2009 it was 23 times bigger (207.3 millions); the average annual deficit growth rate in the
foreign trade of creative goods was 34.8%.
69
Table 4 – Foreign trade of Serbia in cultural goods, 2009-2011 (in USD)
Year
Export of Cultural Goods
Import of Cultural Goods
2009
225195000
432538000
2010
321198000
545500000
2011
384890000
589542000
Source: Rikalović G, Mikić H, ‘Kreativne industruje i trgovinska razmena Srbije sa
inostranstvom’, in Ekonomska nauka u funkciji kreiranja novog poslovnog ambijenta,
Priština: Ekonomski fakultet, 2011:222-233, the author’s calculations based on the foreign
trade database www.stat.gov.rs
In terms of economy, cultural industries have a share of 2.5% of gross added value
in the national economy, with around 2.5% of employees. However, their multiplicatory
impact is much more important, together with the enhancement of complementary industries that produce goods and services for cultural industries. If we look at the economic
contribution of cultural industries from this angle, it can be noticed that every 3th work
position in cultural industries creates one new work positions in complementary industries, contributing to the additional employment which makes 5% of total employment,
and creating a share of 7.8% GVA of complementary industries.12
Table 5 – Economic aspects of cultural industries in Serbia (2009-2012)*
Year
Share in GVA (%)
Employees
Public financing
of cultural
industries
(consolidated, €)
2009
4,76
75.963
192.185.000
1,51
2010
4,34
74.864
175.772.970
1,27
2011
4,33
74.777
169.134.600
1,14
2012
Np.
74.466
164.348.954
1,44
Share in the total
budget outlay
(consolidated, %)
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (accessed 1/02/2013), authors’ calculations,* UNESCO classification of cultural industries (UNESCO, 2009)
12 Mikić H, “Public Policy and Creative Industries in Serbia”, 7th International Conference on Cultural
Policy Research, Barcelona, Spain, 9-12 July 2012. http://www.iccpr2012.org (accessed on 1/07/2012).
70
Researches in the participation in creative industries show that around 60% of the
population does not attend a single cultural event annually, rarely buys any books or other products of cultural industries, but passively consumes cultural products, mostly by
watching television, reading newspapers and so on.13 One of the reasons for this is the very
low solvency of the citizens of Serbia, reflected by the fact that two thirds of the population of Serbia (67%) can spend only 20 euros a month for the satisfaction of their cultural
needs, one quarter can spend up to 50 euros a month on cultural events, while only 7%
of the population can spend more than that.14 More precisely, an average household in
2010 spent 78 euros a year for cultural expenses – a number that has been decreasing by
4% annually over the recent years (Mikić 2011). There is also a large disbalance between
rural and urban areas, the former spending an average of 3.5 euros a month on cultural
needs per household member, which is mostly caused by the poverty in rural areas. These
results reflect the distribution of the economic power of the citizens of Serbia, as well as
the tendencies leading to the impoverishment and gradual disappearance of the middle
class in Serbia – the class that was, in the 8th and 9th decades of the 20th century, the main
exponent and catalyst of cultural participation and spending.
Table 6 – Participation and usage of the products of cultural industries in Serbia
(2009-2010)
Number of
publishing
houses
Book sales
(profit
per 1,000
citizens, €)
Share of
cultural
outlays
in total
household
outlays (%)*
820,5
602
15365
4,9
283
965,1
574
13643
4,7
2011
347
879,5
679
12100
4,3
2012
-
-
645
-
-
Year
Number
of cinema
visits
(per 1,000
citizens)*
Cinema
profits
(per 1,000
inhabitants,
€)
2009
233
2010
Source: *Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (accessed 1/02/2012); author’s calculations
13 Cvetičanin, P. M. Milankov, Kulturne prakse građanina Srbije, Beograd, Zavod za proučavanje kulturnog razvitka, 2011.
14 Ibid
71
DIVERSITY OF CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS IN THE DISCOURSE
OF PUBLIC POLICIES: INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT AND SERBIA
The goal of the Convention on Cultural Diversity was the acceptance of the dual
nature of cultural goods and services, seen as exponents of identity, symbolic messages and economy, and at the same time the need for countries to obtain their rights
and receive international support in protection and enhancement of the diversity
of cultural expressions, which should ensure free flow of ideas and contents. The
main idea of the Convention is that balance and openness should be accepted as key
elements of cultural policies. The Convention is an appeal to the countries to adopt
certain measures for enhancing the diversity of cultural expressions and to strive
towards using these measures for enhancing their openness for other cultures, at the
same time being careful not to harm the balance between cultures over the course of
implementation. With this in mind, it seems that the most significant issues for understanding the repercussions of the Convention are related to the conceptualisation
of the terms ‘protection’ and ‘enhancement’ in the discourse of public policies. The
term ‘protection’, often used as a basis for public action, is aimed at “preserving, protecting and enhancing the diversity of public expression, as opposed to the protectionist measures driven by economic interests” (UNESCO 2007: 4). However, in reality, it is obvious that, apart from the protection of diversity in case of severely endangered cultural expressions, the measures of public policies can often act as means of
economic protection for cultural industries in terms of economy. This view is further
supported by the environment of international trade in cultural goods and services,
which has been developing over the past 40 years under the patronage of the World
Trade Organization. The global trade system, based on the rules set by the World
Trade Organisation, contains a series of questions and dilemmas, many of which
have had impact on national cultural industries and, in a wider context, on the whole
exchange of cultural goods and services. Due to the efforts made by certain countries,
the issue of trade in cultural goods has been omitted from the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade, and is dealt with in the negotiations on services. This approach
has enabled most countries to keep their sovereignty when it comes to their cultural
and economic policies related to this sector, especially to the audio-visual contents.
In contrast to the resistance offered by the developed countries, primarily the USA,
negotiations in the World Trade Organisation were finished with the acceptance of
the agreement on trade and services, which contained a series of annexes about the
sectors in which no agreements were reached (including cultural industries). Led by
France and Canada, member states of the World Trade Organization have refused to
negotiate on the protective measures, subventions and compensations for cultural
industries, arguing that creative contents are neither goods nor services, but cultural
goods, and as such cannot be part of negotiations. Subventions and protective measures, considered as a rule in trade agreements as damaging for the principles of mar72
ket and non-discrimination, were interpreted by most countries as merely measures
of cultural policies aimed at protecting cultural identities and the diversity of cultural
expressions. The connection between the concepts “protection of the diversity of cultural expressions”, as defined by the UNESCO convention, and “cultural exemptions”,
as defined by the World Trade Organisation, is more than noticeable. Global application of this instrument to international trade relations was suggested by France in
1993, interpreting it in the light of the preservation of cultural diversity and the need
for maintaining balance in international trade and exchange of cultural goods and
services, in order to preserve national identities in the globalized world. Thus, all the
arguments in support of cultural diversity and its importance have been made good
use of in the context of the preservation of sovereign economic policy in this area,
even though that has never been explicitly stated. Years of disputes over international
trade relations have had their impact on the process of the adoption of the UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Enhancement of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Interestingly enough, when it came to this issue, out of the 124 signatories, 111
of which are the WTO members, the USA was alone in its argumentation about the
potential adverse effects of the Convention in terms of international flow of the trade
in cultural goods and services, arguing that the goal of the Convention is to restrict
the export of American audio-visual products, and also adding that the ideas and
concepts defined in the Convention reflect the long-lasting aspirations on the part
of Canada and France to remove their cultural industries from the liberalised trade
flows as much as possible. It is obvious that, by adopting the Convention and applying its provisions, this has been achieved to a certain extent. Firstly, the Convention
gives a descriptive definition of cultural industries as “industries that produce and
distribute cultural goods and services”, i.e. the products that possess “a certain quality, usage or purpose and contain or convey cultural expressions, regardless of the
trade value they might have” (UNESCO 2005). This approach enables the signatory
states of the Convention to define, according to their socio-economic context, which
industries and economic subjects comprise the sector of cultural industries, and to
define the borders of the cultural policy and the application of the Convention according to that. For defining this concept, the most developed countries use the UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics (UNESCO 2009) for easier operationalization of public policy measures and activities. Certain countries such as Canada, New
Zealand, Finland, European Union, Singapore, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Columbia
and Germany even went one step further, introducing national standards for the prescriptive defining of cultural industries (Pesoa 2012:11).
In our country, cultural industries are not clearly defined by the current Law on
Culture (2009). It partially uses the organisational criterion, as well as the criteria of
aesthetics, communication and affiliation of products, services and technology, for defining the cultural-artistic field, which leads to an unclear, distorted image not only of
73
this sector, but also of the range of cultural policies.15 Not even the existing legal acts,
defining the organization of administrative organs in the area of culture, despite using
the term ‘creative industries’ for denoting organizational units, give any clear delineation of the areas related to this concept.16 The academic discourse has gone much further with understanding the concept. It treats cultural industries from the perspective
of industrial production and reproduction of cultural contents, encompassing publishing, music industry, cinematography, radio and television (Šešić, Stojković 2007;
Mikić, Jovičić 2006; Mikić, 2011).17
In the domain of public policies, since the ratification of the UNESCO Convention,
the measures that have been carried out in the most intensive manner were those of
economic and organizational nature. In relation to this, it is important to point out
that the diversity of cultural expressions has been emphasized as an explicit criterion
for the co-financing of cultural projects18, even though the projects implemented so
far do not allow us to assess how well this has been implemented in reality.19 Supporting cultural expressions through economic measures usually came down to providing
public financing for various cultural contents and expressions, and the structure of
this support varied depending on the level of government. In the above mentioned period, from 2009 till 2012, a total of 125.8 million euros were invested annually into the
promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, on all administrative levels, which
makes around 16.3 euros per capita per year. The structure of the funds points to the
15 In 2011, during the making of the Strategy of Cultural Development of the Republic of Serbia, efforts
were made to define this area and harmonize it with international standards. However, due to the change
of the government, it is uncertain whether the revised Strategy will implement the international standard
for the classification of cultural areas or not.
16 For more, please refer to: ‘ Pravilnik o unutrašnjoj organizaciji i sistematizaciji radnih mesta u
Ministarstvu kulture, informisanja i informacionog društva’, No. 110-00-9/2011-10, April 8th 2011
17 In the analysis and assessment of the current conditions of cultural industries in our country, the
term ‘cultural industries’ is used for denoting the activities which lead to industrial production and
reproduction of cultural contents, encompassing publishing, music industry, filmmaking and radio and
television.
18 The call for proposals for the financing or co-financing of cultural projects, art projects and professional
and scientific researches in culture in 2013, opened by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the
Republic of Serbia (27/10/2013); Pravilnik o načinu, kriterijumima i merilima za izbor projekata u kulturi
koji se finansiraju i sufinansiraju iz budžeta Republike Srbije; (The Codebook on the Rules and Criteria for
Selecting Culture Projects to be Financed from the Budget of the Republic of Serbia), in Official Gazette
RS, No. 57/2010.
19 This is supported by the results of the work done by the Working Group for Intercultural Dialogue
at the Ministry of Culture, which in 2008 started the project of mapping the intercultural dialogue.
This process showed that there are very few projects, especially by NGOs or the independent cultural
sector, which promote intercultural dialogue through artistic creativity. For example, only 79 projects
were sent in for the competition for the best intercultural project, even though the Ministry of Culture
finances an average of 352 projects annually. Krstanović, S. ‘Interkulturalnost i kulturna politika’,in:
Ne prolazi ulicom bez traga: ka interkulturalnosti’, Aksentijević, Z. (ed), Beograd: Grupa 484, 2009,
page 39.
74
fact that, on the level of the central government (state level), the support for the institutions of public importance and for the media diversity made 85% of the total sum invested into the enhancement of cultural diversity. On the territory of Vojvodina, these
two financial lines participated with 62% of the total sum, while on the local level, not
counting Belgrade, 97% of the total sum was spent on the above mentioned financial
lines.20 Such results are hardly surprising, having in mind that the main element of cultural life consists of the cultural public sector, judging from both the number of channels and the infrastructural capacities. However, in contrast to this fact, the current
system of financing the diversity of public expressions still exhibits a certain amount
of disbalance. For example, the accessible financing for the projects by independent
players on the cultural scene and other organizations was around 12% on the state and
local level, respectively, which is around 3% of all the funds intended for the support
of cultural diversity, while its share on the level of the cultural system of Belgrade was
12.8%. The distribution of the means in Vojvodina has had significantly better results,
where around 50% of total funds have been redirected for financing these projects.21
These differences can be explained by different configurations of cultural systems in
relation to their territorial dispersions, as well as by the ethnic structure of Vojvodina,
where cultural diversity plays a very important role, and its main exponents are polyvalent centers, civil associations and various societies (extra-institutional players). In
the past four-year period, the biggest challenge for the financing of the diversity of
public expressions was to provide access to the infrastructure for the creation, production, diffusion and distribution of cultural contents. For these purposes, since the
Convention was ratified, a total of 19.2 million euros have been spent, and the means
20 In the period 2009-2012, on the national level, a total of 154 million euros were invested into
the enhancement of the diversity of cultural expressions (an average of 38.5 million euros, or 15.5%
of total means annually). In Vojvodina, around 27.4 million euros were invested (an annual average
of 6.85 million euros, or 47% of total means). On the local level (133 self-governing units), some
253 million euros were invested (an average of 63.5 million euros a year, or 97% of the total budget),
while in the municipality of Belgrade 72 million euros were invested (around 18 million euros
a year, or 80% of the total means). The author’s calculations were based on: Odluka o budžetu AP
Vojvodine za 2009, Službeni glasnik AP Vojvodine No. 04/09, Odluka o završnom računu budžeta AP
Vojvodine za 2010, Odluka o rebalansu budžeta za 2011, Pokrajinska skupštinska odluka o rebalansu
budžetaAP Vojvodine za 2012, Zakon o budžetu Republike Srbije za 2009, Službeni glasnik RS No.
120/08, izmene 31/09, Zakon o budžetu Republike Srbije 2010, Službeni glasnik RS No. 107/9, izmene
91/110, Zakon o budžetu Republike Srbije 2011, Službeni glasnik RS No. 101/10, izmene 78/1, Zakon o
budžetu Republike Srbije2012, Službeni glasnik RS No. 101/1, Izveštaj o realizaciji programa ustanova
i organizacija u oblasti kulture for 2009, 2010 and 2011, Grad Beograd – Sekretarijat za kulturu i Zavod
za proučavanje kulturnog razvitka in Kulturni resursi okruga Srbije, Beograd: Zavod za proučavanje
kulturnog razvitka, 2011.
21 For programs and projects of this type (cultural and media diversity), on the national level, an average
of 3 million euros were invested on the local level, in Vojvodina around 2.9 million euros annually, and on
the local level (not counting Belgrade and Novi Sad) around 1.9 million. In the municipality of Belgrade,
around 2.3 million euros were invested annually.
75
of this type made up 6.4% of the state budget for cultural diversity, 4.6% of Vojvodina’s
budget, 2.1% of local budgets and 8% of the municipality of Belgrade’s budget for cultural diversity. A similar situation can be seen when it comes to the measures for the
promotion of local creativity worldwide and the facilitation of the intercultural dialogue between cultures, mostly carried out on the state level and in Belgrade, costing an
average of 2.19 million euros annually, while this aspect of the enhancement of cultural
diversity has been largely neglected on the level of local self-governing units due to the
unfavorable economic situation.22
In the area of indirect economic measures, it is important to mention the support for
the artists in the process of creating cultural expressions – support through the enhancement of their social and economic status, as well as the tax support aimed at the better
financing of production, dissemination and distribution of cultural goods and services.
This refers to the introduction of more flexible taxation of the profit made by artists and
cultural workers, achieved by setting the limits for the recognized expenses for artistic
and cultural work to be higher than those for other authorial work, allowing a five-year
period for the taxation of the profit obtained in the field of art.23 In order to improve the
artists’ social status, the cities of Belgrade and Novi Sad are financing social contributions
to the independent artists whose social status is most endangered24, while the Ministry of
Culture grants lump sum compensations by granting national awards to prominent artist and cultural workers.25 Among the indirect measures in the corpus of social politics,
there are also tax reliefs for charity donations. These reliefs have been increased from
1.5% to 3% of the total profit after the ratification of the Convention.
22 For encouraging the free flow of ideas and cultural expression, on the national level an average of 1.72 million euros were invested annually, while in the municipality in Belgrade that sum was 450,000 euros annually.
23 As a part of this measure of the tax policy, the recognized expenses for works of art are between 50%
and 34% of the gross profit. Zakon o porezu na dohodak građana, Službeni glasnik RS, No. 24/2001,
80/2002, 80/2002 – other law, 135/2004, 62/2006, 65/2006 - corrected 31/2009, 44/2009 and 18/2010
24 For example, for this measure, the Secretariat for Culture of the Municipality of Belgrade spends
around one million euros annually. This sum is given annually to around 1,600 freelance artists on the
territory of Belgrade.
25 The national award (pension) for making a contribution to the culture is 50,000 dinars a month, and
has so far been awarded to 412 artists and cultural workers.
76
Table 7 – Economic measures of public policies aimed at protecting and improving
the diversity of cultural expressions (2009-2012)
Measure
Infrastructural
support
Measure description
Jurisdiction
Effects of the
measure
Supporting the
capital works of
reconstructing
cinema
infrastructure,
cultural institutions
and other cultural
objects
Ministry of Culture
and Information,
National Investment
Plan, local selfgoverning units, AP
Vojvodina
Facilitating effective
access to cultural
contents
Program support
Supporting the
dissemination of
cultural contents
and ensuring the
diversity of cultural
expressions
Support of the
media diversity
(program and
capital financing)
Supporting the
production and
dissemination of the
diversity of media
contents
Ministry of Culture
and Information, AP
Vojvodina
Enhancing the
diversity of media
contents
Supporting
networking and
cooperation on an
international level
Ministry of Culture
and Information, AP
Vojvodina, Belgrade
Municipality, Serbia
Investment and
Export Promotion
Agency (SIEPA)
Promoting domestic
creativity worldwide,
increasing
cultural exchange,
facilitating
dialogues between
cultures
Enhancing social
and economic
status of artists
(tax reliefs for the
artists’ income);
financing supreme
creativity; national
awards
Ministry of Culture
and Information,
Belgrade
Municipality
Better socioeconomic work
conditions for
artists and cultural
workers
Enhancing
sustainable
financing of cultural
contents through
increased tax reliefs
(3% of total profit)
Ministry of Culture
and Information,
Ministry of Finance
and Economy
Better financing
of production,
dissemination
and distribution of
cultural goods and
services
Supporting and
encouraging free
flow of ideas and
cultural expressions
Supporting the
artists in the
process of creating
cultural expressions
Tax support
77
Ministry of Culture
and Information,
local self-governing
units, AP Vojvodina
Enhancing the
diversity of public
expression
The regulatory measures intended for the enhancement of cultural diversity are
specified by the Culture Law (2009), Cinematography Law (2011) and Library and Information Law (2009), all of which emphasize the diversity of cultural expressions as a
principle of cultural development, development of cinematography and activities related
to libraries and information. The Broadcasting Development Strategy (2011) has given a
strong impetus to the establishment of the regulatory framework for fomenting cultural
diversity, focused on the support of media diversity not only through program contents,
but also through regulatory provisions ensuring the sanctioning of the concentration of
media ownership, at the same time encouraging higher transparency of media operation
and financing.
Table 8 – Regulatory measures of public policies with the aim of improving the diversity of public expression (2009-2012)
Measure
Measure description
and goal
Jurisdiction
Effects of the
measure
Culture Law
Supporting cultural
development and the
diversity of cultural
expressions
All levels of public
administration
Enhancing the
diversity of public
expression
Libraries and
Information Law
Supporting the
dissemination of
knowledge and
public accessibility
of cultural
expressions
Ministry of Culture
and Information,
National Library
of Serbia,
public libraries
Facilitating the
accessibility of the
knowledge and
culture database,
developing the
library and
information
systems
Cinematography
Law
Supporting the
protection and
enhancement
of the national
cinematography and
the diversity
of filmmaking
Ministry of Culture
and Information,
Film Center
Developing
the national
cinematography
Strategy
Ensuring and
improving the
media diversity
and the freedom of
expression
All levels of public
administration
Transparency of the
ownership of media;
prohibiting media
concentration and
ensuring pluralism
of the freedom
of speech
78
Organizational and institutional measures were the most intensive area of public policies, and those intended for networking and the creation of collaborative platforms in
cultural industries should be given special attention. In 2010, the Ministry of Culture and
Information established two working groups, whose goal it was to better articulate and
recognize the needs of cultural industries and the independent cultural scene. The Task
force for the development of creative industries was formed in order to aid the Ministry
of Culture and Information with the development of the support program for creative
industries, as well as to work towards the establishment of cross-sector cooperation in this
area. The Task force created the program entitled “Creative Serbia 2020” (Kreativna Srbija
2020), aimed at the economic sustainment of cultural industries in Serbia, and also at encouraging creative and entrepreneurial spirit with all the players in creative industries.26
Under the mandate of Task Force was published the publication entitled “Creative Serbia”
(2011) intended for the affirmation of cultural industries, entrepreneurial spirit and the
professionalization of the cultural sector. The publication led to the organization of several
public debates in Belgrade, with this topic. The first one was in May 2012, for the International Day of Cultural Diversity (May 21st 2012), and the second in November the same
year, as a part of the first Forum of Creative Economy.27 The Task Force for the cooperation
with the independent cultural scene was formed after the signing of the protocol with the
Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia, an umbrella organization consisting of around 74
civil organizations in the area of culture,28 whose goal it is to establish a dialogue with the
Ministry of Culture, coordinate the needs of the independent art scene and strive towards
its active inclusion into the cultural policy.
26 Due to the political elections and the expiration of the mandate of the Working Group, the project was
not implemented as a government program, even though the partners who gathered around this project
initiative continued to work on the economic enhancement of creative industries through the platform
of private-public partnership called ‘Creative Serbia’, coordinated by the Creative Economy Group from
Belgrade. For more, please consult: Mikić, H. ‘Kreativna Srbija – Prezentacija projekta’, Beograd: Grupa za
kreativnu ekonomiju, 2012. http://www.kreativnaekonomija.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CreativeSerbia-2020.pdf (last accessed on 1/02/2013).
27 The Creative Economy Forum, with the participation of the representatives from the UNESCO
Statistics Institute, was envisioned as a first significant program of the public advocacy and affirmation
of the concepts defined by the Conference, presented in the introductory part as training for the decision
makers on a local level. The training was attended by around 65 representatives of local self-governing
units from all around Serbia. Grupa za kreativnu ekonomilu. ‘ Završen prvi forum kreativne:prepoznata
kreativna ekonomija kao razvojna šansa Srbije’. Beograd: Grupa za kreativnu ekonomiju (Vesti, 7/11/2012)
http://www.kreativnaekonomija.net/zavrsen-prvi-forum-kreativne-ekonomije-prepoznata-kreativnaekonomija-kao-razvojna-sansa-srbije/ (last accessed on February 2nd 2013).
28 Protokol o saradnji Ministarstva Republike Srbije i Asocijacije udruženja i inicijativa Nezavisna
kulturna scena Srbije, No. 6-00-1/2011-01 from January 19th 2011.
79
Table 9 – Overview of the organizational public policy measures with the aim of protecting and enhancing the diversity of public expression (2009-2012).
Measure
Measure
description
and goal
Supporting
networking and
cooperation in
cultural industries
Establishing
collaborative
platforms in
cultural industries
and stimulating
cooperation and
entrepreneurial
spirit
Task force for the
development of
creative industries
Expert support
and creation of
programs for the
development of
creative industries
Coordinator for
Creative Industries
Administrative
and professional
support in the
development of
cultural industries;
suggesting
measures for the
enhancement of
their functionality
Task force for the
cooperation with
the independent
cultural scene
Enhancement of
the measures and
cooperation with
the independent
cultural scene
Jurisdiction
Effects of the measure
Ministry of Finance
and Economy,
Secretariat for
the Economy
of AP Vojvodina,
the Borough
of Savski Venac
Establishing the
Cluster of the Creative
Industry of Vojvodina,
the Filmmaking
Cluster, the Cluster of
Old Crafts ’Recraft’;
Nova Iskra Design
Incubator; the Cluster
of Youth Tourism and
Entertainment Industry
Ministry of Culture
and Information
Program for economic
sustainment of cultural
industries entitled
“Creative Serbia
2020”; publication
entitled “Creative
Serbia”, for promoting
entrepreneurial spirit
in cultural industries
Ministry of Culture
and Information
Coordinating and
participating in the
work and results of
the working group for
the development of
creative industries
Ministry of Culture
and Information
Clearer articulation
of the needs of
the independent
cultural scene and
cooperation with the
Ministry of Culture and
Information
Within their respective jurisdictions, other state agencies also provided their support
for the encouragement of cultural industries and strengthening of the diversity of cultural
expressions. As a part of the program for cluster support by the Ministry of Finance and
80
Economy, support has been provided for the foundation/development of five clusters in
the area of cultural industries: Film Commission (76 members), Cluster of the Creative
Industry of Vojvodina (40 members), RE: CRAFTS & Innovation Cluster for Design and
Old Crafts (27 members), Cluster of Arts and Crafts from Sombor (15 members) and
Cluster for Design and Printing from Niš. The goal of the support of clusterisation in
cultural industries is to encourage the creation of more coherent production, distribution and dissemination processes related to the products of cultural industries, but also
to train the players of cultural industries to produce quality products and services that
can be sold on foreign and domestic markets. Generally, except for the Film Commission
that is a clearly defined network of businesses from the film industry located at different
agglomeration levels, all other clusters are striving towards the creation of collaborative
platforms and are still in their embryonic stage. Namely, due to the heterogeneous nature
of creative industries, as well as varied configuration and structure of certain industries in
this sector in Serbia, it is very difficult to establish clusters that will be based on systematic
connections between organizations, which can be seen from the differences in the sizes
of the existing clusters. For example, if we take a look at the cluster structure, we will see
that it is mostly dominated by small clusters with up to 25 members which, judging by
their type, belong to the entrepreneurial clusters, established in order to ensure cooperation and improve the entrepreneurial spirit between micro businesses and entrepreneurs,
whose main goals are to enable the access to information and the cooperation, by bringing
together providers and consumers.29 The Nova Iskra Design Incubator is a specific type of
a collaborative platform, which is a kind of a civil rent-a-desk business incubator aimed
at creating the conditions for joint work and promotion of young designers.30 Another
similar example is the Design Center in Čajetina, intended for the networking of women
dealing in arts and crafts, and for bringing them in contact with the creative industries.31
International cooperation and the mobility of goods and services provided by creative
industries take place along two lines: through international bilateral agreements and on
the level of cultural institutions and independent players in cultural industries; however,
there has been no support for the sustainment of their export components.
29 Only the Filmmaking Cluster is an example of clusterisation at higher level of development, which,
according to its type, belongs to vertical clusters, mainly oriented at the export of film services and the
improvement of investments.
30 The Incubator has 48 members (young architects, designers, costimographers, photographers etc), and
has been supported by Opština Savski Venac, where it is located.
31 The Design Center came into being as a part of the project entitled ‘Old Crafts for New Age’ (Stari
zanati za novo doba), aimed at improving the economic position of women trough the strengthening
of female entrepreneurship in the rural areas of South-Western Serbia. The project also focused on the
creation and networking of businesses for production, promotion and sales of hand-made souvenirs, as
well as on the establishment of a design center in Čajetina, and training centers in the municipalities of
Prijepolje and Nova Varoš, intended for continuous training of women to produce, pack, promote and
market souvenirs.
81
Some research into international cooperation point at the absence of concepts and
developed mechanisms that could improve the efficiency of this cooperation. It is also
noticeable that there are no measures that would ensure better market access and better
distribution of cultural goods through specific arrangements, which would strengthen
the independent cultural industries. Also, there are no mechanisms that would enable
the conveyance of knowledge and good practices in building institutional structures for
the increased affirmation of cultural industries on the international stage. Most of the
programs take place in Paris, where there is an official cultural-informative center, while
of all the other EU countries, “most Serbian cultural activities exist in Austria, Italy,
Germany and Greece (around 23% of all programs). As for the countries with traditionally good relations, the most intensive activities took place in the Russian Federation
(around 4%). In the region, Serbia has had most cultural activities in Croatia (around
4%), while in the countries of the Western Balkans (Former Yugoslavia without Slovenia, plus Albania) this accounts for around 10% of all programs. Serbian cultural activities in other countries are most intensive in the North America (around 7%), where
there is the largest Serbian community living abroad”.32 A large number of programs are
carried out as ’Culture Days’ in most European countries such as Austria, Germany and
France, the wider region of Croatia and Romania and, as for other countries, in Canada
and Australia. Despite the absence of a firm concept of international presence, Serbia is
often represented at the manifestations about the Balkans, through various programs.33
In the policies of international cooperation, a disproportionate presence of traditional
creativity can be noticed (such as folk dances, traditional music, medieval art), with
random presence of contemporary art forms, mostly initiated and implemented by the
artists themselves, or by independent organizations or foreign partners.34
In the domain of publishing, the participation of domestic publishers at international
book fares was organized through the Association of Publishers and Bookstore Owners in
Frankfurt, and consisted of the visits to the book fares in Paris, Leipzig, Pula etc. After a
period of increased urging and lobbying, the Ministry of Culture, Media and Information
Society of the Republic of Serbia organized, in cooperation with the Society of Creative
Industries at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia as the executive organizer,
presentations of domestic publishing at the fares in Leipzig, Frankfurt, Thessalonica and
Vienna, representing writers and publishers from Serbia with around 400 titles.
32 Rogač Lj. ‘ Kulturne aktivnosti Srbije u Evropi i svetu 2000-2012’, Kultura. 130 (2011): 336.
33 For example, the ‘Balkan Traffic’ festival, and the program entitled “Zapadni Balkan u kulturnom
fokusu”(‘Western Balkans in the Cultural Focus’), organized by the Austrian Cultural Forum in London.
Also, a three-day manifestation in Athens dedicated to the culture of the Balkans, organized by the Hellenic
Organization for Culture and sponsored by the president of the Republic of Greece, K. Papulias, etc.
34 An example of this is the organization of the classical exhibition of naive painting and cultural heritage,
whose most frequent themes are monasteries and churches of Serbia. One such exhibition, entitled ”Srbija
zemlja fresaka”(‘Serbia, Land of Frescoes’), took place in the National Museum, etc.
82
“Book translation is still one of the most frequent forms of activities on the international level. In the past ten years, the most translated books were the ones written
by Danilo Kiš, followed by Ivo Andrić, Miloš Crnjanski etc”35, while the old-fashioned
literary readings are still being organized, usually dedicated to one contemporary author – the guest, taking place in the embassies of the Republic of Serbia in certain
countries. Sales of domestic literature are easier on the regional level due to the common language (former Yugoslavia), and are based on private initiatives by small professional publishing houses. In relation to that, there are two editions that deserve
special attention: “Sto slovenskih romana” (One Hundred Slavic Novels) and “ Srpska
proza u prevodu”( Serbian Prose In Translation). The former consists of mutual translation of ten novels from each of the ten Slavic countries, published since the fall of
the Berlin wall until today, and each participating country can nominate ten of its best
novels published since 198936. Serbian Prose in Translation is a program whose goal
it is to translate five domestic literary works into English each year, enabling them to
reach the Anglo-Saxon market and be further translated into other languages. Another
objective of this program is the translation of books originally written in English, and
their placement on the domestic market. Even though this initiative is still in its early
stages, the tendencies on the market of Anglo-Saxon publishers should also be taken
into account, as they include into their catalogues up to 3% of translated books from
other linguistic areas. According to this, the success of the inclusion of the domestic
literary works into the catalogue of translated works can be considered significant.
Filmmaking and cinematography of Serbia, in the context of cultural activities abroad,
are important only in terms of particular films or authors. Unlike neighboring cinematographies, e.g. the Romanian, who is represented collectively under the patronage of the state and under the name of ’New Romanian School’ of common thematic
framework and artistic sensibility, the Serbian cinematography is present at international film festivals only partially, depending on the total annual production. Most
manifestations in the domain of filmmaking and cinematography are only intended
for the presentation and evaluation of domestic production on the international level,
as well as in certain specific film environments (European, regional, Central European, documentary etc), while there has been no encouragement or promotion with the
goal of creating sustainable market systems for the valorization of filmmaking. In that
respect, there are no activities that would contribute to the Serbian film becoming a
part of the regular repertoire of the European cinema network. As the events aimed at
promoting new Serbian film production have not been profiled clearly, they are often
35 Rogač Lj. ‘ Kulturne aktivnosti Srbije u Evropi i svetu 2000-2012’, Kultura. 130 (2011): 336.
36 So far, five countries have sent their novels to represent them in this edition. Apart from Serbia, this
has been done by Russia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Slovakia. After the suggestion by the PEN Center, the
Arhipelag publishing house from Belgrade has been selected as the Serbian publisher. The whole project
should be completed by 2015, when the whole edition will be printed in the English language as well.
83
carried out as mixed programs – something typical of a number of Serbian cultural
programs abroad.37
Finally, the integration of culture into the sustainable development strategies, as the
last aspect of the measures promoted by the UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions, seems to be the least developed aspect of the public policies in our
country. Even though these measures are intended for the strategic integration on all levels
of public administration, and also for pointing out the connection between development,
culture and the decrease of poverty through the adherence to this principle, an insight
into the strategic documents on both the national and the local level shows that the existing policies are not adequately sensitive to culture.38 On the local level, some 96 municipalities (80%) have adopted the local agendas of sustainable development (LA 21), which
inadequately treat cultural and spiritual dimension of human activities as being a part of
the quality of life, not recognizing the aspect of cultural industries as its developmental
dimension. Cultural industries and their contribution to the social and economic development can only be seen in the environments where there are local strategies of cultural
development, and in Serbia there are only five such municipalities (Kragujevac, Valjevo,
Pančevo, Užice, Niš). In these municipalities, the issue of the sustainable development of
culture is more or less related to other strategic lines of the community development, and
in some cases even has a central place in this development through cross-sector connections, mainly with tourism (e.g. Pančevo and Užice).
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[email protected]
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UDC 305-055.2-057.875(497.11)
Svenka Savić
ACIMSI Centre for Gender Studies
Veronika Mitro
Education for gender
- Equal Society of Female
Students in Serbia1
SUMMARY: The aim of this study is to show that education for gender-equal
society influences the attitude (i.e. stereotypes) about gender equality and
gender roles.
We used a questionnaire to survey gender stereotypes among female students.
The total of 72 students enrolled in the academic year 2012-13 at the University of Novi Sad (UNS), the University of Belgrade (UB), and vocational colleges
in Vojvodina completed in the questionnaire. The students differed in national
identity (Roma and non-Roma) and were classified into three groups: Roma students who acquired knowledge about gender issues through extra-curricular
activities; non-Roma students in the fourth year of Serbian language studies,
without special education about gender issues; non-Roma students of master
studies whose curriculum includes systematic study of gender issues.
The results show that the non-Roma students having no education in the area
of gender studies, women’s and human rights conform to attitude-stereotypes
in large part, the Roma students who gained knowledge through extra-curricular activities to a lesser degree, whereas the least attitude-stereotypes can be
found amongst the non-Roma students educated in the area of gender studies.
Key words: female students, gender equality, gender roles, national identity
1 This work is a part of the project Gender Equality and the Culture of Civic Status: the Historical and
Theoretical foundations in Serbia (no. 47021), financed by the Ministry of Education and Science within
the program Integrated and Interdisciplinary Research for the period 2011-2014.
We would like to thank Ms. Mirjana Jocić for useful suggestions to earlier drafts of this paper and to the
students who took part in this research.
88
1.0. INTRODUCTION
By education for gender-equal society we mean curricular activities, within the system of education in the area of the gender studies, as well as extracurricular activities
including alternative programs of women/gender studies, seminars, workshops and conferences concerning human rights.
Within the Serbian curriculum any possibility of gaining systematic knowledge about
gender equality is almost absent on every level of education (pre-school, primary, secondary or higher education). On the post-graduate level, systematic education in the field
of gender studies is available only at the University of Novi Sad - UNS (ACIMSI: Centre
for gender studies) realized through the master and doctoral program of gender studies,
and at the University in Belgrade - UB (Faculty of political sciences) in an elective course:
Gender, Language, Politics. The situation is different when it comes to extra-curricular
activities: a number of courses, seminars, conferences and workshops with the subject of
gender and sexual (in) equality are offered not only to the student population, but also to
those at lower levels of education – high school, elementary school – especially in the cities, and especially directed towards underprivileged groups – women, Roma.
According to the records of UNS for the academic year 2012-13, in various years of
study 120 Roma students were enrolled at various faculties, and 85 at vocational colleges
in Vojvodina. There are no available data as to the sex of the students, so the number of
male viz. female students enrolled as a result of affirmative action during the last 10 years,
especially from the beginning of the Romany Decade (2005-2015) cannot be determined,
because there are no statistics at UNS regarding gender.
At UNS there is no data regarding different aspects of socialization within the system
of higher education, such as civil and political engagement of the students, additional
education and hobbies, from which we could gather knowledge regarding the identity
changes and cultural patterns of female students.
2.0. THE AIM
The aim of this pilot research is to determine whether systematic and extracurricular
education for gender-equal society influences gender stereotypes of Roma and Non-Roma
female students at universities in Serbia.
3.0. METHOD
3.1. SAMPLE
The sample for this research comprises 72 female students divided into three groups:
1st group – Roma female students (27 of them in total) enrolled in various years of
study at different faculties at UNS and vocational colleges in Vojvodina. The students in
89
this group received scholarships from Roma Education Fund, (www.romaeducationfund.
hu). This scholarship, besides good scholarly achievement, also requires extracurricular
work (participation on seminars, conferences, trainings etc.) and active participation in
developing the Roma community. The distinctive characteristic of the Roma student population at UNS is the diversity of age, as society institutionally and extra-institutionally
encourages higher education among the Roma population, , not only those of ‘appropriate’
age, but also superannuated - those, namely, who graduated from high-school (lasting
four years) earlier and did not continue their education. The female students interviewed
in this group are of different age (from 19 to 21 = 9; from 22 to 25 = 7; from 26 to 30 = 4;
above 31 = 7). Besides, they attended different levels of study (first year = 5, second year =
5; third year = 4; fourth year = 3; undergraduate ABD (All but degree) = 2; master studies
(graduate studies) = 6; doctoral (PhD) studies = 2), pursue different areas of study (management = 6; medicine = 5; pedagogy = 3; journalism = 2; foreign languages = 2; sociology
= 2; economy = 1; literature = 1; law = 1; art = 1; social sciences = 1; political sciences = 1;
psychology = 1). From the total of 27, 25 (92,59%) are active in the civic sector (in Roma
or other associations of citizens), having attended various training courses, seminars and
courses of lectures (about gender equality, invigorating female Roma population, discrimination, human rights, journalism, assertiveness, romology, democracy, leadership,
project writing, lobbying, teamwork etc.).
2nd group – Non-Roma female students (total of 25) enrolled in the fourth year of undergraduate studies (the final one) at the Department of Serbian Language and Linguistics
at the Faculty of Philosophy (FP) of UNS. The group is homogenous regarding age (from
22 to 25), they are not active in the civic sector, and only 3 of them (12%) attended foreign
language courses, and none of them had previous curricular or extra-curricular education
regarding gender equality.
3rd group – Female students of graduate (master) studies lasting one year, at the Faculty of Political Sciences (FPS) in Belgrade (total of 25) who have had a systematic one
semester course within the official curriculum (the elective course Gender, Language,
Politics). The students are of different age (23 = 2; 24 = 7; 25 = 1; 26 = 4; 27 = 1; 30 =
1; 34 = 1; 53 = 1) and of different professions: journalists, politicologists, special education teachers, managers in culture, philologists, public relations managers, social workers, art historians. Half of them (50%) are not (socially) active, and there are those who
are involved in activities of civic associations (The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights,
Alternative Women’s Studies, The Victimology Society of Serbia, Defenders of Human
Rights, student organization – Move Serbia, FEMIX – Initiative for Social Responsibility,
Open School of Belgrade, Altero); members of political parties (The Socialist Party of Serbia, The Democratic Party), and professional associations (The Association of Specialists
Working at Pre-School Facilities) or organizational teams (BEFEM – the PR team of FPS).
They have attended courses and seminars on different subjects: pre-school education,
journalism, research in politics, sociocultural anthropology, gender equality, successful
90
communication (strategies), cultural activities in social work, battle against corruption,
Romanian language, journalist reporting discrimination, violence and organized crime,
social responsibility, mediation.
The students are of the same sexes and social and educational status, and differ in
national identity , age, professional orientation, experience regarding women and civic
activism in local communities, and level of knowledge regarding gender issues.
3.1. The technique of collecting data
Our research is primarily focused on establishing interconnectedness between the
knowledge acquired in the area of gender studies and human rights and recognizing stereotypes about different gender issues.
We collected the attitudes of students about gender equality and gender roles by
means of an anonymous questionnaire2 written in Serbian language, containing the following sets of questions:
−− Personal data regarding age, ethnic affiliation, the year of study, and the area of study.
−− The questions related to extra-curricular activities:
−− Membership in political, civic and professional organizations;
−− Gaining additional knowledge through participating on seminars, courses and
conferences;
−− Hobbies;
−− The questions related to gender equality:
−− Question-statements regarding different aspects of gender equality. The task of
the person filling in the questionnaire is to express her assent or dissent with the
statement given.
Question 1 - I think that men and women should share the housework
Question 2 – After a divorce, the children should belong to the mother.
Question 5 – Whenever a girl says NO she means YES.
Question 6 –Men who cry have probably not been in the army.
Question 7 – Women politicians are not feminine.
Question 8 – Beauty pageants are important competitions because they praise
female beauty.
Question 11 – Whenever girls wear short skirts or dresses they provoke violence.
Question 12 – The best way for a woman to fulfil her personality is to become a
mother.
Question 13 – In our society double standards hold: one for women and another
for men.
2 We applied the modification of the questionnaire used in seminar work of Milica Nikoletić Rašković
(2013), originally prepared by Sunčice Vučaj (2010).
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Question 16 – Women are the weaker sex.
Question 22 – In Vojvodina there should be more programs/activities devoted to
invigorating women/ girls within the framework of informal education.
−− Closed-type questions The task of the person filling in the questionnaire is to
choose one (or more) of the answers given:
Question 9.– More and more women participate in the political life of the society.
How much do women with their activism contribute to the improvement of the
society: a) a lot; b) moderately (so-so); c) a little; d) none whatsoever; e) I do not
know;
Question 15 – When a female student receives her degree from the Department
of Psychology, she is a: a) psiholog (psychologist); b) žena psiholog (female psychologist); c) psihološkinja (a special word denoting a female psychologist).
Question 19 - Who, in your opinion, has the most influence on what kind of a
woman\man we will become? a) the media; b) the parents (family); c) school; d)
other things.
−− Open-type questions The person should answer them using her own words:
Question 3 - Who should work to support the family?
Question 4 - What are the things the parents would not approve of when their
daughter is concerned?
Question 10 a – Explain why it is good to be a woman.
Question 10 b – Explain why it is good to be a man.
Question 13a – If you believe that there are double standards for men and women, give an example.
Question 14 – When someone says: ‘Be a man!’ or ‘Be a woman!’ what is the first
thing that comes to your mind?
Question 17 a – What are the fundamental properties of manhood?
Question 17b – What are the fundamental properties of womanhood?
Question 18 – List the best jobs suitable for women and those suitable for men:
Question 20 – Who is your role-model at the moment? (it can be someone from
your family, a public personality, someone you know from school, or someone
from your neighbourhood...):
Question 21 – In Serbia a law considering gender equality was enacted. According to the law, what changes are the most important to be made in order to improve the situation of women in the society?
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4.0. The results
4.1. The answers the students gave to question-statements
The percentage of dissent is equal (100%) in all three groups of female students regarding
only two statements (see graph 1).
Graph 1 – The percentage of dissent over the questions-statements 6 and 11 according to the
groups of students
The students from all three groups clearly discern the stereotypes about “men who cry“ and
“girls who wear short skirts“. Men who cry are not ’sissies’ and girls who wear short skirts are
simply following a trend in fashion. As for the rest of the statements, the percentage of disagreement varies depending on the group and can be presented as aschema (see graph 2): the degree
of agreement is the highest viz. the lowest in the third group of students (of non-Roma who have
been educated about gender equality within curricular activities), are followed by the first group
(of Roma who have been educated about gender equality within extra-curricular activities), while
the second group (non-Roma without education about gender equality, future teachers of Serbian
language) comes last in this context.
The students who have been systematically educated about gender recognize the stereotypes about women to the highest possible degree; they are aware of double standards for men
and women (question 13) and acknowledge the need to create systematic educational programs
“aimed at invigorating girls/women within the framework of informal education“(emphasis S.S
and V.M). Roma students (who mostly acquired knowledge about gender equality through various extra-curricular programs) are able to recognize attitudes about women/girls as stereotypes
but not in the same degree as the above mentioned, hence the stereotypes regarding motherhood
and child care remain untouched. This is confirmed by the answers specifically related to the role
of the mother (12). A considerable number of these students believe that it is true that “the best
way for a woman to realize herself as a personality is to become a mother” and that “after the divorce the children should belong to the mother”. It is a well known fact that in Roma families the
role of the mother is of utmost importance and that this concept profoundly influences the system
of values; moreover, the students do not associate it with the patriarchal concept of gender roles,
but with the cultural pattern of the community they belong to. The group that has received no
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education whatsoever about gender equality (future elementary and high-school female teachers
of Serbian language) presented in their beliefs that they are conforming to attitude-stereotypes
regarding motherhood and care for children to the highest degree. We deem this fact especially
significant considering the teaching process of the future generations of students.
Graph 2 – Percentage of disagreement with the question-statements according to the
student groups
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4.2. The answers students gave to closed-type questions
It is a fact that all the students believe that women, by participating actively in political
life, significantly contribute to the improvement of the society. However, differences could be
observed between the three groups. The students having special education about gender issues
demonstrate stronger conviction (group 3), followed by those who actively take part in the
process and have basic education (Roma students in group 1) while the least conviction is exhibited by the students who are not educated about this and whose professional area of interest
is teaching Serbian language in elementary and high school (group 2); we observe also that future teachers demonstrate less knowledge in answering the questions than the Roma students.
Graph 3 – Answers to the question how much women contribute to the improvement of the society by their active participation according to the groups:
This fact may worry those working on education plans about gender equality;
namely, the data demonstrates the attitudes towards gender equality held by those involved in the teaching process. We conclude that the interdependence between personal
95
convictions and the level of knowledge should be investigated among those who know
little about the issue. More precisely, education about gender equality should become
a continuous program of increasing gender equality awareness of those who are about
to enter the teaching process, as a sort of general background knowledge to teaching at
any level.
Graph 4 – The answers students gave to the question: when a female student receives her degree from the Department of psychology, she is a: psiholog (psychologist),
žena psiholog (female psychologist), psihološkinja (a special word denoting a female psychologist)
It can be expected that students educated in the field of gender studies and human rights are better acquainted with gender sensitive language (Savić, 2010; 2011).
The students who have learned about gender issues within the master-study curriculum after having elected the course, have certain awareness of its importance;
somewhat less awareness has been demonstrated by the Roma students, although still
a high percentage (62.07%), while the future teachers of Serbian language answered
the question in accordance with the conventions they learned in their programs of
study, i.e. that for naming the professions of women the masculine form of the substantive is used. Those in favour of the spreading of this idea have the opposite attitude about this.
The situation was similar with the question concerning influences on what kind
of men and women shall we become; in case the students have been educated in the
field of gender studies, human rights and gender equality, they know very well that,
besides family and parents, other factors contribute as well.
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Graph 5 – The answers students gave to the question: Who, on your opinion, has the
most influence on what kind of man/woman shall we become? According to the groups:
4.3. The answers of students to the open-end type of questions
All three groups agree that both parents should work and support the family. Only the
gender-aware students believe for the most part that “all the adults who are able to work”
ought to do so contributing to family support in equal measure (this fact is related to the
current situation in the country where a lot of adult men and women do not have a job).
Graph 6 – The answers students gave to the question: Who should work and support
the family? According to groups:
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Regarding the question: “What are the things parents would not approve of when
their daughter is concerned?” the answers given by groups 1 and 3 differ from those given
by group 2 in it that there is a higher percentage of students who refused to answer (did
not answer) than those who think that “it depends on the parents” and those who gave
reasons related to sexual behavior ( “to be a lesbian”, “to live in promiscuity”).
Graph 7 – Answers to the question: What is it that parents would not approve of
when their daughter is concerned? According to the groups of students:
Other decisions parents may think are bad for their daughter were only differently
formulated by the three groups:
−− behaviour involving risk: prostitution, alcoholism, drug abuse, hanging out with bad
people, living on one’s own without parent supervision night life, going out too often,
traveling, tattooing etc. (1st group = 8; 2nd group = 7; 3rd group = 3);
−− education: giving up school, in school (1st group = 5; 2nd group = 3; 3rd group = 1);
−− employment: to be unemployed, choosing a job that is considered to be “for men” (1st
group = 3; 2nd group = 3; 3rd group = 2);
−− marriage and family: getting married too early, wrong choice of the partner, abandoning children (1st group = 3; 2nd group = 2; 3rd group = 2);
−− sexuality: being a lesbian, living in promiscuity (1st group = 3, 3rd group = 1).
It was unexpected that a considerable percentage in all three groups of students refused to give answer to the question: “Explain why it is good to be a man and why it is
good to be a woman”. The answer should have been the result of their personal reflection
on the differences between the sexes and not so much about presenting those differences
by conforming to stereotypes widespread in society.
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Table 1 – Percentages of the people who did not answer the question: Explain why
it is good to be a man and why it is good to be a woman. According to all three groups of
students:
Man
Woman
1st group
2nd group
3rd group
1st group
2nd group
3rd group
25.93
16
35
22.22
20
30
The students who answered the question gave one or more reasons to justify their
opinion which we classify in the following categories:
−− Social status (“men have greater power”; “we are privileged for men treat us nicely”;
“women are aware of inequality and struggle against it”);
−− Employment (“men get jobs easier”, “because women don’t do hard manual labour”);
−− Biology (“they don’t have to give birth”, “they don’t have periods”; “they can realize
themselves as mothers”);
−− Family (“when he comes home from work, hardly any man will cook lunch and do the
house-work”; “the woman is the backbone of the family”);
−− Feelings (“men show their feelings to a lesser degree”; “women are more sensitive”);
−− Attitude to life (“women are more resourceful”; “more active”; “ have a capability to
simultaneously do many things ”);
−− Physical strength (“men are stronger”);
−− Appearance (“men don’t have to invest in their (physical) appearance”; “they look
better”);
−− Other (“because women need them”; “because that gives you the possibility to be a
good person”).
The students from all three groups clearly observed that men are privileged in our
patriarchal society and that, accordingly, the most frequent answer was that “it is good to
be a man because men have better positions in society than women” (1st group = 60%; 2nd
group = 50%; 3rd group = 72%). The students gave other reasons as well: The students from
group 1 and 2 listed biological properties (“they do not have periods”; “they cannot give
birth”), and the students from groups 1 and 3 the advantages on the occasions of applying
for a job and having more opportunities; the Roma students show even more sensitivity to
this, since they are pressurized by men from their own community no less than they are
mistreated by the employers belonging to the ethnic majority.
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Table 2 – Ranking and frequency of reasons why it is good to be a man viz. a woman
according to the groups of students
Men
Women
1st group
1.
2.
3.
social status 60%
employment 30%
biological advantage 15%
1.
2.
3.
attitude to life 55.55%
biological advantage 38.89%
social status 22.22%
2nd group
1.
2.
3.
social status 50%
family 33.33%
biological advantage 28.57
1.
2.
3.
biological advantage 88.89%
attitude to life 50%
(physical) appearance 22.22%
1.
2.
3.
attitude to life 33.33%
sensitivity 33.33%
biological advantage 16.67
3rd group
1.
2.
3.
social status 72.72%
employment 9.09%
physical strength 9.09%
Respondents from groups 1 and 2, who answered the question why it is good to be a
woman, gave, for the most part, as a reason, the attitude to life (more resourceful, more
active), and the students from the 2nd group mentioned self-fulfilment as mothers (90/%
gave this answer). Giving birth is a reason also for 38.89% students from the 1st group and
16.67% from the 3rd group. A good reason for being a woman is, for the students from the
1st group, the social status, for those from the 2nd group – (physical) appearance and for
those from the 3rd group - sensitivity.
To the question “if you think that there are double standards for men and women,
give an example” a significant percentage of students from each of three groups did not
provide an answer (40.74% of 2nd group; 37.04% of 1st group and 20% of 3rd group). The
reason was perhaps that that they did not want to think about examples. The students who
did answer gave examples from which one can see that they recognize elements to gender
inequality of women in three fundamental areas: freedom of exhibiting sexuality, employment, and division of house-chores (Table 3):
−− sexuality (“ if a man often changes his partners, that is considered positive and would
not be met with disapproval, whereas it is vice versa for women”);
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−− Employment and work (“If a woman wants a career, she is considered a bad mother;
a man is considered ambitious. It is widely believed that many positions of authority and top-level leadership ought to be held by men exclusively, whereas for women
there are less intellectually challenging, female jobs”);
−− division of house-chores (“It is perfectly natural” that the place of a woman is in the
kitchen and she is expected to take care of the family and of the children, whereas a
man should provide for the family financially);
−− other (“boys normally inherit the real estate (property) of the family”; “according to
the leading stereotype of masculinity, it is entirely acceptable for a man to exhibit aggressiveness, whereas women get reproached and meet disapproval for the very same
kind of behaviour, with derogatory expressions such as “unladylike“, “tomboy“ and
the like”; “if a man gets drunk, nobody will reprimand him, whereas a woman will be
condemned”).
Table 3 – The areas the students recognized as the ones in which different standards
are maintained for men and women
1st group
2nd group
3rd group
Sexuality
25
33.33
37.5
Employment
and work
50
60
50
Division of
house-chores
12.5
6.67
Other
12.5
12.5
It can be concluded that these differences are inherent to the everyday experience
of the students as women and that, regarding this area, no special educational policy is
needed in order to “teach” the students that there are differences.
Answering the question: “When someone tells you: ‘Be a man!’ or ‘Be a woman!’, what
is the first thing that comes to your mind?” most of the students cited characteristics of
men and women well known in the society. However, some students from the 1st group
(29.63%) and from the 3rd group (25%) answered this question with some comment about
gender (in)equality and stereotypes learned during the process of education (“exhibiting
sexuality standardized in society”; “what comes to my mind is that the person is full of
prejudices and stereotypes”; “that I should behave in accordance with the required standards for men, or for women”; “I should wear a blue, not a red sweater”, “ this person should
urgently get educated about gender equality”).
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Table 4 – Characteristics of men cited by the students (according to the groups)
1st group
2nd group
3rd group
Strong, powerful, domineering / take charge,
have the guts to hit, be rough, bang your
fist on the table
7
8
6
Courageous
3
5
3
Tough, resolute, audacious, firm
5
5
3
Don’t cry, don’t show your emotions,
be rational (more rational)
6
3
1
Consistence
1
Responsibility
1
Handsome (man)
1
We conclude that the characteristics ascribed to men and women by the students
are stereotypical and stem from the everyday discourse and the media: men are strong,
domineering, courageous and tough, and do not cry; whereas women are tender, sensitive,
well-groomed, delicate, quiet, good-looking and polite.
Table 5 – Characteristics of women cited by the students (according to the groups)
1st group
2nd group
3rd group
Tender / sensitive/emotional / fragile
8
6
5
Well-groomed
6
3
1
Delicate (feminine)
3
4
4
less conspicuous / be shy / don’t come forward first /
don’t argue / be submissive / let the man dominate /
6
Good-looking / nice, cute / be polite / behave well,
with dignity
3
1
1
Conscientious
1
Ladylike
1
A high percentage of students in all three groups agree that every job is equally suitable
for both sexes! (In the 1st group 48.15%, in the 2nd group 28%, in the 3rd group 65%). The students who had been educated about gender issues are more consistent (3rd group 1st group).
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Table 6 – Best jobs for men and women
Women
Men
1st
group
2nd
group
Doctor/paediatrician,
surgeon, pharmacist/ nurse
/ midwife
7
7
Teacher, pedagogue,
counsellor, employed
in school, professor,
professorship
10
22
Stewardess
1
1
Announcer, journalism
3
Writer, actress, singer, art,
actor, cultural centres,
fashion designer
1
5
1
Psychologist, pedagogue,
special education therapist,
2
4
1
Culinary art, pastry cook
2
2
Fashion-modelling
1
Factory worker, manual work
1
Economist
3
1st
group
2nd
group
3rd
group
2
9
1
1
6
1
1
1
4
1
Trainer sports
1
Lawyer judge
1
Housewife
1
4
1
1
1
Work in office /
administration / secretary,
work in banks, accountant
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
Philologist, foreign-language
instructor, PR and human
resources, foreign-language
teacher
2
Public sector
1
Executive jobs / manager,
2
Jobs requiring verbal
abilities and perception
1
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3rd
group
1
1
1
1
3
2
1
Women
1st
group
Activist
2nd
group
Men
3rd
group
1st
group
2nd
group
1
Politics politician, minister,
president
1
3rd
group
1
1
7
1
Architect
1
4
Pilot
1
1
Policeman, inspector
1
2
Engineer
6
Car mechanic, craftsman,
plumber
1
Collector of secondary
raw-material
1
2
Computer science and
programming
2
Electrical-engineering
1
Field-worker, miner,
bricklayer
1
Jobs requiring logical
reasoning, physical strength
1
2
Table 7 – Answer to the question: Who is your role-model at the moment?
1st
group
2nd
group
3rd
group
I do not have one
10
8
10
My mother
2
2
4
My parents
2
3
My father
1
1
Grandma and grandpa
1
My mother and my aunt
1
My sister
1
My aunt
2
1
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1st
group
2nd
group
A person from my family
3rd
group
1
My friend – she is successful, resourceful, active,
improves herself constantly and is at the same time
charming and sociable
1
My boyfriend, my best friend, the sister of my aunt
1
My mother and the dean of my college
1
father, uncle; Zoran Đinđić
1
Novak Đoković (persistence – perseverance and
commitment to the limits of human capacity)
1
Rafael Nadal
1
I look up to different traits of different persons
I admire, but I wouldn’t take any
of them as a role-model
1
prof Kosta Josifidis
1
Brian Tracy
1
Angela Merkel
1
professors Ana Pajvančić and Ana Bilinović (teaching
at my faculty), Hala Gorani (journalist, announcer)
1
Professor Svenka Savić
1
Princess Jelisaveta
1
Professor Rajko Djuric
1
Myself
2
1
Milunka Savić
1
Professor Čedomir Čupić
1
In all three groups, for the most part, the students did not have role-models; we interpret that as a positive fact, because they create their vision of life and identity for themselves. Those who do have role-models find them among family members and friends,
followed by those who find them among famous personalities or persons from their experience or those they get to know at school.
Not all the students answered the question: “According to the law, what changes are
the most important to be made in order to improve the situation of women?” The Roma
students did know the complete inventory of procedures to improve the situation of women, since the legislative regulations of the law are related to the female Roma population.
105
They have heard a lot about that through various seminars, and some of them work as
instructors for other Roma women in various groups in cities as well as in villages.
Table 8 – Answers to the question: In Serbia, a law was enacted considering gender
equality. According to the law, what changes are most important to be made in order to
improve the situation of women?
1st group
2nd group
I do not know, no answer
4
7
Equal treatment regarding employment and work
7
8
Adherence to the law in practice
2
1
Equality of men and women and further developing
policies of equal opportunities
8
4
1
Solving the problem of family violence
2
1
1
Lessening prejudices considering women not being
able to do things, being less qualified, or stupid,
whereas men are more capable and clever
1
The right of women to entertain their own opinion
1
A woman should not be considered a slave
1
Women should be respected and not underestimated
1
To be accepted as she is, and not restrained
1
To change the belief that her place is in the house
1
3rd group
1
Visibility of women in official communication (in legal
texts, legislative regulations etc.)
1
Equal participation in public life of both sexes
4
The success and contribution of women should be
publicly recognized
1
A quota system is imposed
1
Access to the media
1
Economic emancipation regarding executive positions
and the media
1
Avoid discrimination
1
Standardizing gender sensitive language
1
The future teachers of Serbian language know the least of all about the law, although
they have experience of unequal treatment in the occasion of getting employed – no semi106
nar is necessary to gain such experience - almost 99% of the graduate students from this
department are women, and probably just few of them will get a job. To them, experience
was critical to notice inequality, not the law, being seldom adhered to anyway.
4.4. Hobby
One of the questions in the questionnaire was about the personal hobbies of students.
We wished to know how many things they had chosen for themselves that are not any part
of curricular or extra-curricular programs contributed to the education of students.
We know from some other research projects that in our cultural milieu a hobby is not
something expected of women; consequently, this sphere of female energy is still largely
invisible for research. We, therefore, assumed that a hobby of her own choice may give us
insight into a change happening to women receiving higher education and living (and attending school) in large cities (Belgrade, Novi Sad).
Moreover, we wished to know whether the choice itself could give us information
about the change of gender roles, if any, or would confirm the presence of some run-ofthe-mill stereotypes. The answers from the questionnaire are classified according to frequency, for each of the groups separately, followed by the list of individual hobbies with
frequencies added (unfortunately, not every student answered the question about hobbies,
and those who did answer mentioned frequently more than one activity, so the sum-total
of the answers does not match the number of the interviewed students).
The answers according to the groups are the following:
1st group Roma students
hobby (21 out of 27 i.e. 77.78%), namely:
reading 6, dancing 4, acting 3, watching movies 3, writing 2, singing 2, walking 2,
cooking 2, pastry cooking, playing an instrument, drawing, judo, music, literature, swimming, volley-ball, fishing, facebook, sleeping, helping others with learning, research.
2nd group non-Roma students, future teachers of Serbian language
hobby (24 out of 25 i.e. 96%), namely:
reading 7, writing 3, music 3, foreign languages 3, exercises in a gym 3, movies 2,
aerobics 2, drawing, acting, walking, singing, playing an instrument, dancing, folklore,
yoga, jogging, obedience training of dogs, pastry cooking.
3rd group non-Roma students, attending the elective master-study course about gender
hobby (12 out of 20 i.e. 60%):
reading 2, photography 2, design 2, swimming 2, writing poetry, painting, literature,
visual arts, cinematography, travelling, coin-collecting, origami, music, singing, modern
ballet and rowing.
This list, containing 38 different hobbies, is impressive. It demonstrates the wide spectrum of interests that these young women have and, what is even more important, none of
the hobbies chosen can be classified as “typically female”. On the contrary, they could be
classified as typically students’ hobbies, by means of which they achieve status recognition
107
and belonging to a particular group of young people in the society. The most often selected
hobby is reading – an integral part of their role as students, as well as their future vocation
– followed by the activities connected to fitness, good-looking and having fun (dancing,
music, working out) widespread among members of their generation (the young) which
may serve as evidence that they fit into their age group. Based on this fact, one can say
that the evidence we gathered about the hobbies of the students are incongruous with the
stereotypes (prejudices) about interests or activities of women belonging to the two ethnic
groups (women from both groups like dancing, singing and learning as well).
Table 9 – The list of all the hobbies with added frequencies by the groups
1st group
2nd group
3rd group
2
1
reading
6
7
2
dancing
4
1
3
acting
3
1
4
watching movies
3
2
5
writing
2
3
1
6
singing
2
1
1
7
walking
2
1
8
cooking
2
9
pastry cooking
1
1
10
playing an instrument
1
1
11
drawing
1
1
12
judo
1
13
music
1
14
literature
1
1
15
swimming
1
2
16
volleyball
1
17
fishing
1
18
facebook
1
19
sleeping
1
20
helping others with learning
1
21
research
1
3
1
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1st group
2nd group
3rd group
22
foreign languages
3
23
exercises in a gym
3
24
aerobics
2
25
folklore
1
26
Yoga
1
27
jogging
1
28
obedience training
1
29
photography
2
30
design
2
31
painting
1
32
visual arts
1
33
cinematography
1
34
travelling
1
34
coin-collecting
1
36
origami
1
37
modern ballet
1
38
rowing
1
Some of the answers are particularly interesting. A Roma girl answered that her hobby was helping others with learning; she obviously belongs to a group of volunteers who in
their associations give instructions to elementary school children with learning difficulties. Thus, hobbies can be related to current activities of Roma students within the framework of a mentor program realized in various civil organizations. These are, therefore,
the ‘modern’ hobbies of young Roma students. In the future, these features of identity of
highly educated Roma students, with which they represent themselves well, not only in
their own ethnic community, but also in the wider community, during their university
education, should be investigated more closely. Subsequently, we asked some students (11
of them) of non-Roma ethnicity at UNS, who did not fill in the questionnaire to appraise
the list of hobbies given by (R)oma students and (N)on-Roma students in order to get
some information with their help about the stereotypes present in two selected groups3.
3 Prior to the list of hobbies, the following text was printed: in front of you there are three lists of hobbies
given by students at the University of Novi Sad and the University of Belgrade in the year 2012-2013. On
the basis of the inventory of hobbies, please estimate which of the two groups of students had given these
lists: Non-Roma or Roma students, by writing the letters N or R next to the group number.
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Table 10 – The estimation of national identity based on the list of hobbies
Appraisal of the students
(R)
(N)
(R) and (N)
List of hobbies given by Roma students
5
3
3
List of hobbies given by non-Roma students - future
teachers of Serbian language
5
4
2
List of hobbies given by non-Roma students on the
master-program
4
5
2
On the basis of the 11 people surveyed, we were not able to conclude whether the
students actually recognized the national identity of the students on the basis of their
list of hobbies.
5.0. CONCLUSION
On the basis of this research, we raise the following question: How to investigate the
elements of education for gender-equal society among female students from within the
framework of the current system of higher education, in which there are few programs
focusing on this topic. We have observed that ignorance or inadequate knowledge comes
from gender (in)sensitive educational programs, both curricular and extra-curricular activities not negligible considering certain groups of students, in this case Romani female
students, but this can be easily extended to, for example, physically impaired students. The
knowledge acquired in extra-curricular activities is not visible within the scope of knowledge acquired in curricular activities, because of the lack of space for their application.
This knowledge is demonstrated only in occasions when students are specifically inquired
in the area (as it was the case with this questionnaire).
The second important question is how to investigate the degrees of education about
gender equality and human rights among students of different ethnic origin – in our case
Roma and non-Roma female students . Our investigation shows in which segments these
two national groups are similar and in which different. The method of the investigation
should be coordinated in order to present in the right way the nature of knowledge the
students have and receive during their studies as a whole, including knowledge and abilities that are for the most part the result of their personal choices (hobbies).
The three groups of students selected from UNS, UB and vocational colleges in Vojvodina show that there are differences regarding the degree of internalization of stereotypes within the three groups: those who received systematic education to recognize gender inequality were ready to recognize discrimination in the questions given concerning
stereotypes about men and women; by contrast, those who did not were less able to do so.
110
The Roma women have acquired their knowledge of gender and civic equality in a process
of extra-curricular activities, that is to say, in a process that lacks any kind of verification
of knowledge gained either by passing exams, writing papers or any other form of testing; nevertheless, their personal experience of inequality is evident from the answers they
gave. It has been shown that the knowledge gained in extra-curricular activities is indeed
active in their conceptualization of gender equality and in recognizing the inequality of
women in relation to men. We conclude that this type of education is important for those
groups who have less power in society and towards whom there is a considerable social
distance from outside of their own ethnic community. It can be expected that the Roma
students, having learned to recognize inequalities (i.e. implicit discrimination) regarding
sex and gender, will be able to recognize them regarding ethnic origin or any other kind of
bias. Thus for them extra-curricular education is essential.
On the basis of the results of the investigation we have carried out, we would like to
make some proposals we believe to be far-reaching:
1. For acquiring knowledge about equal status of women in the society, curricular as
well as extra-curricular educational programs in the education system are necessary
for all groups of female students, especially for those who experience inequality in
their everyday life.
2. The women who have acquired knowledge are able to recognize such situations and
are ready to bring about changes in their private lives as well as in society.
6.0. REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Nikoletić Rašković, Milica (2013), Stavovi o rodnoj ravnopravnosti studentkinja iz nacionalnih
zajednica u Vojvodini: Romkinje, Centar za rodne studije, ACIMSI, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu,
ACIMSI: Centar za rodne studije, master program (odbranjen seminarski rad iz Metodologije rodnih istraživanja, mentorka: Svenka Savić).
Savić, Svenka (2010), Obrazovane Romkinje: prijedlog za model interkulturnog razumjevanja i
slušanja, Jasenka Kodrlja, Svenka Savić, Svetlana Slapšak (urednice), Kultura, drugi, žene, Institut za
društvena istraživanja u Zagrebu, Hrvatsko filološko društvo, Plejada, Zagreb, 187-202.
Savić, Svenka (2011), Rodni identitet i obrazovanje Romkinja u Srbiji, Interkulturalnost, Zavod za
kulturu Vojvodine, Novi Sad, br. 1, str. 52-65.
Savić, Svenka (2012), Romkinje u Srbiji: mogućnosti za očuvanje i razvoj identiteta, Tibor Varadi
i Goran Bašić, urednici, Promene identiteta, kulture i jezika Roma u uslovima planske socijalnoekonomske integracije, SANU, Odeljenje društvenih nauka knj 33, Beograd, 71-85.
Slapšak, Svetlana (2001), Ženske ikone XX veka (posebno Romkinja), Biblioteka XX vek, Beograd, 240-245.
Vučaj, Sunčica (2010), Rodna i LGBT diskriminacija: postoji i uspeva, Osnovna studija o stavovima
mladih o rodnoj i LGBT ravnopravnosti, Projekat: Doprinos mladih antidiskriminacionoj politici,
NVO Atina, Beograd.
[email protected]
[email protected]
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f o t o
C o d y
s t r a n a :
1 1 1 ,
C o b b
1 1 2 ,
c o d y c o b b @ m e . c o m
1 1 3 ,
1 2 6 ,
1 2 7 ,
1 4 7
112
113
114
115
UDC 323.1:061.23(497.11)"2009/..."
Miroslav Keveždi
The Institute for Culture of Vojvodina
Novi Sad, Serbia
National Councils of National
Minorities in Serbia and Their
Activity in the Culture Field since
2009 to This Day – An Overview
of the Most Important Scientific
and Expert Papers, Analyses
and Recommendations
Summary: The author reviews the most significant activities, research, analyses and recommendations concerning the activities of the National Councils of
National minorities in the Republic of Serbia in the field of culture, starting with
the enactment of the Law on National Councils of National Minorities in 2009.
The author recognizes that, despite their importance, the Councils have not
been the focus of attention of the scientific community, since there have been
very few papers focused particularly on the Councils. Prior to their establishment, and only due to public expectations, have the Councils been included
in scientific research papers. Following their establishment, the Councils have
had the attention of NGOs and the Ombudsman Institution. Their expert analysis indicates that there are many problems in the legislation practice when it
comes to the influence of political parties on the council, the organizational
structure of the Council, the transfer of management and founding rights, compliance with other laws, determining the criteria for declaring an institution of
special importance for conservation, and the improvement and development of
the distinctive national identity of a national minority.
Key words: culture, cultural rights, national minorities, national councils of
national minorities, minority rights, law on national councils, protection of minorities
116
Introduction
This paper reviews the most significant activities, research, analyses and recommendations concerning the activities of the National Councils of National minorities in the
Republic of Serbia in the field of culture, especially those founded after the enactment of
the Law on National Councils of National Minorities in 2009.
Serbia is an ethnically heterogeneous country, numbering 83.3% of Serbs at the 2011
Census and 20 national minorities with over 2,000 members (Vukmirović, 2012). The
members of national minorities in the Republic of Serbia may choose their National
Councils in order to exercise their right to self-governing in culture, education, information and the official use of language and script. National Councils are representatives of
national minorities, so they ensure and institutionalize the participation of minorities in
the process of decision-making and governance in these areas.
The concept of cultural autonomy headed by the national councils was first introduced into the legal system of the Republic of Serbia with the Law on the Protection of the
Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities at the end of February 2002 (Bašić, 2006).1
In Article 2, the Law defines minorities as follows: ”A national minority, for the purpose
of this Law, shall be any group of citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia numerically sufficiently representative and, although representing a minority in the territory of
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, belonging to a group of residents having a long-term
and firm bond with the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and possessing
characteristics such as language, culture, national or ethnic affiliation, origin or confession, differentiating them from the majority of the population, and whose members are
distinguished by a desire to collectively nurture their common identity, including their
culture, tradition, language or religion. All groups of citizens termed or determined as
nations, national or ethnic communities, national or ethnic groups, which meet the conditions specified under paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be deemed national minorities for
the purpose of this Law”.
The first National Councils, established by the Law from 2002, were elected by the
electoral system. Fifteen additional Councils were established pending the commencement of the Law on National Councils of 2009.
National Councils of National minorities, as bearers of cultural autonomy of ethnic
minorities, became a constitutional category upon the adoption of the Constitution in
2006.2 The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees to its national minorities
individual and collective rights, with the collective rights implying that “persons belonging to national minorities, directly or through their elected representatives, participate in
1 Zakon o zaštiti prava i sloboda nacionalnih manjina (“Sl. list SRJ”, br. 11/2002, “Sl. list SCG”, br. 1/2003 Ustavna povelja i “Sl. glasnik RS”, br. 72/2009). http://www.seio.gov.rs/upload/documents/ekspertske%20
misije/protection_of_minorities/the_law_on_the-protection_rights_nat_minorities.pdf
2 Ustav Republike Srbije (Službeni glasnik RS” br. 98/2006) http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/
documents/untc/unpan019071.pdf
117
decision-making or decide on certain matters related to their culture, education, information and official use of language, in accordance with the law” (Pajvančić, 2009:97-99).
In order to define the overall status of the National Councils in the legal system of the
Republic of Serbia, the Law on National Councils of National Minorities was adopted on
August 31st 2009, and complemented by a legislative framework for the promotion and
protection of minority rights.3 The Act entered into force on September 11th 2009, defining
the jurisdiction of the National Councils in education, culture, media, and the official use
of language and script, relations with national authorities and autonomous regions, the
relationship with local government, the election process of national councils, the financing of national councils and more.
The first elections using the procedure under the Law on National Councils instated
19 councils. Members of fifteen national minorities elected their representatives through
direct elections, while the national councils of the Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian national minority were elected through the electoral assembly. Bosniak national
minority failed to establish their national council after the elections. The turnout at the
immediate elections was 54.5% of the registered representatives of minority enrolled in
the special electoral rolls. In accordance with the new law, members of national minorities elected their representatives for the protection and promotion of collective minority
rights. Concurrently, the state gained a partner in the design and implementation of
minority policy, whose ultimate goal should be the integration of national minorities in
all spheres of social life.4
Institutional organisation of minority rights in the Republic of Serbia is vital for the
stabilization of relations within Serbia (Nenadić, 2005:686). Similarly, regulation of minority rights is central for the diplomatic relations of Serbia with its neighbors and international organizations (Raduški, 2008). Culture is undoubtedly one of the most important areas for the preservation and development of the identity of national minorities.
Culture includes and produces contents that are transmitted through the educational and
informational system of national minorities, thus creating a wider cultural system (Molar,
2000:17-27). Therefore, we believe that paying attention to the institutional base is vital,
since it enables the functioning of the minority cultural system in Serbia. This base is reflected primarily in the work of National Councils of national minorities. For that reason,
it is necessary to make an inspection of the most important works, research, analyses and
recommendations concerning the activities of National Councils in the field of culture, in
accordance with the Law on National Councils.
Our study analyses the results and conclusions related to the activities of current National Councils in culture. In order to provide insight, we analyse published research pa3 Zakon o nacionalnim savetima nacionalnih manjina („Službeni glasnik RS” br. 72/2009). http://www.seio.
gov.rs/upload/documents/ekspertske%20misije/protection_of_minorities/law_on_national_councils.pdf
4 http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/puna-integracija-manjina-u-drustveni-zivot_423607.html
118
pers and expert analyses regarding minority rights and national councils, with particular
emphasis on their relation to culture.
Research and analysis of minority rights and legislation
In the past decade, National Councils as such have attracted relatively little attention
from experts. The Councils and their work are mainly the focus of minority media, but
are almost never the focus of scientific papers in Serbia. Since the democratic changes on
October 5th 2000, the scientific attention was put on the more general problems in understanding national minorities, the treatment of individual and collective rights (Nenadić,
2005; Stanovčić, 2008; Јовановић, 2004, 2009), the politics of multiculturality (Bašić,
2003, 2007; Kristović, 2012; Raduški, 2009b, 2011; Domonji, 2008; Lošonc, 2012), the international standards in the exercise of minority rights (Matić, 2002; Raduški 2009a), the
interethnic relations in Serbia and the Balkans (Raduški, 2001, 2008; Rakić, 2009; Sitarski,
2010), the minority position in Serbia and Vojvodina (Petsinis, 2004; Stanovčić, 2007,
Domonji, 2008) and demographic analysis (Raduški 2006, 2010a, 2010b; Stanković, 2004).
National Council as such is mentioned in one paper, once again indirectly, in the analysis
of the Bunjevci’s national identity in the process of globalization (Subotić, 2011).
Following the adoption of the Law on Protection of Rights and Freedoms, it had been
pointed out that the laws were passed in an atmosphere of reform and universal optimism,
filled with hope in an inevitable and permanent way out of the economic crisis, nevertheless with an uncertain future of the state entity as well (Krivokapić, 2003:91). This situation
resulted in a delayed adoption of many supporting documents that were meant to help the
work of the council. Amid ample praise, criticisms were mainly directed towards the lack
of financial support from the state, particularly with regard to funding minority media,
which had been emphasized by the minority leaders as the key elements for maintaining
their own culture and tradition (Nenadić, 2005:688). The second criticism was directed at
the lack of constructive dialogue between the minorities and the majority. The third reason for criticism was the unequal status of different ethnic minorities, perceiving the law
as favoring big national minorities such as Hungarians, thus opening the doors for making a division between “small” and “big” minorities (Nenadic, 2005:688; Domonji 2004).
Nenadić emphasized in 2005 the need for establishing an Ombudsman for minorities,
which was granted the same year with the institution of the Ombudsman at a national level (The decision to establish the Provincial Ombudsman was adopted in December 2002).
Research and analysis concerning National Councils
Before the elections held on June 6th 2010, National Councils as such were mentioned in only one article directly – an article about National Councils as instruments of
implementation of collective rights of minorities (Korhec, 2009:61-76). After the elections, Councils were mentioned indirectly in another article, in the analysis of Bunjevac
national identity in the process of globalization (Subotić, 2011). Also, one monograph
119
was written about the first 10 years of National Council of Slovak national minority in
Serbia (Čáni et al. 2013).
After the Law on National Councils of National Minorities was passed, just before the
elections for the National Councils of national minorities in Serbia, a survey was conducted regarding the collective perception of the role and importance of National Councils of
national minorities in Vojvodina (Lazar, 2010; Marinkovic 2010). It was established that,
out of the total number of members of national and ethnic communities in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina surveyed, the majority (60.9%) was aware of the possibility
of establishing National Councils of national minorities in the Republic of Serbia (Lazar,
2010:568). The survey revealed that almost two-thirds (64.3%) considered the preservation of collective identity as the most important task of the Council of their national/
ethnic group. The results also showed that the respondents as members of national/ethnic groups in Vojvodina were aware that National Councils are not a means of political
organization and representation, but failed to recognize their importance in the domain
of institutionalised protection of minority rights. This fact, along with the information
that 28% of respondents found the most important task of the national council to be the
preservation of traditions and customs, illustrates that there is still a low level of legal culture among members of national/ethnic groups in Vojvodina. Almost 22% of respondents
expected the National Councils to take care of the economic position of minority ethnic
communities (Lazar, 2010: 572).
Two years of the National Councils
The first two years of the National Councils were followed by a research conducted by
the Provincial Ombudsman in relation to the 19 National Councils registered with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government.5
This research provides a very detailed insight into how the Law on National Councils
of National Minorities worked in practice. The research sample consisted of the National
Councils of the Bulgarian, Bunjevac, Greek, Egyptian, Hungarian, Macedonian, German,
Romanian, Ruthenian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Croatian and Czech national minority. National councils of the Ashkali, Albanian, Bosniak, Vlach, Roma and Slovenian national
minorities were not included in this research.
Based on the research, it has been observed that in the field of culture not a single
national council initiated the adoption of laws or regulations. Seven national councils
established cultural institutions (Article 16, paragraph 1 and 2 of the Act). National
Councils of the Slovak and the Hungarian minority stated that there were examples
of partial transfer of founding rights in cultural institutions (Article 16, paragraph 3
5 Dve godine nacionalnih saveta – a research by the Provincial Ombudsman (2012) http://www.
ombudsmanapv.org/ombjo/attachments/article/741/Dve%20godine%20nac.saveta%20II%20deo_2012_.
pdf.pdf
120
of the Act) from the AP of Vojvodina and local governments onto national councils.
Eight National Councils established cultural institutions of special importance for the
preservation, promotion, and development of national uniqueness and identity of national minorities (Article 18, paragraph 1, item 1 of the Act). A significant number of
cultural institutions that have been declared by national councils to be of such special
importance have failed to modify their articles of incorporation in accordance with
the decisions of the national council, which led to the general laws of these institutions
not containing provisions establishing that they are places of special importance for a
national minority, so now these institutions have no provision stipulating that the National Council shall appoint one member of the management committee of the institution and in this way participate in the management of the institution.
Three National Councils – the Slovak, the Hungarian, and the Romanian – indicated
that, in some cultural institutions, which have been found to be of special importance for
the preservation, improvement, development peculiarities and national identity, they have
appointed a member of the board of directors and/or gave their opinion on the proposed
members of the board of directors of institutions and/or gave their opinion on the selection
of the directors of the institution (Article 17 of the Law). Units of local government, as the
founders of cultural institutions, for different reasons and through different mechanisms
prevent such appointments on the board of directors, using their right in accordance with
the Act. The National Councils of Macedonian, German, Czech, Egyptian, Hungarian and
Bunjevac minority indicated that they have established a strategy for the cultural development of their national minority (Article 18, paragraph 1, item 2 of the Law).6
The power to establish cultural properties, both movable and immovable, which are
of special interest (Article 18, paragraph 1, item 3 of the Act), was exercised by the National Council of the German minority, while the National Council of the Czech minority stated that the process of establishing cultural property was in progress. The National
Council of the Hungarian minority has not established movable and immovable cultural
property of importance to this national minority in form of a special decision; however,
in the Strategy for the Development of Culture of the National Council of the Hungarian
minority 2012-2018, they did cite cultural possessions of special importance for the Hungarian minority. We must bear in mind that determining movable and immovable cultural
property of special importance for the national minority is a prerequisite for the realization of a range of rights / powers of the Council in the field of culture.
The National Council of the German minority stated that they had initiated proceedings before the competent authorities / institutions to establish the status of protected
movable and immovable cultural property of special importance to the national minority
6 A later inquiry by the Institute for Culture of Vojvodina has shown that these allegations were in fact
untrue – we can now state that only the Hungarian ethnic community has a documented and adopted
Cultural Strategy.
121
(Article 18, paragraph 1, item 4 of the Act), in relation to the mass graves in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The Council stated that the “religious buildings (churches)
and the cemetery” were decided to be movable and immovable cultural property of special
importance for the German minority.
The Law on Cultural Heritage7 regulates the procedure for the determination of cultural goods, as well as for the determination of cultural goods of great and exceptional
importance. The Provincial Ombudsman has no knowledge whether the procedures
started by the national councils were in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.
Two national councils proposed measures for the protection, reparation and reconstruction of cultural goods that were found to be of importance for their national minority
(Article 18, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Act).
The National Council of the German national minority had given opinions and
suggestions in the process of writing the spatial and urban plans for the town of Bački
Jarak, where there are cultural goods of exceptional importance for the German national
minority (Article 18, para. 1 item 6). No National Council has used its power to suggest
to the local governments to suspend spatial and urban plans whose implementation
would jeopardize cultural goods of exceptional importance to a given national minority
(Article 18, Paragraph 1, Item 7 of the Act). No National Council has given their opinion to competent authorities prior to an authorization to move an immovable cultural
property of exceptional importance to a national minority to a new location (Article
18, paragraph 1, item 8 of the Act). Furthermore, no national council has exercised its
legal opportunity to express opinions in cases of establishing or abolishing libraries, or
organizational units of libraries, whose funds contain books in minority languages (Article 18, paragraph 1, item 9 of the Act).
Eleven National Councils gave proposals for the allocation of funds from the budget
of the Republic of Serbia, AP of Vojvodina and local governments, which are awarded
through an open call for proposals for events, facilities and associations of national minorities in the field of culture (Article 18, paragraph 1, item 10 of the Act). These were
the National Councils of the Macedonian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Greek, Ukrainian, German,
Romanian, Czech, Ruthenian, Hungarian and Bunjevac minority.
Only the National Council of the Macedonian minority replied that they used their
legal right to nominate a candidate for a joint list of candidates for the National Council
for Culture (Article 18, paragraph 1, item 11 of the Act). No national council has appointed a representative to participate in the work of the National Council for Culture
without voting right, when issues relevant to the culture of its national minority are being
considered (Article 18, paragraph 1, item 12 of the Act).
7 Zakon o kulturnim dobrima („Sl. glasnik RS“, br. 71/94, 52/11-dr. zakoni i 99/2011- dr. zakon)
122
Evaluation of five National Councils in Serbia
During 2012, the project entitled “Evaluation of five National Councils in Serbia –
Bulgarian, Hungarian, Romani, Romanian, and Slovak” was completed by the Centre for
Regionalism from Novi Sad, which was the first project of such coverage carried out in
Serbia (Pavlović – Križanić, 2012). Using a unique questionnaire, the survey was used
to interview more than a hundred members of the National Councils, working bodies,
representatives of institutions of special importance to a national community, prominent
intellectuals and citizens. The focus of the study was on the establishment of the national
councils in accordance to the Law on National Councils, examples of good practice with
regard to the obtained competencies, and also on detecting problems. Particular attention
was given to the new election method of National Council members.
The main objection to the work of the Councils observed during the survey was the
politicization of their election. Problems with registering in special electoral rolls were
caused by the instruction of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights about the process of registration in the special electoral minority rolls. The instruction enabled a legal
person, and thus also political parties of national minorities, to carry out the registration
of citizens in the special voters list. The instruction allowed the registration requests to be
submitted by a third party, which in some cases led to the registration of citizens without
their knowledge or will. In addition, it was pointed out that the body of the democratic
principles for direct elections for National Council members, in addition to its rights, also
implies certain obligations – a fact the Councils seemed to have failed to remember.
In the opinion of the evaluators, the concept of National Councils was adapted to suit
the needs and the realistic capabilities of minorities which are numerous, concentrated in one
area, very well organized, with developed and influential minority parties, have excellent infrastructure and are represented in the government at all levels. Such minorities are able to easily
use the complex and complicated instruments provided by the law. In Serbia, this description
fits only the Hungarian minority. The jurisdictions given by law have seemed thus far to be well
beyond the capacity of the Councils to make use of them (Pavlović-Križanić, 2012:8).8
This analysis of the Councils also notes that the “basic matters of their organizational
structure were addressed only in principle and in general manner,” and that “insufficient
attention was given by the Law of National Councils to their organizational structure, the
relationship between the Council and its boards, the authority of the council chairman (in
addition to representation and advocacy), and so on” (Pavlović–Križanić, 2012:14). Objections have also been made to the undefined relations between committees and councils,
which gave rise to two models – the supremacy of the committees and the supremacy of the
council. Undetermined structure of membership in departmental committees led to an “un8 It is important to note that the lack of capacity of the national councils was noticed by the OSCE, which led
to the intervention in the form of a manual on council’s competences (Keveždi et al. 2011) and practicum on
strategic planing (Borojević 2011). During the 2013, The Center for Development of Civil Society (CDCS)
and the OSCE Mission in Serbia organized a summer school on minority rights and integration.
123
certainty in practice about how to understand their role – as an executive authority in sector
areas, or as mere decorative authority used only declaratively” (Pavlović-Križanić, 2012:15).
Some inconsistencies between the Law on National Councils and the Law on Culture
have also been pointed out. An example of such discrepancy is declaring an institution to
be of special importance to a national minority. According to the Law of National Councils,
in such an institution the Council has the power to appoint one board member and to give
its opinion on the proposed members of the board of directors, as well as to give an opinion
in the election of the chairman. In keeping with the same Law, if more National Councils
decide that an institution is of particular importance, each national council appoints one
member to the board of directors. In practice, such a scenario could cause problems if
multiple councils declared the same institution to be of special importance: “If each council
appointed one member to the board of directors, the number of members appointed by the
national councils may be greater than the number of members appointed by the founder”
(Pavlović-Križanić, 2012:22). In such cases the Acts of the Law on Culture provide a different solution, according to which several interested national councils make a joint proposal.
Concerns arise because of a lack of defined criteria and standards by which to determine
which institutions may be declared as institutions of special importance.
Other research
The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights has also pointed out some problematic issues
in the transfer of managing and founding rights (Kovačević, 2013). They recommend that
criteria should be determined by which National Councils could declare a certain cultural
institution as an institution of special importance for the preservation, promotion and
development of uniqueness and national identity of national minorities. Furthermore, “It
is necessary to harmonize the regulations of the Law on National Minority Councils and
Law on Culture relating to the jurisdiction of the National Councils in the field of culture”
(Kovačević, 2013a:27). In the same study, a review was given in regards to the evaluation of the constitutionality of the Law on National Councils before the Constitutional
Court of Serbia. The conclusion was that amendments to the Law on National Councils of
National Minorities were clearly necessary. Following the announcement of government
officials that the law will undergo changes, a Working Group for the Amendments to the
Law was formed, whose work has yet to start.
Conclusion
Ten years since the establishment of the first national councils, and four years after
the adoption of the Law on National Councils of National Minorities, it is evident that the
councils are rarely the object of scientific observation. The Councils are more often in the
focus of experts, Ombudsman institutions and non-governmental organizations.
The results of an expert analysis suggest that there are many problems in the legislative practice in the domain of relations between the political parties and the councils; in
124
the organizational structure of the councils; in the transfer of management and founding
rights; in compliance with other laws; in determining the criteria for declaring institutions
to be of importance for the preservation, promotion and development of the individual
national identity of national minorities.
Recommendations made by professional community indicate the need for additional
amendments to the Law on National Councils. It is necessary to examine the validity of
the concept that allows and encourages the participation of political parties in the nomination and election of the members of the Council. It is also necessary to clearly stipulate
responsibilities of the President and the executive committee of the national council, as
well as their relations with the culture committee. Experts point out that the committee’s
jurisdiction also has to be redefined, so that committee members can consider issues related to culture (without the right to make decisions).
So far, the expert analyses have not paid much attention to the influence of national
councils on the wider society and the cultural sphere. The study on the minority members’ expectations from the councils will be an interesting one to repeat at the end of this
Council’s mandate (year 2014). The question is how the Councils have responded to these
expectations. The influence of political parties on culture can be viewed through the populist cultural policies that follow a culture that apparently meets the demands of a broader
population segment. At the same time, forcing folk cultural events can suit only a relatively small number of members of the minority communities – those who are members of
cultural folk associations. These associations have a large logistical role in the campaigns
for elections of councils, so it is possible that culture will gain a strong folk attribute and
become one-sided. We therefore consider it necessary to take a holistic approach in the
future analysis of the law, the council as an institution, and the wider society.
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Translated by Marina Olear
[email protected]
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UDC 821.112.2-21.09
Svetislav Jovanov
Serbian National Theatre, Novi Sad
Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Belgrade
Serbia
A Tragic Conflict
in Goethe’s Egmont
SUMMARY: This paper investigates the first phase of a tragic conflict phenomenon in German romanticist tragedy, through the example of Goethe’s Egmont:
while the tragic hero achieves his fulfillment as an autonomous, free and selfconscious individual, the hero’s conflict with History, as an absolute secular
power, ends with his existential defeat (death), and, at the same time, with an
imaginary (utopian) victory of the subjective principle he represents.
KEY WORDS: hero, ethos, daimon, individuality, self-consciousness, history,
destiny, instrumental reason, victim, utopian.
The tragic conflict in Egmont is an irreconcilable one; the antagonism unfolds between the hero, Egmont, representative of the subjective principle that he defends in an
imperative manner and the forces of History emerging as destiny. It ends with an existential defeat (death) of the tragic hero, and, at the same time, with an imaginary (utopian)
victory of the subjective principle he represents.
1. The defeat (death) of a tragic hero
Egmont stands for the subjective principle striving to reach the level of self-consciousness through the internal conflict with instances of destiny (i.e. instrumental reason) on
the one hand, and through the plot, by confronting the antagonists, representatives of
History as destiny, on the other. Both aspects of the tragic conflict come to an end with the
hero’s authentication as an autonomous, free and self-conscious individual and at the same
time with his complete downfall (death). The main reasons for this outcome are the hero’s
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inability to put up a defense– in his development from the level of ethos to the level of a
Shakespearean individual - against the forces of History as destiny, his vain efforts in that
resistance to apply the method of instrumental reason himself and last but not least, his
wrong belief that his allies and those who he represents will not resign themselves to the
logic of instrumental reason.
1.1. The defeat of ethos and the individual
Egmont’s inability to make a stand against the antagonistic representatives of destiny
is hinted at the initial stage of the conflict. The Regent, as a moderate and cautious representative of the absolute power, attenuates her initial concern for the hero, in a conversation, starting with a remark: “His conscience has a convenient mirror“, immediately after
reaching the conclusion that his charisma has a negative effect on the public:
REGENT: ... he is alone responsible for the whole mischief that has broken out in
Flanders. From the first, he connived at the proceedings of the foreign teachers...
(I, 2)
The Regent’s objection is justified, not just from the point of view of instrumental
reason, but also reveals some deeper motivations: Egmont’s attitude, namely, towards the
growing religious “heresy” among his countrymen consists in individual punishments
and general tolerance. This exhibits a discrepancy between his innate broadness of spirit
and his awareness of public responsibility which prevents him to comprehend the logic
of the unpredictable consequences of collective historical forces. Being convinced in his
own unassailability, the hero truly underestimates the Regent, even though it will eventually turn out that she is the one, and not Egmont, who understands why and how will “the
horses of time and carts of fate” materialize in the shape of Alba’s occupying cavalry.
REGENT: First, he will produce a commission, coached in terms somewhat obscure
and equivocal; he will stretch his authority, for the power is in his hands; if I complain he
will hint at secret instructions...
(III, 1)
The encounter of the hero with Alba is a typical example of an emancipated individual’s inability to resist instrumental reason. The preparations for the encounter that
the Duke of Spain completed is worked out with a precision of a battle strategy, whereas
the extent Egmont’s naive self-confidence becomes obvious when he fails to attach any
importance to reasons accounting for Orange’s absence. The Duke, on the other hand,
exercises pressure combining an alluring expression of recognition to the hero (“The King
desires your counsel and your opinion“) with insinuations about the abetting passivity of
the Dutch nobles who Egmont represents on the occasion:
ALVA: To contemplate a mighty evil, to flatter oneself with hope, to trust the time, to
strike a blow, like the clown in a play so as to make a noise and appear to do something,
when in fact one would fain do nothing...
(IV, 2)
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Such pressure gives rise to a tension in Egmont between striving for individual freedom
and a deep sense of loyalty to the system of roles, more precisely, to the hierarchy they are a
part of, still present –– the tension that the hero is trying to discard in good faith by advocating
tolerance: „Let the King proclaim a general pardon......and it will be seen how speedily loyalty
and affection will return, when confidence is restored. “ However, Alba’s pressure intensifies
beginning with warnings, suspicion and threats, eventually exacerbating and openly demanding unconditional obedience, so that there is nothing left to Egmont but to demonstrate blatantly his criticism of the King, a holder of the universal and absolute secular power:
EGMONT: In order to govern his subjects more easily, he would crush, subvert, nay,
ruthlessly destroy their strength, their spirit and their self-respect.
(Die Kraft seines Volks, ihr Gemüt, den Begriff, den sie von sich selbst haben, will er
schwächen, niederdrücken, zerstören, um sie bequem regieren zu können.)
The hero’s arrest that follows shortly after the previous scene is the expected resolution to the conflict between free-will and coercion, but at the same time serves as encouragement to the hero to quit acting as if “sleepwalking“.
1.2. Incompatibility of ethos and
the individual with instrumental reason
Torn apart between loyalty to his public role and his fearless self-confidence, the hero
himself, in his discussions with Orange, tries to rely on the method of instrumental reason: thus, he elaborates the claim that retreating before Alba’s assail will cause massive
reprisals on the populace and his alternative proposal amounts to hardly more than a loyal
wait-and-see, to knowledge without action, which driving him into the state of paralysis
becomes a moral dilemma:
EGMONT: Your own act will render certain evil that you dread.
ORANGE: Wisdom and courage alike prompt us to meet an inevitable evil.
(EGMONT: Das Übel, das du fürchtest, wird gewiß durch deine Tat.
ORANIEN: Es ist klug und kühn, dem unvermeidlichen Übel entgegenzugehn.)
Even less success in making use of instrumental reason the hero demonstrates during
his encounter with Alba. Although his remark that the Spanish “protection of orthodoxy”
is but a disguise for material interests is rejected by Alba’s reference to the sovereign right
of the “King’s will”, he nonetheless tries – upon claiming the autonomy of the Dutch citizen as the “King’s individual”- and prior to openly accusing the king – to justify his freeminded attitude by referring to a thesis closely related to instrumental reason:
EGMONT: And just as natural is it , that the burgher should prefer being governed by
one born and reared in the same land, whose notions of right and wrong are in harmony
with his own and whom he can regard as his brother.
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ALBA: And yet the noble, methinks, has shared rather unequally with these brethren of his.
(ALBA: Und doch hat der Adel mit diesen seinen Brüdern sehr ungleich geteilt.)
Although Egmont’s statement refers to the “brethren” in the sense of common (Dutch)
understanding of individual freedom, the Duke’s ironic reply is not just a warning, since
“Egmont’s true brothers are the rulers irrespective of their ethnicity, because it is with
them that he shares common interests“1, it is also a convincing reason to believe that individual emancipation and instrumental reason are incompatible.
1.3. The allure of instrumental reason
Since his actions are guided by certain principles and by a firm conviction about the
inseparability of thought and action, Orange, Egmont’s ally, understands far more accurately than Egmont the forces at work when individuals are concerned, and not less those
that transcend them, thus in order to realize his visions of unifying individual freedom
with national autonomy, he is prepared to act “wisely and boldly“– i.e. to exploit every
possibility made available by the method of instrumental reason:
ORANGE: Egmont, our interests have for years weighed upon my heart; I ever stand
as over a chess-board and regard no move of my adversary as insignificant...
(Egmont, ich trage viele Jahre her alle unsere Verhältnisse am Herzen, ich stehe immer wie über einem Schachspiele und halte keinen Zug des Gegners für unbedeutend.)
The citizens of Brussels compare the Duke of Alba to a “spider“, Orange is, by contrast, characterized fairly abstractly as a “chess player” and depicted as a somewhat milder
advocate of pragmatism. His proposal to retreat to a safe position is not motivated by
cowardice, but by a pragmatic conviction that surpasses (the egmontian) dilemma about
drawing a line between public and private responsibility:
ORANGE: We are not ordinary men, Egmont. If it becomes us to sacrifice ourselves
for thousands, it becomes us no less to spare ourselves for thousands.
(II, 2)
In the course of analyzing the type of behavior at issue, Alt observes correctly that Orange’s actions based on tactical assessments of the right time, falls into the scope of instrumental reason as “an arsenal of modern behavioral techniques (Verhaltenstechniken)“2.
It turns out that the conduct of the citizens of Brussels, whose rights the hero stands
up for, is, in the final analysis, conditioned by instrumental reason. These include a group
of craftsmen and shopkeepers, middle-class citizens, differentiated by name, profession
and typical feature – a rash tailor Jetter, a cautious stickler Soest and boastful Buyck – act1 Irmgard Hobson, “Oranien and Alba: The two political dialogues in Egmont“, Germanic Review No.
50, George Mason University, Fairfax (Virginia) 1975, 270.
2 Peter-Andre Alt, Klassische Endspiele:das Theater Goethes und Schillers, C. H. Beck, München 2008, 161.
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ing jointly in accord they function as an entity of a unique collective character. Presented as
credulous and verbally bold, as a rule, just like the citizens in Julius Caesar, but at the same
time driven mostly by their own practical interests - in that part resembling the commons
from Coriolanus – theatrically, they demonstrate a functional upgrading of the elements
of Shakespearean pattern. At the very beginning of the crisis, the citizens of Brussels led
by Jetter and Buyck pinning their hopes on Egmont close the meeting with a moderate
policy slogan: “Safety and peace! Order and liberty!” (“Sicherheit und Ruhe! Ordnung und
Freiheit!”). Later on, reacting at the growing religious commotion and anticipating the
hero’s increasing self-confidence (Act II, Scene 1.), they express their sentiment – influenced by the demagogy of Vansen, the clerk – with a rather sharper slogan: “Liberty and
privileges! Privileges and liberty!” With the arrival of Alba’s army, their vehemence turns
into anxiety and their assertive rhetoric gives way to a meek bystander’s comment: “This
is the end of our privileges.” (Act IV, Scene 1.). Finally, after Egmont’s arrest, it becomes
clear that the citizens’ faith in their hero is rather limited: their proclamation of principles
are being disclosed as tools of selfish, material interests, and those interests, eventually,
give way to fear for life. At that moment, the difference between the hero’s illusion of the
“emancipated community” and a real-life collective portrait of the citizens of Brussels, who
Fuhrmann adequately describes as “people in the narrow sense of the word or the well-off
(Besitzende)”3, becomes clearly exposed. Refusing Clara’s request to charge at Egmont’s
dungeon (Act V, Scene 1.), the citizens abandon the streets and the fight for their rights
making the point through the conservative carpenter invitation: “Lets get out of here!”
2. The (imaginary) victory of the subjective principle
Despite the hero’s existential downfall, the subjective principle that he stands for still
gains an imaginary victory over History, as an absolute, secular power of coercion. The
major causes of such an outcome are the following: the antagonists, who represent History as destiny, are unable to raise the method of instrumental rationality to the level of a
universal principle, whereas the hero has the strength to reach self-consciousness, showing
that through the reality of individual self-denial for the sake of the idea of universal emancipation one gives meaning to both the reality and the individual.
2.1. Reason, principle and ideological stance
The impossibility to establish instrumental reason as a value of principle – and thus
History as a universal secular power of coercion – appears on every level. The citizens of
Brussels, whose attitudes are based on instrumental reason, that is to say, on pragmatic
interest, find themselves eventually in the situation of total passivity and in absolute obedience. Orange, who considers himself “wise and bold” in his flee before Alba, demon3 Helmut Fuhrmann, Sechs Studien zur Goethe-Rezeption, Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2002, 15.
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strates how limited instrumental reason is, lacking efficiency he simultaneously divests
his action of any principled justification: reprisals follow and a part of the leadership (i.e.
Egmont) is lost.
Not even Alba, the paragon of instrumental reason, succeeds in raising the method
to the level of universal value. Quite the contrary, he rejects Egmont’s traditional “ socialclass based” understanding of political equality with the thought that people “must be
guided and controlled as children”; and precisely this is what enables the hero to grasp the
direction in which the order of absolute power unfolds:
EGMONT: And is it not fit that the many should confide their interests to the many
rather than to the one? And not even to the one but to the few servants of the one, men
who have grown old under the eyes of their master? To grow wise, it seems, is the exclusive
privilege of these favored individuals.
ALBA: Perhaps for the very reason they are not left to themselves.
(EGMONT: Und sollen sich viele nicht lieber vielen vertrauen als einem? und nicht
einmal dem einen, sondern den wenigen des einen, dem Volke, das an den Blicken seines
Herrn altert. Das hat wohl allein das Recht, klug zu werden.
ALBA: Vielleicht eben darum, weil es sich nicht selbst überlassen ist.)
Alba’s response, no less than Egmont’s remark about “the few of the one” (“die wenigen des einen”), demonstrates the tendency of the absolute secular power not to function
exclusively on the basis of some impersonal absolute will, but more and more on the basis
of arguments offered by some group of counselors, oligarchs etc. – in other words, those
people who are the executors of the instrumental reason, who are responsible only to the
method they apply. Thus they become a new sort of representatives of destiny, legitimizing
themselves integrating in their actions, according to Fuhrmann, “the will of the absolute
ruler with the abstract rationality of bureaucratic administering”4. Alva not only fails to
elevate instrumental reason to the level of universal value, he also transforms it into an
ideological stance: the willingness to use some restricted means in an absolute (unrestricted) way in the name of some rather limited understanding of reality.
2.2. Clara and Ferdinand: different heirs
The process of Egmont’s self-enlightening evolves, as we have showed, through open
confrontation with the representatives of universal secular power (Alba), as well as through
his conviction that the method of instrumental reason is incompatible with the subjective
principle. An equally important aspect of this process is Goethe’s effort to show for the sake
of who the hero sacrifices himself in order to understand reality and also to defend the subjective principle. In this context, the characters of Clara and Ferdinand gain importance.
4 Helmut Fuhrmann, ibid, 13.
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Perplexed about the existence of “two Egmonts“, the hero adopts an openly critical
attitude towards his own individuality, and, not accidentally, Clara becomes a key witness to this transformation. Her not even remotely typical “melodramatic” question to a
loved one: “Are you Egmont?”, encourages the hero to challenge the consistency between
the private and the public, the individual and the collective. Such a course of action fully
denies Schiller’s comment that “the intrusion of a love story spoils the dramatic interest”5.
Modeling Clara after Shakespearean female characters who become victims encouraging
the hero’s individual emancipation, Goethe simultaneously functionally upgrades the elements of bürgerliches Trauerspiel – namely, the identity and function of Luise from Schieller’s Intrigue and Love (Kabale und Liebe). Since “the family in the bürgerliche Trauerspiel
consists predominantly of a father and daughter”6, Luise’s character remains passive in
part due to her own prejudices, and in part due to her father’s patriarchal “tyranny of love”.
Whereas in Goethe’s work, in the course of Clara’s dynamic transformation - from a typified “imploring woman” developing into an individual to become eventually “the goddess
of victory” - a middle-class girl becomes Egmont’s closest ally and, at the same time, the
guide on his route to self-consciousness.
Abetting Egmont’s dilemma about the two selves, a kind of preparation for facing
Alba, as it were, Clara response to the hero’s arrest is a naive and idealistic inciting the citizens to rebel. Her invitation, however, becomes simultaneously the way for re-identifying
the hero and (his individual aspirations) making him stand his ground:
JETTER: Speak not the name! ’Tis deadly!
CLARA: Not speak his name? How! Not Egmont’s name! Is it not on every tongue?
Where stands it not inscribed? Often have I read it emblazoned with all its letters among
these stars...Friend! Good, kind neighbours, ye are dreaming, collect you.
(Den Namen nicht! Wie? Nicht diesen Namen? Wer nennt ihn nicht bei jeder Gelegenheit? Wo steht er nicht geschrieben? In diesen Sternen hab ich oft mit allen seinen
Lettern ihn gelesen... Freunde! Gute, teure Nachbarn, ihr träumt; besinnt euch.)
(V, 1)
Yet, it turns out that Clara is a dreamer. At the very moment she praises and celebrates
the hero as a symbol, as a common watchword of individual emancipation and collective hopes, surprisingly, it becomes evident that the symbol does not work in reality. The
failure of Clara’s efforts to save Egmont with the citizens’ revolt implicitly announces the
size of the gap between the real situation and hero’s delusion expressed by a “self-imposed
fantasy” in the prison scene that follows. However, Clara’s depart from the dimension of
“private happiness” into a broader social context has yet another function – in addition to
denoting the failure – it is the first step of Clara’s own transformation into a symbol:
5 Fridrih Šiler, „O Egmontu, Geteovoj tragediji“, 365.
6 Erika Fischer-Lichte, History of European drama and Theatre, Routledge, London 2002, 155.
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CLARA: As a waving banner, weaponless though, leads on a gallant army of warriors,
so shall my spirit hover like a flame over your ranks...
(Wie eine Fahne wehrlos ein edles Heer von Kriegern wehend anführt, so soll mein
Geist um eure Häupter flammen...)
(V, 1)
In order to turn into an imaginary and untouchable “banner of the helpless”, or, according to Egmont, into an “angel from the sky”, i.e. become a symbolic entity, Clara has to
sacrifice herself and drink poison. The primary motive of such an act is to prove her love
for the hero, which is a variation of Shakespeare’s Juliet. At the same time, Clara’s rebellious
sacrifice becomes a manifestation of her identity as the merging of the “imploring woman“
and the holder of the subjective principle modeled after Ophelia from Hamlet – there being
a significant difference though: the multiplicity of Ophelia’s madness is replaced by a single
conviction, the belief in the powerful idea of universal emancipation. Clara, thus, sacrifices
herself not only for Egmont as an individual, but for Egmont as a symbol of individual and
collective aspirations, anticipating with her act the hero’s own self-enlightening. Brackenburg’s comment (who was Clara’s fiancé “pushed away into the stream of life”) that Egmont
will receive the wreath from a dead girl, gives the anticipation an additional dramatic dimension, revealing Clara as a messenger between two worlds: an ideal (utopian) and the real one.
Ferdinand’s visit to the hero in a prison cell is important for the confirmation of his
thought - the possible redemption of reality through an idea. The original reason for the
visit, as stated by Alba’s son – the young man’s compunction for participating in a plot that
lead to Egmont’s arrest – will shortly prove to be an excuse for far more important a motive:
EGMONT: How can the fate of a mere stranger thus deeply move thee?
FERDINAND: Not a stranger! Thou art no stranger to me. Thy name it was that, even
from my boyhood, shone before me like a star in heaven. How often have I made inquiries
concerning thee and listened to the story of thy deeds! The youth is the hope of the boy,
the man of the youth. Thus didst thou walk before me...?
(V, 2)
When Ferdinand reports that Alba’s sentence is final, thus shattering all hopes for
Egmont’s liberation and immediately after expressing his admiration, he strengthens the
hero’s resolve to understand his own life as a “mirror of collective hopes”. In that way, as
Erica Swells notices, Egmont makes a crucial step towards overcoming the “discrepancy
between the specific individual whom the play puts before us and the image to which he
gives rise.”7 And in order to make the transformation complete, so that his name in Ferdinand’s and Clara’s eyes be turned into a star, that is to say, a symbol, the hero must, sacrificing himself, demonstrate the superiority of the idea of universal emancipation over reality.
However, beside this one, Ferdinand’s contribution to the hero’s final decision comprises
7 Martin Swales & Erika Swales, Reading Goethe: A critical Introduction to the literary work, Camden
House, London 2002, 105.
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yet another crucial implication - that even the son, the heir-apparent of the executor-inchief of instrumental reason, following Egmont’s example, discovers “an entirely different,
more humane aspect of the historical knowledge”8 plainly foreshadowing the truth that
any order based on absolute secular power, carries in itself the germ of its inevitable decline. Thus Goethe constructs a dramatic connection which he will much later describe in
Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and truth) as the downfall of the likeable and victory of the
odious that gives rise to a hope for “something different from both that will be adequate to
everyone’s wishes”. Clara becomes the guide to Alba’s son converted into the potential heir
of the aspiration towards universal emancipation. In the context of the hero’s tragic selfsacrifice, the victory of subjective principle is then depicted as a promise of an ideal collective reality; thus for the hero, as Friedrich Zengel concluded “whatever freedom looses in
its external meaning, it gains in its internal significance“9.
2.3. Self-consciousnesss and imaginary victory
Representing the subjective principle in different stages of the development of his
tragic identity, Egmont follows the paradigm of Hamlet ultimately striving to reach the
level of self-consciousness. But unlike the Shakespearean hero, he succeeds in his efforts.
The imaginary victory of the subjective principle is for him, at the same time, the state in
which all doubts about the meaning of his sacrifice disappear and the authenticity of the
individual is regained. The achievement of this objective requires from the hero to undergo different phases in developing his identity; first through the phase of ethos and daimon,
and then through the one of the individual and his role. Goethe’s concept demonstrates
that these phases are necessary but, at the same time, insufficient: Egmont is simply not
able to efficiently stand up against History as destiny, neither at the archetypal level of ethos
(innate self-confidence), nor at the level of the individual (unselfishness, broad-mindedness), The knowledge that sacrificing for the idea can give meaning to both the reality and
to the individual constitutes self-consciousness but also leads to passivity. Denying reality,
the hero demonstrates the limited scope of ethos, and simultaneously the Shakespearean
individual “exploitation of the role“. Shakespeare’s Hamlet has doubts about the meaning
of sacrifice as well as about the value of the individual, because for him the possibilities
of meaninglessness are not limited (“for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come”).
However, maintaining his active position to the world, the Shakespearean hero opens up
possibilities of meaning at the same time. Hence the advantage of Hamlet’s dilemma: selfconsciousness is not reached, but an active position in the world is maintained, that is
to say the hero has an imperative attitude towards destiny. The hero in Egmont with his
self-conscious action – his individual sacrifice for the sake of the idea of universal eman8 Jürgen Schröder, “Poetische Erlösung der Geschichte – Goethes Egmont”, u: Geschichte als Schauspiel –
Deutsche Geschichtsdramen, herg. von Walter Hinck, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1981, 105.
9 Fridrih Zengle, Kontinuitet i preobražaj, Orpheus, Novi Sad 2005, 192.
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cipation gives meaning to both the sacrifice and (his own) individuality; however, instead
of infinitely open horizon of meaning, there is one unequivocal, restricted significance,. To
conclude, the hero remains representative to the subjective principle, because he gives an
expression to individual and collective aspirations by renouncing reality, but his victory
being utopian and imaginary and his attitude to destiny increasingly passive should suffice
to show that his position is far less imperative.
Fragment from the study The Hero and the Destiny
(Poetics of the German romanticist tragedy)
[email protected]
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UDC 821.111.09
UDC 821.111(71).09
Vladislava Gordić Petković
University of Novi Sad
Serbia
From the Wife of Bath to
Generation X: Gender Identity
and Character Development
Summary: The paper examines various narrative strategies which serve to
represent female characters within their historical, social or political settings.
Authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer, Emily Bronte and Douglas Coupland, pursuing various artistic interests and belonging to different backgrounds, are chosen so as to provide a multiperspective and a multicultural context for the
analysis. The way gender identity develops along with the character development, and how the setting affects their progression and development, are some
of the issues discussed in the paper.
Key words: characterization, identification, gender, narrative.
Introduction: The History of Characters
What has traditionally been central to theories of character is the concept of identification, which has to mediate between the literary character as a formal textual structure
and the reader’s investment in it (Frow 1986: 243). What readers invest is interplay of inference, deduction and interpretation, which largely depends on the process of narration,
and on the proper construction of the story’s setting.
We shall focus here on the works of the writers who treat their characters either as
functional devices of the plot, or fully shaped personalities positioned in their milieu. Our
aim is to show both the psychological impact of the setting upon the character and the
functional role of the character in portraying the setting.
The categories of masculinity and femininity have recently emerged as discursive constructs and socially determined categories important for the character analysis. Whether
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female is always associated with submissive and passive, and male characterized as dominant and assertive, is to be shown in the analysis of literary texts coming from various
historical, social and literary contexts.
Literary history and criticism have had little to say about the character ever since Aristotle stated that artists imitate men involved in action. Prior to the structuralist insights
into the heart of this matter, characterization had often been defined rather vaguely: either as the depicting “of clear images of a person”, as a person’s “actions and manners of
thought and life” (Gordić 1996: 99), or as the portrayal of “a man’s nature, environment,
habits, emotions, desires, instincts” (Thrall and Hibbard 1936: 74-75). E. M. Forster’s distinction between “flat” and “round” characters, first introduced in his book Aspects of the
Novel, is still the best known and widely used approach to the character analysis. However,
it is valid only for narrative texts, since it is novels and shorter narrative forms that call for
the growth of character in the first place. Using dramatic texts as his frame of reference,
Aristotle justly sees the character as an agent supposed to perform an action. Although
based upon the corpus containing both dramatic and fictional literary genres, the views of
formalist and structuralist critics do not differ from the ancient philosopher’s, since they
argue that characters are mostly functional. Boris Tomashevsky and Vladimir Propp even
claim that the character simply does what the story requires her or him to do.
W. J. Harvey accuses E. M. Forster of a “deceptively light” (Harvey 1966: 192) approach to the matter, which has, in Harvey’s opinion, relegated the treatment of character
to the periphery of the attention of modern criticism. According to Shlomith RimmonKenan (Rimmon-Kenan 1983: 187), there are three major weaknesses of Forster’s distinction: its word choice is problematic, since “flat” suggests being two-dimensional and
devoid of depth, while many flat characters are not necessarily shallow or superfluous;
the dichotomy is reductive, obliterating the degrees and nuances in narrative fiction; a flat
character is seen as simple and undeveloping, and the round one as complex and developing, whereas a fictional character can also be simple and developing (like Everyman from
the medieval morality play of the same name) or complex but undeveloping, as in the case
of Joyce’s Leopold Bloom, who shows no sign of progress or change.
However, some structuralist critics have gradually moved away from the functional
approach to the character. Tzvetan Todorov admits that a narrative text can either be plotcentered (apsychological), or character-centered (psychological). In psychological narratives action serves to depict character, whereas apsychological texts focus on the plot,
using the character only as one of its functions. Roland Barthes gradually shifted from
the functional view of character he had adopted in the sixties, to a psychological one,
embraced late in the seventies. His shift in view might be taken as a relevant signal that
the character is gradually gaining in importance, since Barthes and Todorov at least admit
that in some narratives characters play a more significant role than elsewhere.
Bearing the theoretical and conjectural dichotomies in mind, Marvin Mudrick contrasted two extreme views of characters:
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One of the recurring anxieties of literary critics concerns the way in which a character
in drama or fiction may be said to exist. The “purist” argument points out that characters do not exist at all (...) that any effort to extract them from their context and to
discuss them as if they are real human beings is a sentimental misunderstanding of
the nature of literature. The “realistic” argument insists that character acquire a kind
of independence from the events in which they live and that they can be usefully discussed at some distance from their context. (Mudrick 1961: 211)
In Mudrick’s view, the “realistic” argument sees characters as imitation of people, relying
upon mimetic theories of the text. When treating characters as if they were our neighbours
or friends or speculating about their unconscious motives, we look for their past and present
beyond the text. According to the “purist” or semiotic approach, the character becomes assimilated to other verbal phenomena of the text, and its specificity is destroyed. The character
thus dissolves into textuality. As a way to reconcile and unite the opposing views we could
quote Henry James’s definitions of character (“the determination of incident”) and incident
(“the illustration of character”), where “the incident” obviously stands for the plot, or the
event. Still, the problem of terminology persists, since we have to admit that character, no
matter how dependent on the text, heavily relies on the traits borrowed from the real world.
Seymour Chatman’s notion of literary characters as narrative constructs which are
not alive but lifelike, may be of help in literary analysis. Aware of the characters’ problematic status, he claims that they are more than agents, yet less than real people. Pointing
out that each character can be described using the terms from the whole range of human
experience (psychology, morality, astrology, etc.), Chatman takes the literary character as
a personality, but declines to endow it with a life beyond fiction. He opts for a paradigm of
traits, supported by Roland Barthes’s claim that reading narratives is a process of naming
the characters’ traits. The paradigm of traits should explain characters by using an unlimited number of terms which are not hierarchically ordered, thus differing substantially
from a linguistic one and its strictly positioned elements. The elements pertaining to the
paradigm of traits rather act as a perspective of quotations.
Chatman’s approach has been valuable and of great benefit for the character analysis. However, its applicability lessens when a gender-oriented analysis is considered. His
paradigm does not seem to be gender-sensitive, since it does not differentiate between
approaches to the carefully inspected male characters versus neglected and pigeonholed
female characters. Thus if following in Chatman’s footsteps, we might take gender stereotypes as valid for the paradigm of traits, and such an approach would lead to a biased
attitudes towards characters, or even misogynist conceptions.
Renowned feminist critics such as Elaine Showalter avoid concepts of female imagination, preferring to observe the ways the self-awareness of the woman writer translates itself
into a literary form and to trace this self-awareness within the tradition. Judith Fetterley’s
book The Resisting Reader (1978) discusses mental confusion of the “immasculated” woman
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reader, forced to identify against herself with male characters, whose essential experience is
betrayal by the female, and forced to see women characters scapegoated and killed off.
The following examples of English, American and Canadian authors are intended to
show both the psychological impact of the setting upon the female character and to investigate if a purely female paradigm of traits is possible at all.
Geoffrey Chaucer Revisited
Chaucer’s characters do not engage in any kind of activity except in story-telling, and
the lack of action hampers any development or change in their nature. This is partly due
to the fact that the concept of a developing character is not common in the literature of
Chaucer’s time; the traditional story-telling called for no growth of character, no progressive or temporal change. Although the portraits of Chaucer’s characters cannot indicate a
change in mood or the flow of thought, they can still be rich in detail and very vivid, owing
to direct narrative statements about the characters which determine personal traits and
inform us about physical appearance, habits or biographical facts about the characters.
The reader is faced with an abundance of details which are drawn either from the narrator’s outer perception or from his omniscient glimpse into the interior of the character.
The two female characters in Canterbury Tales are not quite typical of their class and
status. The Prioress’s grace, elegance, affectation of speech and manners, as well as Wife
of Bath’s five marriages, apparently do not fit into mediaeval stereotypes. Chaucer depicts a prioress in terms and traits borrowed from the medieval romance, whereas an
artisan woman from beside Bath city resembles a matriarchal goddess. Chaucer contrasts feelings embodied in the Prioress with senses of the Wife of Bath. While the former embodies fastidious sensibility, the latter is the pole of elemental vitality. The Prioress represents a woman who submitted to the institution of the Church, trying to fit her
temperament into it, but she also subtly violates the laws of her order by keeping pets,
overdressing and taking on to a pilgrimage. Opposed to Eglentine’s passiveness and subtlety are the Wife of Bath’s outspokenness, aggressive demonstration of her instincts, appetites and will power. The Wife of Bath makes the institutions of church, pilgrimage and
marriage serve to her temperament: her radix trait is an uninhibited appetite for physical love and travel, which is seen in the first word in her prologue, experience, which is
also the key to her morals and values. Another code of her personality is the desire for
mastery, which is the dominant motif of her tale. The Wife of Bath’s doctrine of marriage is based on female supremacy, never stated openly but rather functioning as a reaction to the traditional view of marriage imposed by the church fathers and common law.
Chaucer manipulates with the mode of medieval romance in characterization of his heroines: while the Prioress physically resembles a romance heroine, the Wife of Bath uses a
romantic setting in her story of the magical hag and the rapist. Both ways of using romance are tinged with irony. A prioress is not expected to look romantic, whereas the Wife
of Bath uses the romantic setting in order to disguise the idea of female supremacy. Her
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prologue and her tale are two versions of one story: both Jankyn and the rapist knight treat
women with violence, and both are taught to do better than that; they win the woman’s
kindness and affection once they come round to her way of thinking.
The Wife of Bath is well acquainted with Holy Scripture, and she deconstructs it in the
greatest part of her prologue, picking and choosing the quotations and episodes which support
her way of thinking. Her skilful handling of Scripture in the comic debate on marriage shows
that she is a knowledgeable woman, but the issues of religion bring up another substantial
contrast between the Wife of Bath and the Prioress: while the Wife of Bath embodies empirical
knowledge of facts, the Prioress embodies blind religious faith. The latter is a person of limited
mentality, credulous enough to accept naively a legend of a horrible murder of a child committed by Jews, and to recount it. No matter how cruel her story might seem, it is mostly an act
of worship. This devoutness and piety is something the worldly Wife of Bath is incapable of.
While the Wife of Bath is excessively sex-appealing, the Prioress is feminine, generally an
embodiment of the feelings. Her suppressed maternal instincts turn to the nearest object upon
which she can lavish her natural affection - to pets. Chaucer vividly describes her appearance,
her habits, likes and dislikes, but we learn practically nothing of her background. Does this
lack of biographical facts suggest that the Prioress is a lifeless, unreal being? And, since we have
a Molly-Bloom-like story of husbands and marriages, could we make another opposition, and
say that Prioress symbolizes an ideal versus the real woman, deliberately called Wife of Bath?
For the Wife of Bath, her tale is her own setting. Much has been written about the
“legendary tale of wonder” dealing with a knight who has to pay dearly for doing wrong
to womankind, but we cannot say that the problems of the narrative have been solved.
Some passages in the Wife of Bath’s tale admirably befit the teller, but her heroine is not
Alison in disguise. We can compare Alison’s methods of winning sovereignty with those
of the loathly lady in her tale, but Chaucer’s character lacks reasonableness and persuasiveness of the loathly lady. The Prologue tells us something of Alison’s tactics before and
after marriage: by her shrewishness she reduced her husband’s to complete submission
and obedience, all except the fifth, the former “clerk of Oxenford”. Her struggle to subdue
her partners does not make her a feminist figure, rather a figure of fun, since the issue
of female supremacy was taken to be either blasphemous or ridiculous, and Chaucer
chooses the latter option.
The Wife of Bath’s Tale consists of three sections: in the first, a knight from King Arthur’s court rapes a girl and is condemned by the Queen to find within a year and a day
the answer to the question what is the thing that women most desire. The second section
describes the knight’s encounter with an ugly hag who offers to solve the riddle on condition he should do whatever she asks: she demands marriage in turn for the answer, which
is “sovereignty” (sovereynetee). The final part of the story shows the knight in dismay on
his wedding night, when his wife offers him the choice between having an ugly but faithful
spouse or a beautiful but faithless one. He yields the choice to her, and seeing her sovereignty acknowledged, she promises to be both faithful and beautiful.
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The riddle motive is closely connected with the theme of sovereignty. The old hag
poses a challenge to the protagonist. Her very existence is a contradiction: she is a puella
senilis, both fair and loathly, both young and old, and she makes demands falling outside
the pale of the tolerable, if not of the possible. The sovereignty she demands means domestic rule, but she needs the man, her counterpart in order to settle for her task and her
nature. Thus Chaucer sends the message of contradictions united in greatness – the message more complex than his seemingly simple techniques of characterization.
Socially Structured Victorian Characters
According to an analysis by evolutionary psychologists presented several years ago in
The Guardian, the despicable acts of Count Dracula, the unending selflessness of Dorothea
Brooke in Middlemarch and Mr Darcy’s personal transformation in Pride and Prejudice
helped to uphold social order and encouraged altruistic genes to spread through Victorian
society. Their research suggests that classic British novels from the 19th century not only
reflect the values of Victorian society, they also shaped them.
The psychologists, led by Joseph Carroll at the University of Missouri in St Louis, claim
that the novels from the period “extolled the virtues of an egalitarian society and pitted
cooperation and affability against individuals’ hunger for power and dominance”, citing the
examples of George Eliot’s Middlemarch, Dorothea Brooke who turns her back on wealth
to help the poor, and Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula, who represents aristocratic dominance
at its worst and asserting prestige by taking people over and absorbing their life blood.
What the team of evolutionary psychologists did was to apply Darwin’s theory of
evolution to literature by asking 500 academics to fill in questionnaires on characters
from classic Victorian novels. The respondents were asked to define characters as protagonists or antagonists, rate their personality traits, and comment on their emotional
response to the characters. They found that leading characters mirrored the cooperative
nature of a society, where individual urges for power and wealth were suppressed for
the good of the community. It seems that in Victorian novels, dominant behaviour is
stigmatised and the antagonists obsessed with ambition all lack the cooperative nature
and pro-social behaviour.
A few characters were judged to have both good and bad traits, such as Heathcliff in
Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Jane Austen’s Mr Darcy. The conflicts they demonstrate reflect the strains of maintaining such a cooperative social order. The researchers
believe that novels have the same effect on society as oral cautionary tales of old. “Just as
hunter-gatherers talk of cheating and bullying as a way of staying keyed to the goal that
bad guys must not win, novels key us to the same issues,” said Christopher Boehm, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Southern California. “They have a function that
continues to contribute to the quality and structure of group life.”
The studies of Victorian novels have substantially changed throughout the decades. They
are no more associated with simplistic and reductive models of morality or famous but elusive
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“Victorian values”, or condemned as racist, imperialist or misogynist. The Victorian novel is
seen as complex as the culture it comes from and the Victorians are seen more empathetically.
Wuthering Heights is the novel in which setting and mood are closely intertwined, to
the extent that the characters become helpless in the face of nature and their own uncontrolled emotions. The novel focuses upon the dynamic and turbulent relationship between
the passion and freedom of the mansion called Wuthering Heights and the socially structured conventionality of Thrushcross Grange. Both houses depict isolation and separation, each creating its own galaxy with its house rules.
“Wuthering Heights” is perched on a high ridge, overlooking a wasteland, inhabited
by harsh and gloomy characters who had lived in the world of passion and ferocity long
before it became the property of a demonic lover and a passionate avenger Heathcliff.
Throughout the novel, “Wuthering Heights” have been the stage of both unrequieted and
unconditional love, violence, brutality, and inexplicable greed. The isolation of “Wuthering Heights” represents the isolation of Catherine’s heart, whereas the warmness and security of “Thrushcross Grange” represent the domesticity and status she desires. It is a
symbol of social institutions and conventional values, Catherine’s road towards both her
femininity and social status. She tries to love both the wild Heathcliff and the mild Edgar
Linton, and tries to make both houses her home. The distinctions between “Thrushcross
Grange” and “Wuthering Heights” (between Edgar and Heathcliff) parallel those between
Catherine and Heathcliff. Two men in her life have turned into exact replicas of the powers
of the respective houses they lived in.
Civilized only outwardly, Heathcliff remains demonic, and the increase of wealth and
power never changes him substantially. His violent images and use of hyperbole express
an impetuous will that cannot accept opposition and his rhetoric hardens as it gathers
momentum to a language of absolute imperatives, his logic depends on a refusal to admit
any compromise with passion, any form of mediocrity.
The World of the Homeless: Generation X
Douglas Coupland’s novels deal with an “accelerated culture”: his characters are desperately trying to cope with rapid material changes in everyday life and lame spiritual
insights offered to account for them. Focused upon the mass cultural phenomena (such as
pop icons or the fallout of yuppies) and those genuinely tragic (such as high school shootings), Coupland is also interested in technology as a substitute for the divine, so that two
of his novels present lives and opinions of Silicon Valley computer experts (Microserfs)
and the offspring of the Google age (JPod).
Coupland’s characters share their creator’s awareness that the world changes much
faster than human perspectives of it. Lost and confused, underemployed and overeducated, Coupland’s twenty-somethings find their mantras in pop songs and seek salvation
in awkward possessions. Charming and sensitive Claire of Generation X, one of the most
remarkable and sensitive female characters Coupland has ever written, goes to incredible
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lengths to get such a bizarre thing as racks of antlers: dozens of them lie tangled in her
flat, in “the room that technically ought to have been the dining room instead of an ossuary that scares the daylights out of repairpersons come to fix the appliances” (Coupland
1991: 85). Claire even places ads in the local paper, presenting herself as an artist, and
“nine times out of ten the respondent is a woman named Verna, hair in curlers, chewing
nicotine gum”, a woman who wants to get rid of the things left behind her ex.
Coupland’s characters indulge in endless contemplation of their anomie, mostly seeking refuge in platonic friendships, cartoon heroes, and funny memories. Families and
relatives are usually estranged or on bad terms. Abe, one of the Silicon Valley programmers from Microserfs, claims to have come from “one of those ‘zero kidney’ families” – the
family which made the agreement that if its member needed a kidney, they would react
with: “Well, sorry... Been nice knowing you.” (Coupland 1995: 190). Although jaded and
cynical, this young man earnestly mourns the lost values. Rereading his favourite Tin Tin
books, Abe notices that the Boy Detective’s life lacks “religion, parents, politics, relationship, communion with nature, class, love, death, birth” (Coupland 1995: 191), and admits
that he is curious about this either invisible or non-existent content.
The recurrent pattern of “the family of friends”, borrowed from sitcoms and soap operas,
serves the purpose of creating a safe surroundings for the unstable young men and women.
Coupland has suggested on various occasions that inspiration for some of his novels might
have come from teenage soap operas of the eighties such as Melrose Place. The self-confessed
computer nerds of Microserfs call themselves addicts of the series: “We like to pretend our
geek house is actually Melrose Place.” (Coupland 1995: 65). Shopping malls and pop music have been attached to the ideological framework of Coupland’s novels almost naturally.
Such cultural background of the characters ranging from the not-quite-fabulous threesome
in Generation X to the star-crossed teenage spouses in Hey, Nostradamus! might make them
look two-dimensional and devoid of depth. However, Coupland’s protagonists show some
signs of progress or change, in spite of the fact that they never manage to change at the rate
the accelerated world requires. Hey, Nostradamus! shows how painful and ineffective changes
can be. Little before her tragic demise in the shooting in a Vancouver high-school cafeteria,
pregnant and secretly married Cheryl Anway writes on her school binder the words “GOD IS
NOWHERE GOD IS NOW HERE”, and thus anarchy and faith are put together with a little
help coming from unreliable linguistic signs, language being only one battlefield of many. In
their post-trauma or post-mortem quest for truth, the departed Cheryl, her loving husband
Jason, Jason’s religious father Reg and Jason’s hopelessly loyal girlfriend Heather tell stories
of paranoia, angst or religious zeal, desperately trying to untangle their lives. Misguided and
shattered, they cope with their tragic losses the only way they can.
Although engaged in an in-depth analysis of profound crises and urgent problems, Coupland has often been accused of creating cartoon-like characters. His critics forget that the
growth of the character which traditional novel calls for is somewhat impeded in the works of
fiction which tend to be slowed by minute reflection or endless and often pointless discussions
147
in the manner of either Raymond Carver or Quentin Tarantino, in the books and movies which,
similar to Generation X, abound in static first-person narrative reports of the immobile reality.
Estranged and bizarre characters either float from one cheap thrill and weird hobby
to another, or stay immobile, unwilling to take risks. What we find in Coupland’s books
is a genuine “technology” of character casting which is difficult to define. It is not easy to
decide whether his protagonists suffer from inarticulateness, disillusionment and disenchantment, or emotional numbness.
Concluding remarks
The analysis of fictional works dating from a variety of epochs and literary contexts
points out that female characters have something in common. Whether it is a certain kind
of inarticulatedness, a persistent air of disillusionment and disenchantment or a tendency
to suffer from emotional numbness, it is not easy to determine. Victorian or postmodern,
traditional or experimental, characters in the literary works we have tackled in this paper
do establish a genuine female paradigm of traits.
Reference
Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse. Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 1978.
Coupland, Douglas. Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1991.
3. Coupland, Douglas. Microserfs. London: Flamingo, 1995.
4. Gordić, Vladislava. Recent Approaches to the Theory of Character: Some Aspects of Characterization in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Godišnjak Filozofskog fakulteta u Novom Sadu, XXIV (1996):
99-103.
5. Frow, John. Spectacle Binding: On Character. Poetics Today, VII (1986): 227-250
6. Malone, Kemp. The Wife of Bath’s Tale. The Modern Language Review, LVII (1962): 481-491.
7. Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction. Routledge: London and New York, 1983.
8. Simple, Ian. Victorian Novels Helped Us Evolve Into Better People, Say Psychologists. The Guardian, 14 January 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/14/victorian-novels-evolutionaltruism, visited July 2013.
9. Thrall, William, and Addison Hibbard. A Handbook to Literature. Ann Arbor: Odyssey Press, 1960.
10. Walkowitz, Judith R. City of Dreadful Delight. Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London.
London: Virago, 1992.
1.
2.
[email protected]
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UDC 821.111(73).09 Acker K.
Senka Gavranov
Serbia
On a Construct Hunt:
Destruction and Reconstruction
of Gender in Kathy Acker’s
Empire of the Senseless
Summary: In the article, I analyze one of the numerous possible interpretations of narrative techniques Kathy Acker employs in her novel Empire of the
Senseless, published in 1988. Specifically, I explore possible performative effects of her novel on what she sees as the existing dominant notions of gender,
female bodies and sexuality in the so called Western world. I argue that narrative techniques and linguistic tools Acker employs in the novel to engage the
reader to critically examine the inherited Manichean gender binaries and their
consequences on social practices and people’s lives. Acker embarks on a literary adventure in order to expose naturalization and normalization of certain
ideological and culturally constructed assumptions about binary gender division not only through the exemplary use of feminine pronoun for a generic person, but also through disruptive narrative effect of many voices, genre-mixing,
plastic description of (sexualized) violence and destruction of images of female
genitalia as a source of filth and bad smell. I argue that, when it comes to gender, sexuality and desire, Acker in this novel deliberately and boldly depicts the
most horrifying images to the minute detail not allowing them to remain tacit
and implicit in the culture, calling for a radical change. She firstly de-stabilizes
what she has identified as dogmatic and despotic social system and then (re)
construes the world familiar to us, her readers, stripping it of all euphemisms
and sanitization, in order to fully destroy it and open a crack for the novelty to
develop. Instead of perceiving gender and sexuality within boundaries of a cemented block called identity, Acker seeks a possible way of liberation through
re-defining human beings in terms of a flux of ephemeral identities.
Key words: Empire of the Senseless, gender and sexuality, sexual identities,
images of female genitalia in literature.
154
Kathy Acker’s Empire of the Senseless, unlike most of her fictional narratives, features a
plotline that actually can be summarized: two constructs, male Thivai, an addict on pharmaceuticals, and female Abhor, half robot-half black, are pirates and terrorists in Paris
during and after Algerian revolution and on a quest to find a construct “Kathy”. Acker’s
novel can be read as a (feminist) cyberpunk narrative which de-masculanizes the cyberhero (Stockton). Also, it can be interpreted in terms of emergence of a unifying literary
voice in Acker’s fiction despite her adherence to the literary technique of self-effacement
and her attempt to erase all traces of voice (Hume). De Zwaan focuses on intertextuality,
appropriation and cut-up technique in composition of texts and interprets Acker’s work
by close and side by side reading of Acker’s appropriated passages and the source texts.
Richard House applies informational inheritance theory and explores implications of application of Richard Dawkins’ memetic theory of culture on composition and reception
of Empire of the Senseless. Moreover, a critic may concentrate on Acker’s exposure of and
ironic commentary on Freud’s and psychoanalytical reduction of social, economic, political, sexual and epistemological categories to the familial “dirty little secret” (Deleuze and
Guattari, 350). In addition, literary analysis informed by Deleuze’s and Guattari’s schizoanalysis and theory of desiring machines may assist in understanding Acker’s pursuit to
define freedom against oppressive societal, cultural and, most importantly, (gendered)
familial expectations and hierarchies. Layers of possible, probable and, by no means, absolute readings and interpretations of Empire of the Senseless are inexhaustible as her literary technique is open to a plethora of interpretations. Nonetheless, it appears that every
analysis will necessarily fail to interpret numerous, let alone all, aspects of Acker’s literary
(ad)venture.
Acker’s literary techniques in Empire of the Senseless can be summed up as “postmodern manifestation of fragmentation” (Hume, 491), which along with other aspects of
Acker’s literary practice feature citations from inherited texts and re-workings of the
[s]cenes based on texts by William Gibson, Jean Genet, Sigmund Freud1, the Marquis de Sade, Mark Twain, probably Juan Goytisolo, […]. In addition, we find echoes of Haitian revolution, voodoo, pirates, biker gangs and adolescent love in Paris
(Hume, 489)
Centrifugal effect of Empire of the Senseless is accomplished through the use and combination of the specific literary techniques, genre crossings and transgressions as well as
strategic (mis)use of language and sudden and repeated shifts of the linguistic register. I
1 In a segment of his article, Richard House analyses Acker’s ironizing appropriation of Freud’s texts and her
parody of one of Freudian ready-made diagnoses in the chapter Nightmare City of Empire of the Senseless
and parenthetically concludes: “Any diagnostic effort would be further undercut by Acker’s caricature of
Freud’s confidence in his therapeutic skill: ‘I shall now by means of my profound rational processes find the
explanation for my madness, and socially unacceptable human behavior’ [30].” House, 467)
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argue, following Hume2, that the disruptive centrifugal effect of Acker’s text is easily interpreted by a reader conditioned by postmodern and poststructuralist theories and/or a
reader concerned about certain issues such as social injustice, poverty or marginalization
of certain communities and individuals. That is not to imply that Acker assumes a reader
well versed in postmodern literary theory, social constructivism and/or a human-rights
activist. Neither have I claimed that she anticipates any reader while writing. If we accept
Richard House’s assertion that Acker’s experimentation with language and inherited texts
does not require obedience of the material to the experimenter or theorist, then it is would
be logical to conclude that the writer does not assume or expect any obedience from her
reader as well. Moreover, she clamors for a radical abandonment of one singular and authoritative meaning:
You have to have a sense of humor to read me. Some people ask me, “How can I make
sense of your writing?” I then say, “Don’t bother. Don’t make sense. Eat your mind.”
As a novelist, I construct a world. I’m not concerned with what that world means, for
to mean is to be something other. There are sets of arguments about sexuality and
identity in my texts, but no absolute meanings.
(Acker 1995, 7)
Although I do not assume nor contend that the writer is the ultimate authority in interpreting their writing, I maintain, similarly to House, that Empire of the Senseless bends reader’s
interpretational habit of asking himself/herself (themselves) what the novel means, if such habit
has been established. Instead, a reader enters the world of performatives, finding reading pleasure in tracing, deciphering and identifying what the novel does. Ultimately, it may also mean
asking the question what Acker does in/through/by the world created in her novel. In this
paper, I will trace and explore possible performative effects of her novel on what she sees as the
existing dominant notions of gender, female bodies and sexuality. I will pay special attention to
literary techniques and linguistic tools which Acker employs in the novel to engage the reader
to critically examine the given and clean-cut Manichean gender binaries.
To a number of contemporary—twenty first century—readers, conditioned by the
culture of sampling and editing, decades of postmodern (and) feminist theories, texts and
social engagement, Acker’s writing might not seem as radically postmodern and experimental as it appeared in the 1988 when the novel was first published. Although reading
through disruptive narrative effect of many voices may not necessarily represent an obstacle to a contemporary reader, Acker’s plastic description of violence, pornographic images,
gruesome and disturbing descriptions of rape, lobotomy, forcible sterilization of (Algerian) women (by French) and alike might overwhelm a reader, including the contemporary
2 It is only one aspect of Hume’s interpretation, as she ventures into identifying a unifying voice in all
Acker’s narratives demonstrating that seemingly disruptive multiplicity of voices as a literary technique
has a unifying centripetal effect when viewed cumulatively throughout Acker’s literary production. I
would be more inclined to view such centripetal force, if relevant at all, in terms of Acker’s underlying
political views.
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one. One may argue that her use of such images aims at merely shocking her reader, or, at
best, shocking her reader into recognition. I argue that, when it comes to gender, sexuality
and desire, Acker in the Empire of the Senseless deliberately and boldly depicts such most
horrifying images to the minute detail not allowing them to remain tacit and implicit in
the culture, calling for a radical change. To support my argument, I will analyze her literary images which expose, bring to the surface and destroy assumed and prevailing patriarchal narratives about gender, women especially, and children. In concluding passages of
my essay I will address Acker’s strategy to create an opening to otherness and novelty after
identifying violent social practices, sexualized violence especially, and destroying inherited constructed gendered reality. As it can be said for any category she destructs, when it
comes to gender and sexuality, she is not so much interested in the possible and already
materialized phenomena, as she is in impossibilities. She (re)construes the world familiar
to us, her readers, stripping it of all euphemisms and sanitization, in order to fully destruct
it and open a crack for the novelty to develop.
Apocalypse: Diagnosis of the System/World as Has Been
“Humans was creepy disgusting […], revolting, humans not revolting” (Acker 1988, 73)
In the opening chapter of her novel, Elegy for the World of the Fathers Kathy Acker’s
novel identifies the main pillars of oppressive and control-imposing societal, economic
and familial mechanisms, practices and institutions. Not only war, capitalism, acquisition
and loss of wealth in either war or in peace, which Acker dubs as “the hiatus between wars”
(Acker 1988, 46), judicial system, courts, the police and prison cells, but also marriage
and family bonds are exposed as intertwined sites of coercion and violence. Therefore,
in the first pages of the novel Acker’s reader is introduced to a dystopian diagnosis of a
gangrenous socioeconomic and political system and prison-like culture which is not a
mere writer’s prediction, possible or probable futuristic scenario or prognosis. Although it
seems that her fiction is placed in the future, its temporal setting is now, today. The dystopia she constructs is not some distant and highly unlikely possibility or scenario we should
fear from materializing in the near or far future. We live it.
However, following House, I contend that she is not trapped in “merely symptomatic
navel-gazing” (House, 457). Instead, she bluntly presents anamnesis of the disease taxonomically naming and describing its symptoms, manifestations, and causes. She ventures
into a literary enterprise of removing the veil by dissembling the façade and cosmetic sanitization usually used in the language of the media, educational institutions, medical and
pharmaceutical industry, economic hierarchical structures and political establishment.
Still, she does not augment or hyperbolize. Instead, she heightens images from reality:
identifies them, re-works them and then, through her novel, feeds them back into the
culture, nakedly and fully explicated. She states what usually remains inferred, un-spokenof and, hence, unsaid and un-described in the news: for example what victims of rape go
through to the most painful, horrific and disgusting detail. As it usually goes, un-said
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remains un-confronted. In this sense, Empire of the Senseless is an apocalyptic3 narrative
which bluntly, with no censorship whatsoever, confronts its reader with the world of violence, crime, wars, terrorism, lobotomizing medical interventions and rape. In the novel,
Acker removes the sanitized discursive features from the public and private discourses to
articulate an intricate network of sexual, economic and political coercion as physical attack on human body and forms of aggressive invasion in(to) human body-mind4.
Gendered Reality: “I Would Rather be Dead than a Girl”
(Acker 1988, 181)
Acker places special emphasis on the treatment of children in such world, especially
girls and young women. In the opening chapter of the novel, “Elegy for the world of Fathers” young female childrens’ lives are portrayed in the confines of the family life. Abhor’s
Nana (grandmother) was a prostitute at the age of ten because “[l]ike a lot of poor people
do, her parents put her on the streets to pasture” (Acker 1988, 3) once they lost their family
fortune fleeing from pre-Nazi ghettoes in Germany. Furthermore, marriage, “one form of
collective crime” (Acker 1988, 7), is described in the novel as a way of augmenting family
wealth and the only socially acceptable way for a woman to ensure basic living income for
herself and the children. On the other hand, Acker ridicules the marriage as the criterion
for judging the worth of a woman’s life/character and the only way for her to avoid negative social sanction and ostracism in patriarchal societies. Through a typical Freudian slip,
a sort of a comic relief, Acker articulates her views on social and economic function of
marriage through the words of Abhor’s grandmother:
What’s this shit about you not letting my granddaughter fuck for money? I mean,
get married?’ Grandma always got her terms mixed up. ‘Do you want you daughter to be a freak? After all, she carries our name.
(16)
Acker’s feminism is specific and unapologetic in its refusal to give amnesty in the name of
sisterhood to women who conform to and strengthen, thus re-enforcing, androcentric allocations of power and misogynous patterns of social interactions. For example, Abhor’s maternal grandmother is introduced as “dominating old bitch” (Acker 1988, 16) and this character
exposes complicity of a number of women with patriarchal system of oppression of women.
3 I use the word “apocalyptic” in its original sense: removing the veil. “Middle English, revelation, Revelation, from Anglo-French apocalipse, from Late Latin apocalypsis, from Greek apokalypsis, from apokalyptein to uncover, from apo- + kalyptein to cover” (Merriem-Webster Online Dictionary)
4 Body-mind is my attempt to graphologically, by using the hyphen, represent the unity of body and mind
Acker assumes in her work. She, by reduction ad absurdum, mocks Cartesian body/mind separation:
“(Whenever I stop thinking, I step out of existing into nothing.)” (Empire of the Senseless, parenthesis in
the original text, 61). My use of body-mind is analogous to the use of hyphen in representing space and
time as a single dimension in theoretical physics: space-time.
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In addition to the writer’s comment on the social function of the institution of marriage, the first chapter of the novel remains dwelling on the familial relations. Amongst
other violent phenomena, it addresses the issue of incest. In this part of the novel, Acker
is almost obsessively concerned with violence against children, especially sexualized violence against girls. In phantasy-like, nightmarish passages of Rape by the Father she relates how Abhor, the main female character, was repeatedly raped by her father during
her childhood and youth. This chapter is a typical Freudian “ready-made” explication of
human behavior and psychological characteristics, which Acker, following Deleuze and
Guattari, criticizes as psychoanalytical reduction of human experiences by supposed and
eternal entrapment in “mommy-daddy-me triangle” (Deleuze and Guattari, 51).
It is crucial to note that Abhor (female, half robot, half black) relates the story of incest
through Thivai (male) and it is the only instance in the novel where such use of “ventriloquism” is stated explicitly in the title of the subheading: Rape by the Father (Abhor speaks
through Thivai). By such arrangement of “voicing” - male speaks for female - Acker brilliantly and implicitly exposes phallogocentrism of Freud’s theory by insisting on gendered
role division through the arrangement of characters’ task in narrating this story. She contends that psychoanalytical interpretation of a woman’s (childhood) experience is predominantly phallocentric, without much insight into a real woman’s experience from a woman’s
perspective. Such interpretations are patronizing at best. Most importantly, the title of the
whole heading of the novel Elegy for the World of the Fathers in which the rape by the father
is narrated, signals the reader where such interpretations can be located temporally. They are
past practices, dead. Elegy, even though in classical Greece it meant a song written in elegiac
couplets, is generally seen as a mournful song commemorating one’s death. As no instance of
elegiac couplet can be found in the heading Elegy for the World of the Fathers, it is safe to conclude that Acker, through interplay of the headings, titles and narrated images, demolishes
the world of paternal, patronizing and patriarchal interpretations of women’s experiences.
Yet, she does not stop there. The use of a man’s voice to relate a woman’s experience has
another dimension I will not further explore in this essay, but deserves to be mentioned.
The issue of woman’s (literary) voice and men’s language is extremely important to Acker
and she insists on it in several interviews. Abhor (female), we learn later in the novel, is an
analphabet. Last chapters of Empire of the Senseless describe Abhor learning how to write—
using her own blood as ink. Acker seems to offer a liberating alternative to the dominance
of patriarchal narratives about women’s experiences: it may be that writing, voicing one’s
own experience, can liberate some space of inherited gendered reality in which it would
be possible to accommodate women’s voices to be heard and experiences acknowledged.
Obliteration of a Representation: Dead Fish
As mentioned earlier, Kathy Acker unearths the most horrendous, widely acceptable,
as long as they are implied and not spelled out, underlying assumptions in the culture and
states them explicitly to dismantle them. Jokes are one of the resources for tracing down
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racist, misogynous, or classist stereotypes wrapped in a humorous language. The only
instance when Acker retells a joke in this novel is after the scene when Abhor kills Dr.
Schreber, in the subheading called Business which opens with statistical information about
sexually transmitted infections such as AIDS, herpes, syphilis or gonorrhea.
There’s a joke that a man, I don’t know who this man is, steps on to a bus. He sits
down on a seat and smells. It stinks. Since he’s a polite man, he doesn’t bear this
stink. Finally, the stench has become so horrendous that, contrary to his desire
never to be noticed, he whispers something to the bus driver. The bus driver,
who’s Irish, screams out, ‘Will whoever’s holding a bag of dead fish please leave
this bus.’ All of the women on the bus get off the bus.
(60)
This joke is not Acker’s invention. One may hear it when socializing with acquaintances
or retold or alluded to by stand up comedians. It does not mean that women literally carry bags
of dead fish on them, but it implies that women smell like dead fish. Since the only biological
anatomical difference between women and men is genital, the hearer of the joke supplies this
inference and concludes that the vaginas emit dead-fish-like smell. Due to its cultural coding
as a taboo, this image is rarely stated explicitly in the proper and appropriate public discourse
which everyone can access and share. It is rather an un-explicated and implied assumption of
patriarchal narratives. Acker takes the patriarchal image of the vagina and female body as a
source of filth, germs and bad odour, heightens it, states it bluntly and then destroys it in her
narrative. She does not mention dead fish once prior to telling this joke, but after this passage
she uses it several times for different purposes and to achieve different effects.
This joke not only displays androcentric view on female genitalia, but also demonstrates complicity of women and their acceptance and internalization of patriarchal narrative about female body as all women got off the bus without being directly asked or
forced to do so. They themselves assumed that it must be their bodies emitting foul smell.
Acker by no means defends women in the name of sisterhood, nor does she allow them to
be lulled in the well-familiar and comfortable space of a victim. Instead she searches and
opens a new space for her reader to find new sexuality, in his/her own terms and experiences, not through the eyes of old/dead white males or as she claims:
We should use force to fight representations which are idols, idolized images; we
must use force to annihilate erase eradicate terminate destroy slaughter slay nullify neutralize break down get rid of obliterate move out destruct end all the representations which exist for purposes other than enjoyment. In such war, a war
against idolatry, ridicule’ll be our best tool. Remember, whore: Julien’s sarcasms
did more damage than Nero’s tortures.”
(Acker 1988, 94-5).
Applying her own rule, on the example of the dead fish metaphor, she attempts to
neutralize, eradicate or annihilate, just to use a few of her verbs, a dominant representation of female body and genitals.
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In the next instance, dead fish metaphor is explicitly linked to the vagina when contra-positioned by the anus (“dead shark”) in one of the depictions of sexual intercourse
in the narrative: “’My little dead shark. Better than dead fish.’ I whispered to her when
I fucked her asshole.” (Acker 1988, 95). After this explication, Acker does not allow her
reader to be lulled by the implied and not openly declared misogynous statement about
female body and sexuality as it is in the joke. The reader has to confront it.
The following quotation is taken from a passage which the reader will almost automatically recognize as appropriated from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Relevant to
our analysis is Thivai’s (male) description of an afternoon on the river: “Now and then,
here and there, a breeze came to visit our boat, drifting through the lazy waters, along the
smells of dead giant fish. The plum leaves and all sorts of magnolia blossoms, then more
dead fish.” (Acker 1988, 191, italics mine). In this passage, Acker seems to be describing
the olfactory and tactile sensations Thivai and Abhor experience while living on a boat,
and the smell of dead giant fish fits naturally in the river setting. But, in the subsequent
sentence, a reader receives another clue to read the dead fish image differently: “The insects wanted to live up my nostrils, but didn’t want nothin’ to do with Abhor” (Acker
1988, 191). The whole nature seems to be complying with and accepting the patriarchal
presumptions about rottenness of female body, contaminated by the filth from its genital
so that even insects refuse to get close to it.
Finally, only after learning how to write, Abhor ceases to smell like dead fish. She
smells like fish. Writing, language, is, therefore, a tool for dismantling misogynous representations, refusing to live by millennia old mis-representations of female body, thus
liberating oneself from internalized shame and disgust with one’s own body:
Then I cut into Abhor’s four fingers with another penknife. There was blood all
over the place and something or someone smelt like fish.
This was the end of Abhor’s first writing lesson. Making Abhor into a great woman writer obviously was going to take more blood than sweat. (Acker 1988, 204-5, italics mine).
Policing Gender: “The Ceiling of Languages is Falling Down.”
(Acker 1988, 163)
Richard House dismisses critique of materialist analysts and theorists, Jameson
namely, who “tend to denigrate the postmodern text’s effacement of the real in its concern
with textuality” (House, 457) on the grounds that postmodernism understands language
and texts not as mere representation and reflection of material reality, but as “a proper
venue for historical change” (House, 457). As I argued in the previous passages, Acker
does not avoid or fail to represent particular material entities, social meanings and relevance awarded to them, and their (hierarchical) relations. Yet, her reader will eventually
realize that she goes beyond mere photographic capturing of reality. Although she adheres
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to certain political ideas and does so rather openly, it must be stressed that she does not
write a political pamphlet or socioeconomic analysis informed by anarchist political and
ideological agenda. She constructs a world, using language and available literary techniques and texts only to expose dictatorial impulse latent in the prevailing system of linguistic representations and dismantle both language/texts and material reality. Empire of
the Senseless examines the role of language as the most efficient and omnipresent mechanism in policing gender division(s) and expectations, as well as other social hierarchical
structures. A reader of Empire of the Senseless is explicitly confronted with the issue of language as a powerful tool of control when Acker asks: “Does language control like money?”
(Acker 1988, 164).
Acker’s use of generic third person pronouns might have been rather strange to her
reader in 1988. Firstly, it must be noticed that she does not use many generic pronouns
throughout the novel. Empire of the Senseless is narrated in either first person singular (a
number of characters speaking in I’s), or in the third person singular and then “he/she”
pronouns are used referentially pointing to or designating a particular character in the
novel. Rarely does Acker speak about a generic person—any/every human being. However, in the instances when she uses cataphoric or anaphoric pronoun to designate a generic
human being, she uses “she” instead of “he”, disrespecting culturally accepted referential
pattern of defining male as a paradigmatic form for human beings: “No human could walk
the streets without blood covering her limbs.” (Acker 1988, 7). Another example of anaphoric pronoun she uses when referring to a generic person is when Acker speaks about
German romanticists: “They tore the subject away from her subjugation to her self […].”
(Acker 1988, 12). In 1989, Norman Fairclough, a linguist who analyses language in use
in the sub-discipline of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), published a book Language
and Power using feminine third person pronoun as a generic pronoun for all human beings. When explaining the analytical practice of any discourse analyst, Fairclough writes:
“The chapter will conclude with some points about the relationship of the analyst to the
discourse she is analysing.” (Fairclough, 141, italics mine). Like Acker, but in a non-literary
text, Fairclough aimed to expose naturalization and normalization of certain ideological and culturally constructed assumptions and narratives through the exemplary use of
feminine pronoun for a generic person. Kathy Acker wrote her novel in the period when
many theorists, philosophers or linguists embarked on the analysis of language use and
its relation to legitimizing unequal distribution of power. Acker’s, like Fairclough’s, use of
this estrangement effect is by no means prescriptive. It questions axiomatic definition of
(white) men as representatives for the whole human species.
Despite her concern about the language as a site and stake of social struggles, Acker
is aware of futility of linguistic changes alone. Although transformation of the patterns of
language use may affect certain social practices, linguistic change based on the acceptance of
sets of axiological evaluations assigned to each of the two categories based on difference between sexes still acknowledges patriarchal structural binary (man/woman) as the unchang162
ing axiom and as such does not suffice in liberation struggles: “[f]irst rule for bikers said
that a biker should keep his (I had to substitute her here, but I didn’t think that it changed its
sense) bike in good condition.” (Acker 1988, italics in the original text, 213). Instead of insisting on shifting power between the two poles of the man-woman binary, Acker proposes a
new transformational method: dismantling and refuting patriarchal assumptions altogether.
Unlimited self-defining:
“I, whoever I was, was going to be a construct”
(Acker 1988, 33)
Yet, Acker goes beyond diagnosing fallacies of “womanhood and femininity” as established and cemented by phallogocentric histories and cultural coding and enacted in social
interactions. She questions the very biological foundation for sex differentiation. Establishing a set of rules for study of characters within the framework of narrative grammar, James
Garvey identifies several norms for ascribing attributive propositions (AP) to characters
in a narrative. Garvey defines these norms as “[t]he devices necessary to account for the
multiple and indirect ascription of attributes to characters” (75) and provides implicational
connections and relevant examples utilized in deciphering indirect attributions of characters in a narrative. The first example of implicational connections is relevant to my study:
(a) logical: e.g. ‘x is pregnant’ implies ‘x is female’ (Garvey, 75).
Biological reproductive role division of humans is structured in a clear cut system of
binaries: male and female. Regardless of the social and cultural construction of gender
roles (including cultural roles in child rearing and nurturing) these strictly anatomical features of human bodies have remained fixed so far, at this level of the development and advance of medical and pharmaceutical sciences: females can get pregnant and males cannot.
In Acker’s narrative, in one of the probably most horrifying rape scenes in the novel, she
deliberately confuses and mixes not only arbitrary and socially construed gender roles but
also unchangeable and stable reproductive roles as determined and fixed by innately physiological sexual difference. The victim of the rape is male and afraid not to get pregnant.
Reducing this scene to a psychotic and surrealist dream-like narrative and reading it
through Freudian lens reduces it to yet another ready-made diagnosis which is, as Deleuze
and Guattari claim, played out in advance, even before a person was born: castration anxiety,
men’s fear of feminization, crisis of masculinity and so on. We should leave margin for the
psychoanalytical feminist interpretation according to which every person who is in the submissive position might be seen as a female (and thus might get pregnant). Yet, the fact that the
main female character, Abhor, is not only half black but also is half robot certainly calls for a
possible reading of the novel through cyberfeminist theoretical stance. Cyberfeminism is one
of the tools and theoretical frameworks which assist a reader in avoiding Freudian reductionism or structuralist formulae, which Acker almost obsessively attempts to avoid.
Acker goes as far as to destruct, so far unchanging, biological determination and
“anthropomorphic representation of sex” (Deleuze and Guattari, 294), clamoring for de163
humanization of sexuality. If humans and their society have so far managed to be murderous, then they must de-humanize. If war is a “mirror of our sexuality” (Acker 1988, 26),
then sexuality and reproduction as known to humans must be destroyed all together, and
displaced from the antagonistic context they have been placed in and built anew.
Modern medicine is also full of cyborgs, of couplings between organism and machine, each conceived as coded devices, in an intimacy and with a power that was
not generated in the history of sexuality. Cyborg ‘sex’ restores some of the lovely
replicative baroque of ferns and invertebrates (such nice organic prophylactics
against heterosexism). […] I am making an argument for the cyborg as a fiction
mapping our social and bodily reality and as an imaginative resource suggesting
some very fruitful couplings. (Haraway, 150, italics mine)
Like Haraway, Acker envisions a world where imagined (im)possibilities can materialize, as Abhor states in the closing (or rather new opening) sentence of the novel: “And
then I thought that, one day, maybe there’d be a human society which is beautiful, a society
which wasn’t just disgust.” (Acker 1988, 227).
Reconstruction: “Genders Were Complex Those Days”
(Acker 1988, 180)
In her attempt to de-stabilize what she had firstly identified as dogmatic and despotic
social system and practices, Acker employs self-effacing narrative techniques such as multiplicity of voices and I’s, pastiche, intertextuality, plagiarism and appropriation of other
texts, parody, sentence fragments, ungrammatical syntax and run-ons. She adheres to the
convention of the genre only to suddenly abandon and erase literary and textual features
of the genre and to introduce a new one. As mentioned at the beginning of my article,
this novel can be viewed in terms of the quest narrative. Yet, midway through the novel,
Thivai and Abhor completely abandon their mission/quest. Taming Thivai’s addiction to
pharmaceuticals was initial incentive to fulfill the quest. His addiction and finding a construct “Kathy” are vaguely mentioned in the second half of the novel, even though they
functioned as spiritus movens of the character’s actions in the first half. Reading Acker’s
novel with an expectation that it will comply with the norms of the proper, classical quest
narrative, or any other narrative, would simply seem futile, or at best frustrating5.
As the plot itself is de-stabilized through repeated establishment and abandonment
of new plot-lines, Acker introduces episodic characters (voices, new I’s) with no apparent
plot-driven motivation or function within the narrative. Even though her characters’ actions are not plot-driven, Acker’s playfulness with literary genres is not erratic, random or
purely aleatory. As Acker shifts literary voice among (existing and new) characters, thus
5 It is outside of the scope of this study to further explore and interpret Acker’s treatment of the conventions of a/the genre, although it can be a starting point of a very fruitful literary analysis.
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construing a community of vast nexus of I’s, she destabilizes singularity of the I—culturally
coded and fixed as an unchangeable identity. In order to achieve complete destabilization
of socially and culturally assigned identity/label to a diversity of voices and possibilities a
person6 is, she introduces new I’s not to follow or further the plotline she started developing and unraveling, but to explore multiplicity of I’s. In other words, by introducing a new
(ephemeral) character-I such as Agone, or Mark, Acker is adding yet another dimension
to an already complex network of identities to achieve a cumulative effect of fluid and
amorphous self-constructive being, as she pronounces early in the novel: “I, whoever I
was, was going to be a construct” (Acker 1988, 33). Such formless, but limitless and polyphonic being, or a self-construct, the society attempts to reduce to and singularize into a
clear-cut ready-made identity label: man, woman, black, white, aristocrat, middle-class,
poor etc. Paradoxically and contradictory to common-sensical notions, a human may as
well be a flux of ephemeral identities, but the cemented block called identity stops us from
viewing it as more fluid. When it comes to sexuality, Acker fully explores such oxymoronic possibility. She is unapologetically courageous when throwing paradoxes at the reader.
Sexuality is much greater force to be contained, imprisoned and limited to enactments as
a set of proper activities within a strict scenarios assigned to us by the mere fact of birth
with either of the two genital organs.
Following Deleuze and Guattari, she attempts to envision a liberated revolutionary
desiring machine which will avoid containment of productive desire, or to evade re-territorialization of desiring force:
The truth is that sexuality is everywhere: the way a bureaucrat fondles his records, a judge administers justice, a businessman causes money to circulate; the
way the bourgeoisie fucks the proletariat; and so on. And there is no need to resort to metaphors. […] Flags, nations, armies, banks get a lot of people aroused.
A revolutionary machine is nothing if it does not acquire at least as much force as
these coercive machines have for producing breaks and mobilizing flows.” (Anti Oedipus, italics mine 293).
By the end of the novel Abhor learns how to write while being in prison, then decides
to join a biker gang and chooses not to follow Thivai’s (male) dream of becoming a pirate.
In the closing pages of the narrative, after the destruction of the inherited given genderreality, the female character decides to fully abandon following the male’s dream as her
own. Abhor decides to find and follow her own dream. In the last chapters of the novel
Acker introduces another not-plot driven character Mark, a “male homosexual I”. In her
letter to Thivai and his suddenly acquired lover Mark, Abhor writes: “The whole world is
men’s bloody fantasies” (Acker 1988, 210). Firstly, she includes Mark, a homosexual man,
in her accusation of being oppressive against her, “because men always protect each other’s
6 Abhor, dressed in drag, lieutenant’s uniform: “I must have been two people. I must have been thousands
of people.” (Acker 1988, 117)
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asses when it comes to women” (Acker 1988, 209). But this letter is not a bitter feminist
rant which concludes with self-pitiful sighs. “This is what I’m saying: you’re always fucking deciding what reality is and collaborating about these decisions./ It’s not that I agree
with you that I’m a wet washcloth. It’s that I don’t know what reality is.” (Acker 1988, 210).
She rejects misandry, by even allowing a possibility that men maybe right in their understanding of women as wet washcloths. However, she demands back the wrongfully denied
right to explore reality from her own (women’s) perspective and make decisions based on
her own conclusions. She calls for abandonment of en-forced ready-made narratives and
liberation through inquisitive and curious exploration of the world, and breakthrough to
the impossibilities which had not and may never materialize.
WORKS CITED:
Acker, Kathy. 1995. Paragraphs. The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, 28. 1:
87-92.
2. Acker, Kathy. 1988. Empire of the Senseless. New York: Gove Press.
3. “apocalypse.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. 10 June 2009
<http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apocalypse>
4. Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. 1983. Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Trans. Robert Hurley, Mark Seem, Helen R. Lane. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P.
5. de Zwaan, Victoria. 1997. Rethinking the Slipstream: Kathy Acker Reads Neuromancer. Science Fiction
Studies 24: 459-70.
6. Fairclough, Norman. 1989. Language and Power. London: Longman.
7. Garvey, James. 1978. Characterization in Narrative. Poetics. 7: 63-78.
8. Haraway, Donna. 1991. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late
Twentieth Century. Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New York, Routledge:. 149-181.
9. Hume, Kathryn. 2001. Voice in Kathy Acker’s Fiction. Contemporary Literature. 42.3: 485-513.
10. Stockton, Sharon. 1995. ’The Self Regained’: Cyberpunk’s Retreat to the Imperium. Contemporary Literature. 36. 4: 588-612
1.
[email protected]
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UDC 821.163.41.09 Šalgo J.
Dragana V. Beleslijin
Matica Srpska, Novi Sad
The Institute for Culture of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia
Types of Male Characters in
Judita Šalgo’s Poetry and Prose
SUMMARY: Starting from the possibility of combining the methods of narratology
on the one hand with those of gender studies on the other, the paper explores
the question of male sexuality in Judita Šalgo’s texts. Male characters in her
prose (“Da li postoji život”, “Put u Birobidžan”, “Kraj puta”, etc) can be described
as either heterosexual (Dr. Savić, the husband, Laslo Végel), latent homosexual
(Haim Azriel) or men of weak gender traits (Nenad Mitrov, Miroslav Mandić,
Count Marsel). In the group of heterosexual male characters there are two
discernible subgroups: the figure of a seducer and the figure of the bearer of
the patriarchal pattern. In the collection of poetry “Život na stolu” (The Life on
the Table) we can notice the use of the method of character desexualization,
also typical of the poetic and prose work of Slobodan Tišma.
KEY WORDS: Judita Šalgo, male character, sexuality, hegemonic male, weak
character, homosexuality, homosexual panic, desexualization, neo-avantgarde,
postmodernism.
As opposed to female, the construction of male sexuality in Judita Šalgo’s texts has
been made more difficult by the fact that the reality context of her prose and poetry is –
originally female, that is, that her work is of female authorship, that her narrative subject
is regularly female and that they are mostly heroines; as well as by the fact that even today,
same as a few decades ago, when Judita Šalgo wrote and published her works, we are
living in the pattern of the male reign, in which the masculine subject has the privilege
to speak about carnal contact and to observe the woman, and that female sexuality is
easier to go into. Wolfgang Schmale writes that male sexuality has been rendered more
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important than female (Schmale 2011: 22). In the article “Erotska poezija u rukopisnim
pesmaricama XVIII i XIX veka” (“Erotic Poetry in the Poetry Collections in Manuscript
in the 18th and 19 th Centuries”) Sava Damjanov remarks that the woman is a giver, she is
the bearer of intemperance and debauchery, the man is the one who merely takes what
is on offer, and his sexuality is shown primarily as a way of satisfying women’s needs.
Obviously we are witnessing a more respectful attitude towards the man, his intimate side
is, for example, taken more seriously, it is approached with more respect: this is, however, a
system in which if somebody needs to be outside the prescribed norms – then let it be the
woman (Damjanov 2002: 248). The output of the autoreferential in Šalgo’s texts goes in the
direction of the hegemony of autobiographicality, of showing some other characteristics
of the subject and his sexual, or rather, gender conditioning. No matter whether we read
the constructions 67 minuta, naglas (67 Minutes, Aloud), the novel Trag kočenja (The Skid
Marks) or the short stories Da li postoji život? (Is There Life?), we read the woman who
speaks, writes, presents. On androgynous nature, which cannot be reduced to a single sex/
gender (“Faraon” – “The Pharaoh”), I wrote in an article about female sexuality (Beleslijin
2011). Representatives of the male mode with different ways of expressing masculinity
are: heterosexual men – e.g. the husband in the short story “O čoveku koji je prodavao
kiseli kupus i imao kćer Lavicu” (“On the Man Who Sold Sauerkraut and Had a Daughter
Called Lioness”), Vojislav Despotov in the short story “Tungsram!”, H. in the short story
“Hektorov konj” (“Hector’s Horse”), Lásló Végel and Ottó Tolnai in the eponymous short
story, the husband in the short story “Minotaur” (“The Minotaur”), Luka Grković in the
novel “Kraj puta” (“The End of the Road”), doctor Savić in “Put u Birobidžan” (“Journey
to Birobidzhan”), the driver in the novel “Trag kočenja” (“The Skid Marks”); a latent
homosexual is for example Haim Azriel in the novel “Put u Birobidžan”; men of weak
gender traits are, for example, Nenad Mitrov in the novel “Put u Birobidžan”, Miroslav
Mandić in the short story “Irena ili o Marini ili o biografiji” (“About Irena, or Marina,
or about a Biography”) and Count Poiters in the short story “Kako se grof od Poitersa
preodijevao u razne haljine kako bi nepoznat kušao život u različitim staležima i zvanjima”
(“How Count of Poiters Dressed-up in Various Ways in Order to Go Undercover and Taste
Different Walks of Life”). Sexual identity of the fluctuating, semantic heroes, like most
protagonists in the untitled “Priče bez naslova” (“Stories Without a Title”) (second cycle
of the book Is there life?) cannot be determined because of the conceptualistic character of
these texts, and of the unreliability of the narrative subject, who stands in the way of a clear
ontological basis of the text and expresses a doubt in his own order.
Heterosexual man – a man of stable GENDER TRAITS
In gender-oriented interpretations he is defined as a white European male, the
protagonist of patriarchal order and a revered authority: warrior, conqueror, dominant
figure. His build matches the early concepts of masculinity, and as for sexuality, this
model of masculinity counts on a cultivated, preferably marital sexuality (Stevanović
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2012, in print). Thus, we are denied the drama of marital sexual intercourse. However,
it is very often his position that is the starting point for the determination of the Other,
corresponding member of the black race or a minority, also of women, children (who are
yet to be constituted in sexual life), the elderly, people with special needs, etc. Male mode is
discontinued here – having reached a certain stage of evolution, it is closed, set in a certain
genre and further, in a way of thinking, i.e. the prototype of “archetypal understanding of
male identity” (Stevanović 2011: 226) and as such, the agent of his system, but also of the
system of the reality of the very action he is caught in.
Doctor Savić is a guarantor of security for the female population suffering from lues.
He is also a stabilizing factor to Flora Gutman, whom he helps constitute a sexual identity.
However, as a figure of an unfinished novel, his role has not been presented as completely
unambiguous and his actions are not always motivated: swinging between Savić – whom
she loves, and Azriel – to whom she is intended, Flora ends being torn between the two by
choosing to travel as an escape from the desperate situation. Savić remains only a potential
husband, an object of her desire and she does not succumb to his wooing...
If the potential husband is not a figure who can meet the sexual aspirations of
heroines, the formal husband is seen as a distinctly masculine figure. It is a short way
from his decidedly opposing role in relation to femininity (“Tungsram!”) to violence
and abuse (“Minotaur” – The Minotaur): as a character he is formed exclusively opposite
the woman, according to her, in relation to her. As for the artist Vojislav Despotov, this
markedly gender trait is at the same time an obstacle to the explanation of his poetics,
of which Judita Šalgo certainly had something to say in the cited short story, just as his
artistic nature is an obstacle for his personality to be projected from reality to fiction in
a short story about a married couple’s quarrel. Two distinct poles of this short story have
prevented a full and precise transformation of the documentary material into fiction,
which has gone only half way – one could not return back into the context of reality
just like that, and any further search for the meaning of a banal statement like the line
by Vojislav Despotov “Gasim se kao Tungsram sijalica” (“I go out as a Tungsram light
bulb”), taken out of context of an interesting, provocative poem, is equally nonsensical
as a discourse which would possibly be analyzed.
The quarrelsome husband in the short story “Minotaur” is seen from a female
perspective. The hybrid monster born in an unnatural relationship between the queen
of Crete and a bull, and consequently doomed, now has the function of a threat and
unequivocal violence which the male principle demonstrates over the female one. Just as
the mythical creature from Crete sacrifices young men and women, the heroine narrator
of this, consistently fictional story is the victim of a mental mind game of one “Narcis
Zlostavljač” (“Narcissus the Molester”) (Ahmetagić 2011), also escapes into a labyrinth in
which more and more new questions are raised in order to sustain an illusion of holiday, the
allure of the suite and other comforts and benefits of the package holiday. The short story
thus underlines the uncompromising principle of hegemonistic masculinity which takes
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you by force, which seeks a victim for satisfaction, but whose frustration is a result of the
futility of proving oneself and social recognition (Bourdieu 2001: 72):
I haven’t seen him for a few months, since the night of rocking in the cold, smokefilled compartment. We arrived at Novi Sad station and he told me, while the
train was coming to a halt, hurrying in order not to be late: “Listen, I’ll go with
you now and take some things of mine. I’ll pack my suitcase and go. You won’t
ask me a thing. Because I can’t listen to you. I can’t look at you. If you utter but a
word, I’m going to strangle you” (Šalgo 2007: 149).
Aggression is, besides the threat repeated several times, also made explicit in the
gestures and body language: the husband seizes her hand forcefully, roughly. His surprise
invitation to dinner in “The Park Hotel” seems to be a nice surprise, but at the very
beginning of the encounter the narrator is the object of familial “devouring” (Ahmetagić
2011: 117–145). After she occasionally makes the topos of the journey to the hotel more
complex by reminiscences of the period of quarrels and arguments over the phone, the
narrator switches to the scene in “The Park Hotel”, where the couple meet the manager
Pavlović and his assistant Milivoj, who introduces them to the beauties of a complex in
the Mediterranean: however, the advertisement makes the unreachable price of the suite,
which is not bought as property, but is only rented for a certain time of year, become
an obsession of many who “buy” the marketing trick. Finding the money with which
they could afford what the multicoloured pictures in the catalogue illustrate becomes
imperative. The woman slowly realizes that the fatigue of the evening/dinner is just one
of the forms of expressing the long-standing marital hatred and anger, a revenge for
not knowing where his son is, manifestation of savage anger, equal to physical violence.
Torture by hypertherapy and being suffused with images gradually turns into masochism,
the narrator becomes exhausted from collecting useless information, in spite of knowing
she will never be able to use it. That is the climax of the sadistic lust that the man imposes
on the woman as, in his opinion, a representative of the gentler sex:
I was hungry, but the hunger was not coming from the stomach, but from the
whole being. All of a sudden, I was empty as if I had never in my life thought,
felt, experienced anything, as if I had had no life at all. As if my life was just about
to begin over this thick table, over the tattered thick travel brochure, and the
pictures of the blue and plenty. (Šalgo 2007: 152)
At the same time when a myth is woven into the story as a secondary designation, the
woman is drawn into the labyrinth of wishes, from which it is very hard to pull oneself
out. At the same time, instead of gods whom heroes call for help in myths, older colleagues
become experienced advisers and mentors to the younger and less experienced managers.
The figure of the seducer who uses all the means at his disposal to reach his goal is
present in a number of texts by Judita Šalgo. He is at the same time also a counterpart
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to femme fatale that we see in Judita Šalgo’s fiction (see: Beleslijin 2011). Promiscuous,
inconstant, he flaunts his masculinity and tests its borders, pushing them further all the
time. According to Peter Schwenger, “a man does not measure his manliness in relation
to women, but to other men” (Schwenger 2005: 49). However, fluidity of the seducer
originates from the need for self-identification and through the relationship with a
woman/women, and this is what connects him with a man of weak gender traits. On the
other hand, his pronounced masculinity makes him close to the hegemonistic type of
masculinity. If myth as the primary designation often has the function of emphasizing the
initial gender characteristics (“Hektorov konj” – “Hector’s Horse”, “Biću trojanski konj” –
“I Will Be the Trojan Horse”, “Minotaur” – “The Minotaur”, “Faraon” – “The Pharaoh”),
no matter whether they are further confirmed or challenged, then in the novel “Kraj puta”
(The End of the Road) this role has been taken by historic fact. Alluding to the procuring
role of literature known even to Dante’s inhabitants of hell, Luka Grković tells Olga Rot
a sad story of Nenad Mitrov’s life supporting it with numerous verses. In the short story
“Hektorov konj” (“Hector’s Horse”), the lover H. is the person who teaches sexual skills to
the narrator, whose seduction powers culminate in the sentence which reads:
[…] the truth encompasses both stances: this relationship (just like H’s onebedroomed flat, which is visited by both his ex-wife and his lover of many years,
much more often than by me), that relationship is, in fact, a sexual workshop in
which literary details or even an occasional original idea, are put into practice
patiently, without much excitement and without fear of failure. (Šalgo 1995: 58).
In the short story “Oto Tolnai i Laslo Vegel gledaju Miting solidarnosti 25. septembra
1988. u Novom Sadu” (“Ottó Tolnai and László Végel Watch the Meeting of Solidarity in
Novi Sad on 25th September 1988”) Végel’s position of an observer is made more complex
by a continual impression which Milica Grković, an activist at the meeting, and also the
overall atmosphere at the meeting, convey to him. The heroine, given indirectly, being
insufficiently known, causes not only curiosity, but also upsets, being an alien body
(inhabitant of another town, another region), the other sex. In order to decipher her
discourse more easily, Végel naturalizes her, throwing her into the context of femininity as
such, as historically conditioned:
When it comes to women, this feature, equally pathetic, still speaks more about
their readiness for sacrifice, than about the chances for victory, speaks about the
readiness to allow history to take precedence over life in spite of the nature’s
intentions, even making use of it (Šalgo 1995: 82).
The character from the short story, a contemporary writer László Végel, transfered
from the context of reality into fiction and, as such, subject to the author’s interventions,
observes a woman, and a proof of the thesis that the historic character has succumbed
to transformations is the fact that the object of his thoughts at that moment is conjured
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up with the personal narrative situation. His initial, strictly observing position may be
charactarized as one of a conqueror. On the other hand, the issue of a woman as a victim
is also treated in Végel’s novel “Memoari jednog makroa” (“Memoirs of a Pimp”), in which
men, the narrator and engineer, are usurpers, frauds, pimps and blackmailers. It is the
tone of narration, the ease and coolness with which we learn the facts about blackmails
and uses of women that point to the traits of the young man’s character, to his ruthlessness.
The man has the power, while the women, including Bea, Tanja, and especially Čipi, are
the victims of his ruthlessness, his sexual exploatation. Čik, an elderly professor, is also
the Other, an old man who is not familiar with the secrets of a pimp and voyeur, and that
makes him a victim too, because he believes in the young man and wants to help him gain
social affirmation, a life and career in the city, but his sacrifice is not so drastic as women
are victims of manipulation – sexual in the first place.
In this text there is the ekphrasis of Johann Liss’s painting Judith and Holofernes,
which, among other things,1 points to the departure from the traditional presentation
of Judith with Holofernes’s head in one hand, triumphantly celebrating the victory. This
painting, where Judith, femme forte is turned towards the victim and casts one last look at
him, the narrator goes on to presume, may have inspired Végel to create a personal myth
about a woman:
It is an unusual look. Somewhat cold, stern, professionally concentrated look of a
housewife who is checking if now, after the big, thorough cleaning, everything is
all right. (Šalgo 1995: 83–84).
Furthermore, through the liberally experienced speech we learn that Végel knows that
a woman does not need a victory – she is self-sufficient even in a defeat – but that
each victory needs a woman. What else is Statue of Liberty at the entrance to the
New World but a gigantic Judith with Holofernes’s head like a bloody torch in the
hand raised high. (Šalgo 1995: 84).
The woman’s triumph is a bloody, Pyrrhic victory, which is seen in, among other
things, the man’s sacrifice – the roles have been swapped. Judita Šalgo uses archetypal
relations with the remains of the respect for matriarchate to announce that in a new age,
which does not have to stand for a historic epoch, but rather the time we live in, the
society again, through a symbolic castration,2 could establish female domination, while
the heroine Judita, as a bearer of male strength and valour, which she demonstrates
1 The painting also points to the intertextual relation to a play by László Végel, Judita.
2 Beheading a male may allude to castration. Regarding the fact that a part of male sexual organ is called
“the head”, that it could also be seen as an animate, independent homunculus, who lives an independent
life of a man, it is possible to establish a connection between castration and decapitation. On the other
hand, the human body itself is of a phallic shape, which is seen in the figurines used for defloration, devirgination. Z. Mirković, Eros – pain, woman – god.
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through female, conquering means3, quells the uncompromising rule of men, whose
extreme aspect – exploitation, reducing the woman to mere usage, her consumption –
Végel describes in the cited novel. However, the domination of the female principle is
ambivalent – agile patterns of behaviour, such as the fiery speech at the meeting and the
victory over the man, point to the woman’s supremacy, at the same time confirmed, but
also decidedly sporadic, lonely, more like the exception that proves the rule.
The Weak subject
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler, who sees gender as a construction and not as a sex,
that is, biological causality (see Butler 2010), is the starting point of many searches for
gender transgressions, which remained hidden from earlier readers, hidden by various
interpretations, ideological or structural. Nowadays, it seems, such “troubles” loom
from everywhere, and especially from the interpretative field, as if this is what they have
been waiting for: interpretations of the weak subject and his (a)sexuality have become
qualifying and ultimate. However, positive examples should also be stated: in Serbian
literature today, that is the weak, desexualized subject of Slobodan Tišma, the absolute
hero of our day, who, by his openness to the processes of hybridization, to frequent crises
and identity checks, is rivalled by the heroes of Judita Šalgo’s poetry and fiction.
In the article “Tipovi modernoga subjekta (muškarci sa ženskim rodnim crtama)” –
“Types of the Modern Subject (Men with Female Gender Traits)” Dubravka Oraić Tolić
determines three circles of modern subjects. Besides the first, ruler’s circle, the bearer of
hegemonistic masculinity, there is also “the opposition circle – a gallery of countersubjects,
counterindividuums and countercitizens in modern philosophy, modernism in arts and
parts of the avantgarde”; and the third, called “the grey zone of nonsubjects, nonindividuals
and noncitizens controlled by the modern subjects of the first circle (women, children, the
sick, foreigners, other classes and races, members of colonized peoples)” (Oraić Tolić 2005:
83). One of the protagonists of the novel Put u Birobidžan (Road to Birobidzhan), Nenad
Mitrov, is equally present in the second and third circle. Just like it was modern art which
was the first to distance itself from the central image of the modern subject, in the same
way its representatives were defined early as opposing, antisubjects. In such context six
modern hermaphrodites come to life: genius, dandy, bohemian, flaneur, Übermensch and
Moglichkeitsmensch (ambivalent man) (Oraić Tolić 2005: 89). This kind of subversion of
the chief type of masculinity has been seen as “confessing to impotence” (Stevanović 2012).
As the castrated hero is sexually impotent, disabled by a woman’s hand, the hero of
the novel Put u Birobidžan (Road to Birobidzhan) Nenad Mitrov is a victim, incapable of
resisting both the surge of passion (which is in the text “Dubine” (“The Depths”) denoted
3 Wolfgang Schmale interprets in detail the painting by Artemizije Đentileski Judith Killing Holofernes
(after 1612), in which one can see the power, wisdom and virtue of the biblical Judith, who has freed her
people (Schmale 2011: 143–144). Judita Šalgo will, just like the painter, underline the victory of the gentler
sex over the stronger and thus in a way question the masculinity.
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as harmful and for him, fatal, demonic), and Marija Aleksandrovna’s possible contribution
to his death. His masculinity is compromised by the fact that in a way he is at the disposal
of the woman and her whim. The letter from Nenad Mitrov is waiting for a reply, it is an
invitation, just as l’écriture féminine is open, ready to deliver again (Popović Perišić 1988:
48). However, the juxtaposition of a weak subject – which is, being variously marked,
the Other (humpback, Jew, poet, perhaps a sympathizer of communists at the time of
Fascism), that is, an antipode of a hegemonistic, white, militarized man (Schmale 2011:
246), a victim of political persecution – and his violent death, the author makes him even
weaker in the sexual sense in the first place. His poetry, brimming with a melancholy
invocation of the final hour, and the cry for scissors as an instrument of breaking away
from selfness (Konstantinović 1965: 183–193; Konstantinović 1975: 324–350) point to
the fact that, due to the hard circumstances in life and melancholy, which overwhelmed
him due to the exposure to manifold persecution (Stanford Friedman 2005), he is not
ready to enter the process of evolution, but would rather lose the gender traits, which is a
certain sexual involution, and quit his masculinity. Seduced, fooled, punished, wounded,
his attitude towards life is passive, suffering and that is why the process of feminization
going on in him is decidedly dramatic and painful, but also inevitable. Closeness to his
mother, at whose feet he was buried, conversion of the name on the one hand and extreme
subjectivity on the other, add to the impression of lyricism, confessional form, and elegy,
as a sort of a characteristic of a female voice, of women’s writing (Dojčinović Nešić 1993:
27–34). However, Mitrov is not a misogynist, but a typical weak subject who asserts himself
only through his relationships with others (mother, Marija Aleksandrovna, friends, his
townsfolk). Paradoxically, he will be strong in his conscious decision to take his own life,
the decision which will shed new light on his life so far, as it has been depicted in a chapter
of the novel, but also as it was really like, which goes in the direction of reading this poet
as and intellectual nomad, who is, according to Kenneth White:
[...] a nihilist (Nietzsche’s “total nihilist”), the man who is looking for the East (for
an “East” that actually does not exist), who is looking for a world (but who, like
Husserl, continually excludes a thesis about the world), an anarchist (without a
bomb or a flag), someone who is accompanied by an inner voice (like Socrates
and not like Cagliostro), and a wanderer (as no journey has been completed), he
is in the first place a new sort of intellectual, movable and complex, direct and
quick, who does not belong to any kind of intelligentsia, who is not attached to
any kind of ideology and who has almost no sense of solidarity, except in relation
to the world (and even then – as salt mixes with water, phylocosmic feeling can
be mixed with a bit of acosmic nihilism) (White 1994: 21).
On the other hand, Mitrov is a protagonist of the avantgarde, and Judita Šalgo is known
for her literary portrayals of (neo)avantgarde figures (Rešin Tucić, Despotov, Mandić,
Tolnai, Végel), so he is, as such, alienated, depicted in the gap between social, traditional
175
values (Poggioli 1975: 133–156) and conventions of love, which he is trying to follow despite
the protest against the environment that rejects him. Such tormented nature as Mitrov’s (we
bear in mind its documentary-biographical basis, but also the literary work of Judita Šalgo)
belongs to the unfulfilled male mode encompassed by the process of symbolic feminization.
Count Marsel, from the short story “Kako se grof od Poitersa preodijevao u razne
haljine kako bi nepoznat kušao život u različitim staležima i zvanjima” (“How Count
Poiters Dressed up in Various Ways in Order to Go Undercover and Taste Different Walks
of Life”), comes from Paris to Kanjiža to attend a literary seminar. A passionate reader of
Proust and a dandy, he meets Miranda, a woman who awakens conflicting feelings in him.
Crossdressed, on the symbolic level he could represent a transvestite who changes form,
who, by his crossdressing, is trying to change his own life, his essence. Dandy, according
to P. Schwenger, “breaks away from everything that is not of his sort. He despises even the
society which is his environment and which he manipulates perfectly skillfully” (Schwenger
2005: 48–49). This continual wavering in terms of identity, and the indecisiveness in terms
of a corresponding form, but also a transgression of sorts on the part of the count, are
manifested in the composition of the short story itself, which is also continually changing
from the first person, more precisely, its epistolary form, into the third person, from fiction
into its frame, from an attempt to start a story into its obstruction, and thus preserves a
parodical-transvestite model of the literature of transgression (Herman Sekulić 1991). On
the other hand, the word transgression does not mean the negation of prohibition, but its
overcoming and completion (Bataille 2009: 53–58).
The nature of the relationship between the author of the title – Miroslav Mandić, his
“heroine” Irena Vrkljan and, through her, her heroine, the writer Marina Tsvetaeva is also
sexually charged. The multiplication of voices and of the identities of the subject of the short
story could resemble the count’s dressing-up, but while in Marsel there is only an implicit,
latent, converted feminization, at the same time the search for a female identity in Miroslav
Mandić is pronounced. As the title contains a hint of transgression, which results on the
grammatical level (by adopting the feminine grammatical gender), Judita Šalgo has felt and
described his dual, fluctuating position, the limit where a man realizes his initiation and
writing phase by becoming a woman in a symbolical-grammatical way.
On the level of composition, l’écriture féminine and challenging the gender positions
with an inconstant narrative subject, who is ready for a demanding and unpredictable game
of mistaken identity, will be touched upon by Judita Šalgo without much dwelling upon. The
play of genders in this short story is but a play of pronouns, and a deeper sense is given by
the possibility for Šalgo, as a lady writer4 to identify on an artistic level in the first place with
a man writer, and for the common denominator of identification to be but the second word.
4 All the clumsiness of this term, but also the absence of a word in Serbian which would denote a woman
who writes, was best described by Tatjana Rosić in the preface of the book Political Theories of Gender,
Institut za književnost i umetnost, Belgrade, 2009.
176
The narrator of the story is fascinated by Mandić’s idea that “irreversible natural
processes are replaced by unnatural ones, and that growing old, suffering and death
transfer into the domain of art, declare it to be art.” In this idea, she connects the complex
roles the woman has in modern society (biological, artistic, socially-useful), and then,
using Mandić’s identity change, evokes the voices of Irena Vrkljan or Marina Tsvetaeva.
Dubravka Đurić notices a hierarchy of relationships between literary works, which she
presents as a pattern: “Life and work of M. Tsvetaeva + life and work of I. Vrkljan + life and
work of M. Mandić + life and work of J. Šalgo +…” (Đurić 1997: 119).
It was only in the winter of 1982, when he wrote: I am Gudrun Ensslin, Ljubica
Sokić, Gertrude Stein, Christiane Ensslin, Tatiana Goricheva, Meredith Monk,
Ulrike Meinhof, Tatyana Mamovna, Margarethe von Trotta, Anica Savić-Rebac,
Rosa Luxemburg, Natalia Malachovska, Susan Sontag, Nadezhda Mandelstam,
Isidora Sekulić, Lou Andreas Salomé, Naomi and Ruth, Mother Teresa, Billie
Holiday, Patty Smith, Aleksandra, Ljubica Marić, Larisa Shepitko, Dubravka
Ugrešić, Ksenija Atanasijević, Ljubica Kosovac, Nadežda Petrović, Jeanne
Moreau, Nada Kolundžija, that Miroslav Mandić must have realized who he
really was (Šalgo 1959: 51).
Identifying himself as the voice of more than one gender, Mandić will, deliberately or
not, anticipate the issues of the Other, a category of femininity, which, in Barteaud’s and
Baudrillard’s opinion, is becoming fashionable,5 but he will also push the arbitrary character
of language as a system of signs to the limits, dissolving into being unrecognizable, with all
the plurality of the being. In the cited book, and also in other texts, Mandić will transgress his
gender identity, and also challenge his national identity, persistently declining to be anybody:
Are you a Serb, mate?
No.
Are you a Croat then?
No.
A Hungarian?
No.
What the fuck are you then?
I told him that I wrote and therefore did not care who I was. (Mandić 1987: 15).
5 Jean Baudrillard writes: “We are simultaneously witnesses of the emancipation of the woman and again
of the growing influence of fashion. This happens because fashion has nothing to do with the woman, but
with femininity. The whole society is being feminized as much as the discrimination against women is
being abolished (it is the same case with lunatics, children, etc.); that is a normal consequence of the logic
of being outcast): the notion ’to come’ (prendre son pied), used to denote experiencing a female orgasm,
today enters the general use and is beginning to be used in any context. However, it should also be noted that
a woman can be emancipated and liberated only as the power of pleasure. And also the power of fashion, just
as a worker is free only as workforce” (Baudrillard 1991b: 111–112).
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On the other hand, multiplication of female subjects, the images which Mandić
identifies with, will be realized through language games, in which it is possible to
establish alogical constructions with strict adherence to grammatical and lexical
categories, or with their violation, which never reaches such radical proportions
as in the poetry of Vojislav Despotov and Vujica Rešin Tucić (Negrišorac 1996). In
Mandić the meaning is varied more on the semantic and less on the structural level.
His hypergrammar remains formally restrained, but that is exactly why the inconstant
perspective of the narrator, that is, the subject, is accentuated. This brings about a
change in the receptive code: how should one read the statements of an unreliable
witness, that is, the narrator who declines to take a definitive stance? However,
without delving into the models of perpendicular speech model, Mandić remains
infantile, but not schizoid, perverted, but not sexually deviant, declarative, but not
multidimensional, disoriented and confused, but not paranoid: he approaches his
own complexity with a childlike joy, he opens up to everybody, as opposed to the
mystification of the metaphysical poets; his art and multimodality resemble potpourri,
travesty and exhibitionism, and less gloominess and obscurity.
Latent homosexuality
Haim Azriel stands halfway between the two poles. He propagates and affirms
Otto Weininger’s ideas in a radical fashion. On the other hand, like no other character
in the novel, he has the privilege of interpreting Weininger’s work because “as a man
who is fascinated and attracted by the nature of masculinity himself, a homosexual
is completely enabled to gain insight into masculine nature” (Schwenger 2005: 49).
We could almost say – an insider. And not just that – he is a spokesman of the crisis
of masculinity which gave birth to the Weiningerian antifeminism, as well as antiSemitism (Schmale 2011: 246).
“Europe has a need to be purged of women”, says Haim and takes a cigarette
case from the inside pocket of his jacket. “Women feel that themselves. There is
an act of self-cleansing. Sick, infected women are instinctively taken away just
as in primitive peoples women are removed from the community when they
menstruate. Women clean their houses and together with the dirt and disease,
they remove themselves. This is a new method. An absolute one. Method of
an ideal housewife. Just as the bee, stinging the intruder, is transformed into
the sting and ends its life in it, the absolute housewife similarly, cleaning her
home, cleans herself away in the end” (Šalgo 1997: 90).
Malice and cynicism detected in her tone, as well as passion and fervour with
which Haim represents the view of the woman question, his antifeminism, will result
somewhat later in an open advertising of the ideas of Otto Weininger, a genius of
178
antifeminism.6 He, whatsmore, openly cites him, without hiding his being impressed
with him:
“Every conversation about a woman”, says Haim Asriel in French, aware that
besides the guest, Flora also understands the language, “needs to start with a
feeling of indebtedness, a bow to the memory of a man, a tragic genius, whose
work, unconventional, uncompromising and dark in an irresistible way, stirred
up things in Vienna and some other European cities, and who killed himself at
the age of forty-one (which I will be in a few days), because he could see no way
of dealing with the woman inside him, nor with women outside him, on top of
that, a converted Jew did not know what to do with the Jew in himself and with
the Jews in general, not seeing a solution, the outcome of the Jewish question”
(Šalgo 1997: 98).
However, Haim Asriel will not develop his already expressed passion for Weininger
in the direction of imitation. Although he defies Flora with the words he utters, he does
not go beyond provocation; thus, a bit later we learn that in a completely conventional
way, in the salon, as it is becoming, he has proposed to Flora. Remaining to the very end a
converted, disguised person almost like a transvestite, a woman trapped in a man’s body,
which can be inferred from his dialogues, and also from the author’s comments which
support such ideas, Haim, however, is not a character who can, like Flora, break away
from the social order he belongs to, from the morals he grew up with, from the way of life
which is natural to him and which determines him in terms of gender. Although in the
beginning he is far more revolutionary and audacious in his ideas than Flora, he will later
retreat into the conventional course of life, while she sets out into feminism and hysteria:
Overcoming obstacles has worn him out and he, not understanding what had happened,
suddenly retreated, got scared, changed, he frowned and bridled and at the worst
possible moment revealed his immature, cold and cynical heart (Šalgo 1997: 138–139).
Haim is, therefore, a self-conscious parody of Weininger. He does not cite, but, with
his own basically snobbish appearance, imitates the work of the person whose replica he
would like to become. However, in his libido brimming with homoerotic potential, at one
moment, probably because of homosexual panic, which, according to his interpretation,
Weininger also felt, there is a change into a heterosexual guise, that is, a partial or permanent
adoption of socially acceptable behavioral pattern, with a possibility that we are talking
about a closet queen (Fuss 2003). Thus, Haim returns, or at least gives the impression that
he does, to the course from which, it seemed, he was about to be derailed.
6 “I have a burning desire to write, thinking of Weininger who despises women and Jews. Milica expects
me to continue my political games with Weininger. Like a waltz. Vienna, the angelic Vienna boys’ choir /?/
lascivious pleasures? Tall, dark-eyed – a saint? Women love saints. Rimbaud, tragic boys who reject love,
his tormentors” (Šalgo 2007: 45).
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(De)sexualization of the lyrical subject
In the poem “Naglavačke” (“Headlong”) from the book Život na stolu (Life on the
Table), in “Između redova” (“Between the Lines”) and “Povratni glagoli” (“The Reflexive
Verbs”), the deconstruction of subject points to the original essence of being, the germ,
the embryonic development. The lyrical subject of Slobodan Tišma says in a poem in the
collection Marinizmi (The Marinisms 1995):
I swim, but have no limbs / No hands, no feet of emerald / No hands, no feet of
emerald / I am a big, cracked egg / Of an unknown bird / God’s blind, marble eye
/ Which floats on the black waves (Tišma 1995: 22).
While Tišma’s “powetry” is characterised by an inclination towards a weak self
(Kopicl 1999: 506–518), in constant reversals and interruptions (Šuvaković 1996: 67) and
an embryonic, desexualized anxiety (Beleslijin 2010: 123–129), in the works of the poet
Vladimir Kopicl linguistic textualism gives way to a material manifestation of cyborgs as
the only artificial deity, and consequently also the subject which imitates it (Beleslijin 2009:
55–61). In Katalin Ladik’s works, performative and literary practice has turned towards
the outer manifestation of sexuality (Šuvaković 2010). Responding to the avantgarde
imperative of being forever new (Poggioli 1998: 105–108) the poetry of Judita Šalgo in
this collection in a way “betrayed” the timism and temporal art from the book 67 minuta,
naglas (67 Minutes, Aloud) not mentioning it once, but she remained in the sphere of
linguistic poetry, testing the limits of language and the Lacanian, as well as the identity of
being through language. That is why it was rightly called new textualism (Šuvaković 2002).
Thank God, I’m spared from life, / On the desk – stamps, a label, / A sticker with
my picture, oh, Judita, / Our heads are in the satchel .// (Šalgo 1986: 7).
Lyrical subject is all over the monuments with great force and he repeats the
commonplaces as sources of stereotypes, social adequacy and conformism, but implicitly,
while the poem deals with linguistic-poetic questions more openly, illustrating them with
its form. The poem itself is in the shape of indeterminate form. In the process of exploring
the limits of language and literature each game is designated as a misapprehension in
advance, although only the multiplicity of meanings and unclear artistic perception can
actually lead to any understanding. Thus, in the hierarchy of the codes and different
discourses, literature takes precedence thanks to the process of using polysemy, as well as
some new ways to overcome the trite linguistic processes by the sexualization of metaphors
and ekphrasis as a method of dualizing the view. Neo-avantgarde artistic language
practice, demonstrated by Vojislav Despotov and Vujica Rešin Tucić, is embodied in the
poetry of Judita Šalgo, where, by using various language and meaning games, seemingly
humorously and lightly, sometimes lasciviously, through pointing to synonymous or
homonymous linguistic situations, simplistically understood sexuality actually disappears
and the prerequisites for its transformations are fulfilled, and they move in the direction of
180
falling short of the original matrix. “Be yourself / Be an other self / That is the dilemma of
this language / That is afraid of its own sound” (Šalgo 1987: 13). Thus an unbridgeable gap
instantly opens up between your and the other self, which you communicate with, and this
introduces the Other as a category, not necessarily opposing the subject, but as a category
which suffers, which is even the object of violence.
“Melody” is vocal and visual poetry, which upholds the principle of symmetry and
a form of communicating vessels, which it tells us about. Two voices, two subjects, the
otherness which the subject addresses, and which is placed on the same level with its self,
pointing to the inexorable similarities through symmetrical presentation of the two halves
of the text, placed on the same level, in the same line, so that I and you voice meet in the
end in the final line: “sex multiplex”. Thus, the voices first diverge (two lonely voices), and
then come together, join into one, universal neuter gender, which could point to the degree
of overcoming the subjective sexual discontinuity by connecting, or rather uniting with
the other being, they satisfy the yearning for reaching the absolute, for an alternative of
reconciling the differences and stereotypical limiting constructs. As George Bataille writes:
Poetry leads to the same point as other forms of eroticism do, to unity, to an
interplay of separate subjects. It leads us to death and, through death, to continuity.
Poetry is eternity (Bataille 2009: 23).
CONCLUSION
Biography and bibliography of neo-avantgarde writers are often bound by interpolating
citations from life. However, nowhere are literature and life so fundamentaly connected,
so simbiotically affiliated, nowhere are there so many references to biographical reality as
in the texts of Judita Šalgo and Miroslav Mandić. As Vasa Pavković notices, “this transfer
into the identical identity of text and life, literature and biography, was of the greatest
interest to Judita Šalgo” (Pavković 2006: 134). The palimpsestic short story “Irena ili o
Marini ili o biografiji” (“About Irena, or Marina, or about a Biography”), composed of
clippings from life and projects, unless, in the case of Miroslav Mandić, it was not about
synonyms, points, again, indirectly, through a series of artistic practices – of conceptualism,
concretism, minimalistic art, etc. – to the question of identity and Otherness. Anyway, the
neo-avantgarde, as Miklós Szabolcsi sees it, operates between two poles: the sign type and
the cry type, while artists who have a propensity for performativity, to which, besides
Judita Šalgo and Miroslav Mandić, also belong Marina Abramović, Slobodan Tišma,
Katalin Ladik, members of the groups Kȏd, Ǝ, and Ǝ -Kȏd, and more recently Maja Solar
and many others, open up explicating their poetical stances, escaping the limitations of the
language and conquering new artistic areas and media (Kopicl, Raković 1972; Radovanović
1989; Poniž 1984; Šuvaković 2007 et al.); on the other hand, writers who make their neoavantgarde tendencies solely part of literary trends, or their excursion into other artistic
spheres is restricted to visual works, while the word remains the basic conveyor of the
181
message, like M. Todorović, V. Despotov, V. R. Tucić, develop the semantics of the poetic
discourse, combining, among other things, a certain mysticism as a category of expression.
Equally decentered as the neo-avantgarde writers of the cry type, they do not expose their
bodies, they do not open up outwardly, hysterically, centrifugally, but implode, and lean
towards an imagined core, towards their axis, centripetally. In Mandić’s work the need
for acquiring large expanses of land is more prominent than in some other artists: while
Judita Šalgo changes positions (sits, lies, stands), and while the members of the Kȏd group
tend to be in different places simultaneously, Mandić hikes, wanders, travels and thus has
control over the earthly time.
Feeling the duality of her identity, belonging to a minority ethnic and religious
community, persecuted at a moment in history as an object of irrational hatred and genocide
(Goldberg, Reiner 2003: 175 – 200; Palavestra 1998: 161–213), Judita Šalgo, often displacing
her own stronghold, no matter whether she is writing a poem, a short story or a novel,
skillfully uses dualism and ambivalence. Her tense, vehement quest for identity, for, as it will
turn out, only fragmentary ethnogenealogy (the Rot family, Bertha Pappaneheim, Nenad
Mitrov and other representatives of the Jewish national community) will be characterised by
simultaneous depiction and interpretation, description and metanarrative of reality, which
it has built and which is, being essentially autoreferential, inclined to fragility and implosion
as the final outcomes, cynically-final solutions. Frequently disasterous, catastrophic
(frequently featuring a collective exodus) endings of her texts, clouds of smoke, fires and
deep scepticism and pessimism, sensational news and newspaper clippings as a basis for
further artistic processing, as well as various documentary materials, used for the purpose of
naturalization of technique and creating an illusion of the real, will destabilize the discourse,
that is, will reflect on his dispersivity – therefore the incompletion, open ending, second
person, a co-author who participates in the creation of the story, and whose authority is at
the same time both doubted and strongly believed in. Destabilization of the gender matrices
will also become, as we shall see, one of the main thematic outcomes of both modern art and
poetical-prose technique of Judita Šalgo. Her fluctuating sexual, sexualized and desexualized
identities, as well as certain national conversions of her characters (pseudonyms, hidden
identity, etc.) will be indicators of the decomposition of the patterns of the genre, but also
the echoes of deep scepticism in relation to “gender trouble”, as a socially constructed
category. The possibility of citing sexual identities (Otto Weininger, Nenad Mitrov, Marija
Aleksandrovna, Larisa Reisner, Bertha Pappaneheim and other historic personalities),
which the author is going to subject to a meticulous analysis, will be secured by the hybrid
constructions which, since they arise from the author’s essential ambivalence, being either
explicit (67 minuta, naglas – 67 Minutes, Aloud, Da li postoji život? – Is There Life?, Trag
kočenja – Skid Marks) or implicit (Život na stolu – Life on the Table, Put u Birobidžan – Road
to Birobidzan, etc.), embodied in parody, travesty, the heroes’ changing clothes (dressing
up) and other ways of eschewing a uniform, linear organisation of discourse, cannot be
interpreted as original, independent, or sexually unambiguous.
182
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[email protected]
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UDC 73.071.1 Brâncuşi C.
Jasna Jovanov
The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, Novi Sad
Academy of Classical Painting, EDUCONS University, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia
Constantin Brancusi:
Flight of the Divine Machinist
SUMMARY: Constantin Brancusi was one of the greatest 20th century sculptors
in Romania and the whole world. After having received his academic education
in arts in Romania he went to Vienna, Munich and Basel, finally arriving to Paris
in 1904, where he spent the rest of his life. Taking part in the Paris art scene,
he became friends with artists who also came from other countries. In addition
to entering exhibitions in France, his works were exhibited in Romania, Munich
and Venice, as well as New York and Chicago. In the USA, where numerous collectors wanted his sculptures, he held four solo exhibitions between 1914 and
1926. Formed in the spirit of the School of Paris, as well as on the contrasts between the Romanian national art and sculptural cultures from the ancient period and exotic lands and highly sophisticated modern art, he defined his ultimate
goal as reaching the essence of the shape. He created sculptures of stylized
and associative shapes mostly in stone, wood and polished bronze, dedicating
the same attention to the pedestals, which he considered integral parts of the
whole. Transforming his studio into a unique exhibition space, he made special
arrangements of his sculptures, which he then photographed, often changing
the lighting and thus adding those new values. He left his artistic legacy to the
people of France. The goal of the text is to present the process of the artistic
development, themes and ideas in the creative work of Constantin Brancusi
through various moments in his life: his connection to Romania, his life in Paris,
the short phase of India-related creative work, his exhibitions in New York and
other American cities, as well as the motifs of his sculptures.
KEY WORDS: Constantin Brancusi, sculpture, modernism, School of Paris.
Romanian-born, the sculptor Constantin Brancusi (Constantin Brâncuşi, February
19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) produced most of his work in France, which earned him a
place among the most important artists of the Paris art school. Very early he took part in
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the avant-garde movement that had outgrown Europe, thus influencing the creative work
of the American sculptors from the beginning of the 20th century with a part of his accomplishment. Brancusi, who grew up in a rural and archaic mountain region, developed
as an artist in an unusual blend of a traditional wood carver and highly sophisticated
modern artist (Lucie-Smith 2009: 95). He was born in 1876 at Hobitza near the town of
Targu Jiu in Oltenia. Coming from a poor peasant family, a shepard in the Carpathian
mountains showed interest in wood carving as early as 1883. The early experience made
him always prefer stonecutting and carving to modelling in clay in his future work.
CRAIOVA, BuCHaREST, AND SO ON
In 1884, attracted by the city lights, he tried to earn a living as an apprentice to a
dyer, then went into the service of a grocer and finally became a servant in an inn. It was
there that he demonstrated his skill for the first time when he made a violin from a piece
of wood as a bet. That is how he met his first benefactor and began his education in art
at the School of Arts and Crafts in Craiova (Partsch 2002: 247–249), where he learned to
sculpt and carve wood and where his talent quickly came to prominence. In August 1895,
he enrolled on a special course of woodsculpting which he completed in 1897, when he
created the bust of Gheorghe Chitu, the founder of the School (http://socyberty.com/
history/constantin-brancusi-the-montparnasse-saint). In September 1898, he enrolled
at the National School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, which he attended until 1902. Early
sculptures by Constantin Brancusi originate from the period of his education in Craiova
and Bucharest. Artistic heritage and contemporary art that Constantin Brancusi could
become familiar with in Bucharest justified the selection of his final vocation – he was to
become a sculptor. As a student of Ion Georgescu and Vladimir Hegel, whose work was
based on academic background, and yet open to the first hints of impressionism and under Rodin’s influence, in his sculptures he depicted exactly what he was expected to: that
he mastered the skill and that they were true to the original. A study of character in addition to several copies are a testimony of the previous (Vitellius, Head of Laocoon). He obtained the first financial support owing to the fact that, meeting the requirements of both
the environment and time, he had learned to sculpt in the spirit of the academic art. Immediately after finishing school, he created his first impressive sculptures, the bust of Ion
Georgescu-Gorjan (1902) and General Dr Carol Davila (1903). Following certain changes, the copy of the bust of General Davila was installed in front of the Military Hospital in
Bucharest (http://socyberty.com/history/constantin-brancusi-the-montparnasse-saint/).
It was the author himself who destroyed most of his early works, as he continued to do
so later, which makes the discussion on them difficult. “Every day I would sculpt another
figure only to destroy it in the evening” – with a view of exploring his own aptitude and
trying out different materials (Brezianu, Geist 1965: 20). However, it could be said that
based on the preserved works, it is difficult to envisage the radicality of Brancusi’s future
works as well as his devotion to the elements of archaic and folk tradition. Yet another of
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the few Brancusi’s earliest surviving works, under the guidance of his anatomy teacher,
Dimitrie Gerota, is a masterfully rendered écorché – a statue of a man with skin removed
to reveal muscles and blood vessels underneath. This anatomical model was exhibited at
the Romanian Athenaeum in 1903. Though just an anatomical study, the sculpture foreshadowed the efforts of a young artist to reveal the essence rather than merely stick to the
outward appearance (Brezianu, Geist 1965: 17). The next stop on his way was Munich,
being the logical goal of most young artists from the region. On the way to Munich he
passed through Vienna, which he had already visited briefly in 1902, as well as Basel, but
none of the cities invoked a desire in the young artist, craving for new experiences, to stay
in. It was in this period that Brancusi’s personality, as well as his future works, acquired
the tone of the archetypal: left with no money he continued from Munich on foot, just
like the ancient traveling artists had done – with a rucksack on his back and a walking
stick in his hand, resembling an eternal wanderer, as Gustav Courbet depicted himself
in the painting Good Day, Mr. Courbet. Taking him as one of them, peasants helped him
along the way (Lucie-Smith 2009: 95).
PARIS
After his arrival to Paris in 1904, Constantin Brancusi remained its resident until the
end of his days. In order to provide means for continuing his education at The Ecolé des
Beaux-Arts, he did odd jobs including singing in a choir and serving at the Romanian
Orthodox Church. In the workshop of Antonin Mercié, he was able to expand his knowledge of creating monumental sculptural ensembles with heroic themes and depicting
allegorical and mythological figures. Determined to succeed, he hanged the following
inscriptions on the walls of his first studio: “Don’t forget you are an artist!”, “Never give
up!”, “Don’t be afraid, you will succeed!”, “Create as God, order as a King, work as a slave!”
(Lucie-Smith 2009: 95). As recommended by professor Mercié, in 1906 he applied for the
Salon d’Automne (Autumn Salon) with three sculptures. His first exhibition since he had
left Romania came to the attention of Auguste Rodin, who was in the jury. As a regular
exhibitor he also entered the 1907 and 1909 Salons. Shortly after, he accepted Rodin’s invitation to accompany him to Meudon as an assistant. “Every day, I would create a sculpture in Rodin’s spirit. I could no longer bear being close to him, although he liked me.
Everything I did resembled his works. Unconsciously, I copied him but realized that I was
producing copies. I was unhappy. Those were the most difficult years – the years of seeking to find my own path” (Brezianu, Geist 1965: 22). Finally, our cooperation ended with
a proverb: “Nothing can grow under big trees”. The journey was also important because
he met Edward Steichen, an American photographer and painter originating from Luxembourg. The first commissions followed: mostly gravestone memorials. Among them
was The Kiss, installed in 1910 at Montparnasse, on the grave of a young Russian girl,
unhappily in love, who committed suicide – which reflected the author’s future interests
(Partsch 2002: 247). In addition, the Art Museum in Bucharest bought his first work.
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Brancusi found a studio in Montparnasse street and made friends with artists such as:
Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, Fernand Leger, Henri le douanier (the customs officer) Rousseau. After the exhibition at the National Salon of Fine Arts in 1908, the critic
Charles Maurice singled him out from other members of his generation. In the same year
he entered the Salon des Indépendants as a regular exhibitor and in 1912 he exhibited
at the Salon in Bucharest too. The acquaintance with Pogány Margit, a young Hungarian
painter would result in a series of sculptures she modeled for and her portrait, generally
seen as one of the most renowned portraits by Brancusi. The circle of his friends included
Guillaume Apollinaire, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.
Still living in Monparnasse street, he moved studios to No 47.
EUROPE, AMERICA
The year of 1913 was significant as a turning point: The First Step was created as
the first figure in wood inspired by the African sculpture (Hohl 2002: 961). Brancusi
exhibited at the International Exhibition in Kunsthalle in Munich as a Romanian representative. At the Paris Salon des Indépendants, he displayed the first in the series called
La Maïastra. Besides, he entered the London Exhibition of Rejects where he met Henri
Gaudier-Brzeska, the sculptor who would inspire the director Ken Russel to film Savage
Messiah in 1972. The early deceased sculptor advised Brancusi towards further stylization and purification of shapes. Finally, with five of his sculptures he entered the International Exhibition of Modern Artists in New York known as Armory Show (http://www.
artchive.com/artchive/B/brancusi) that gathered 300 European and American authors,
who exhibited 1500 paintings, sculptures and pieces of applied art. The exhibition, most
commonly referred to in the context of the painting by Marcel Duchamp called The Descending Nude, helped Brancusi to reinforce his reputation in America and attract benefactors, who contributed to the improvement of his financial status and making new acquaintances. In the year to follow, i.e. in 1914, Constantin Brancusi and Edward Steichen
exhibited in the Photo-Secession Gallery owned by Alfred Stieglitz (Gallery 291), where
the sculptor met John Quinn who was a passionate art collector and his to be. Quinn
and Walter Arensberg bought a few sculptures at his second solo exhibition held in the
Modern Gallery in New York in 1916 and during the period spent in America Brancusi
attracted a couple of other benefactors. A series of other exhibitions in America was to
follow: with twenty-one sculptures he entered the Exhibition of Contemporary French
Art in the Gallery of Sculptures in New York; for the third time he held a solo exhibition in ”Wildenstein” Gallery in New York (1922). It was then that the idea of installing
the Endless Column in Central Park in New York occurred to him. Brancusi installed
its smaller version carved in poplar wood in the garden of Edward Steinhen’s estate in
Voulangais near Paris in 1926. At the end of September 1922, he held yet another exhibition in New York but this time in Joseph Brummer’s gallery. As regards the exhibition,
there was a confilict between Brancusi and American customs officers that did not accept
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Brancusi’s metal sculptures as works of art and placed a high duty upon their import as
industrial items. After the complaint, the author won the case in 1928 and his works in
Brummer’s Gallery invited additional publicity. The following year, the same exhibition
was displayed in the Chicago Art Club. It was in 1933 when Brancusi exhibited at Brummer’s Gallery again. Also, he participated in the exhibitions Cubism and Abstract Art at
the Museum of Modern Art in New York and The Art from Our Era in the Museum of
Modern Art in Chicago (1939), where he displayed the Column made of stainless steel
in the shape of a skyscraper (http://www.centrepompidou.fr). It should be mentioned
that Brancusi’s conflict with the American customs was not the only dispute of the kind.
In 1927, a year before he won the case in America, three Brancusi’s sculptures had been
apprehended by the Romanian Customs only to pass the border in time to enter the
exhibition called Salonul Oficial Romin; which earned him the first prize from the jury
(Brezianu, Geist 1965: 24).
INDIA
The fame that Constantin Brancusi enjoyed in America brought him the commission
for building the Temple of Redemption for Maharajah Yeshwantrao Holkar II of Indore
in 1931 (Arnason 2008: 154). The temple was to be a room without windows with an
opening on the roof. In its interior, which was to be reached through a tunnel, the light
would reflect from the surface of water in the pool and the walls were to be decorated
with frescoes depicting birds. Three figures Birds in the Sky that Maharajah had bought
from Brancusi earlier would be placed inside. The concept of the structure was to represent the very essence of Brancusi’s basic creative principles: idealization of aesthetic
forms by integrating architecture, sculptures and interior design as well as evoking the
spiritual. The work on the project brought him to India for the first time in 1936. At the
time, just like in 1937 when he visited India for the second time in order to commence
the construction, Maharajah, who was one of the richest people in the world, did not
live in India but in the USA. Meanwhile, since Maharajah had lost interest in the construction, the temple remained only the idea and Brancusi himself finally quit thinking
about the project in 1938. The complex was to include a monumental sculpture made of
oak representing The King of Kings (1938) intended for its interior, which was the only
segment of the temple that took physical form, remaining as a reminder of the entire
concept. The sculpture is very specific because the work in wood itself results in a unique
example: works in wood or metal depict archetypal forms such as birds flying or sleeping
faces, while the personal contribution adds to a particular impression of spiritual unity.
Within the context, The King of Kings may be grasped as Brancusi’s attempt to transform
the power of Eastern religion into sculptures. Its original title was The Spirit of Buddha,
which enhances its significance taking that Brancusi had learned about buddhism from
the texts by Milarepe, a Tibetan philosopher (Rid 1966: 79).
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ROMANIA
Inclined toward expressing his beliefs through proverbs, Brancusi claimed that ”Simplicity is not an end in art, but we usually arrive at simplicity as we approach the true
sense of things” (http://www.centrepompidou.fr). The sculptor expressed the idea as early
as 1906 in The Sleeping Muse, which was exhibited in Bucharest in the same year (Rid
1966: 80). Notwithstanding the fact that France had become his second home by then,
Brancusi never broke strong bonds with the tradition of his homeland. Brancusi’s behaviour, the manner of speaking that reflected the archetypal register of the folklore heritage, enhanced the impression. He wore simple clothes, just like mythical forest creatures
from the Carpathian hills, especially in his old age. He usually entertained his friends by
performing Romanian music and treating them with traditional Romanian dishes that he
would cook (Klüver, Martin 1989: 106–107). Finally, his inclination towards stonecutting
and woodcarving, frequent exploitation of architectural ornaments and other elements
of the Romanian tradition had been present in his sculptures throughout his creative life.
Moreover, Brancusi always showed readiness to represent Romania outside its borders: at
the aforementioned exhibition in Munich in 1913; in 1924, the same year when he exhibited his Birds in the Sky at Thierry Salon in Paris, he represented Romania at Biennale in
Venice. In the meantime, while travelling to Romania in 1921, the idea occured to him of
erecting a monument in memory of the resistence to German invaders in the 1916 World
War I (http://www.centrepompidou.fr). In 1918, i.e. a few years before he embarked on the
journey, Constantin Brancusi created his first Endless Column, the sculpture that would
vary, just like his other motifs, in terms of materials and dimensions. Constantin Brancusi
himself referred to the scultpure as the Memory Without End. In the photographic images from his studio and a photograph by Steinhen from 1926 there are several versions
of the sculpture, but the principle of repeating the simplified form of The Endless Column,
which was finally installed in 1938, got its final and the most monumental form in Targu
Jiu (Georgescu-Gorjan 2011). It was set as a part of the complex created between 1936
and 1938, where the column was commissioned by Aretia Tâtârescu, the president of the
National League of Gorj Women and wife of then the President of the Parliament and later
the Ambassador of Romania in Paris. The column is over 29 metres in height, composed
of 15 undivided modules and two halves of a module, its height implying the theoretical
possibility of streaching into infinity. Its appearance also encourages constructive thinking
but does not observe it essentially: its steel, messing-coated elements, fitted with a metal
rail that spreads along its inside, are threaded on the sculpture like pearls on a necklace
(Hohl 2002: 994). With the ground replacing the pedestal and a simple abstract form of
the repeating modules, The Column draws energy from the ground. Upon its erection,
Brancusi installed a monumental triumphal arch in its vicinity, a stone structure that copies a simplified motif of The Kiss being named A Gate of the Kiss accordingly. The Gate is
situated between The Column and a massive round table made of stone resembling the
giants venue – originally a nameless ensemble but presently known as the Table of Silence.
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The model for the complex was the Triumphal Arch in Paris, from which the triumphal
line leads through Champs d’Elysees to the courts of the Thierry Park, with an Egyptian
obelisk in between. The idea was much clearer then, at the time of its construction, when
the three structures dominated a vast empty space than now, when for their most part they
are situated in the center of the park. The motif of a kiss, which was repeated times without
number in different sculptures and reliefs, originates from Brancusi’s concept of A Column
of the Kiss and Temple of Love. Just as it was the case earlier that the motif had been modified to suit the occassion and the requirements of the style, when it comes to the complex
in Targu Jiu, it was composed in the spirit of art of the totalitarian regime associated with
the fascist ideology, which was in power in Romania at the time (Hohl 2002: 1020–1021).
Owing to the fact, the complex at Targu Jiu was left to degrade in the second half of the
20th century, to be reconstructed and restored as late as 2004. Thanks to the photographs
taken by a chief engineer Ştefan Georgesku-Gorjan during the construction of elements
and installation of the column in Targu Jiu, it is not difficult to apprehend the grandeur of
Brancusi’s vision and complexity of the enterprise (Georgescu-Gorjan 2011).
MOTIF AND IDEA IN BRANCUSI’S SCULPTURES
Constantin Brancusi started his education in art on academic foundations (Arnason
2008: 150). After having arrived to Paris and integrated in the most avant-garde community of artists, his attitude to the essence of artistic interpretation underwent radical
changes. Close relations with Modigliani, Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire, encounter
with Henri Matisse’s sculptures, African traditional plastic, works of art originating from
the Far East and Egyptian civilization formed his expression, which had previously been
defined under the influence of Auguste Rodin, Adolf von Hildernbrandt, Camille Claudelle
and other artists who he met at the beginning of his stay in Paris. Always surrounded by
the avant-garde, he became friends with Marcel Duchamp, Tristan Tzara, Man Ray, Isama
Noguchi, Erik Satie, Ezra Pound, and cherished his friendship with the community of
Romanian artist and intellectuals living in Paris: George Enescu, Theodor Pallady, Eugène Ionesco, Emil Cioran, Paul Celan and others. At Paris salons, Biennale in Venice,
the International Exhibition in Munich, Salon in Bucharest, exhibitions of contemporary
and avant-garde art and solo exhibitions in the United States, his sculptures, by their mere
entry, had a cruical influence on a large number of contemporary sculptors. The author’s
specific relation to the material he used – whether taken directly from the nature, such as
wood or different kinds of stones, or processed raw materials, especially cast metal which
was subsequently polished, galvanized and weathered, only contributed to the fact. Brancusi himself used to say that the process of artistic creation represented a decisive fight
with substance, even more so because he did stonecutting himself, refusing to leave it to
his assistants like other sculptors did. In addition, around 1920, he began crafting bases for
his sculptures with much care and originality because he considered them as important
to the sculptures and significant to their artistic presentation. Brancusi’s sculptural work
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consists of several thematic contents with versions in different dimensions and materials
and different correlations with space. Most of his themes he chose in the period between
1909 - 1925 (Kiss, Bird, Muse, Endless Column, Roosters, etc.) and continued to exploit
their options in the period that followed. In the genuine modernism that he mastered,
there was no room for avant-garde thinking, although he was very much familiar with it.
”There are imbeciles who call my work abstract; that which they call abstract is the most
realistic, because what is real is not the outer form but the idea, the essence of things”
(www.aidanharticons.com/.../Constantin%20Brancusi). In his quest for the essence, the
inner reality of things, an endless line, he expressed his observations with sculptures, photographs as well as statements like the aforementioned one.
DIVINE MACHINIST
In the special edition of the magazine Camera Work, dedicated to Alfred Stieglitz
and his photo gallery called What is 29?, Man Ray did not fail to refer to the artists who
exhibited in the famous New York gallery. ”Grey walls of the small gallery are always full.
Whenever I visit it, there is something new. I am never disappointed” For him, Sezaine is
a naturalist, Picasso a mystic realist, while Brancusi is a divine machinist (Klein 2009: 42).
Brancusi and Man Ray met a few years later, not long after the renowned American artist
moved to Paris, drawn by a progressive artistic climate, in the beginning of 1920s. Although they worked in different media, Brancusi, who cut marble blocks and carved wood
logs, and Man Ray, who was preocuppied with new possibilities in photography, were both
attracted to abstraction, then being one of the current potentials of the contemporary
expression. Although Brancusi showed his interest in photography much earlier, it came
into his focus again in 1921, when Man Ray demonstrated different possibilities of photographic images and helped him to make and equip a darkened chamber. Photographs of
Brancusi with Polard the dog date from the period, serving as evidence of the beginning of
a friendship between the two artists and yet another germ that would develop in Brancusi
into a unique artistic concept over the years. Hence, in 1916 Brancusi leased a studio at 8
Impasse Ronsin St.; until 1941 the original studio was enlarged with four new ones. The
new, just like his previous studios, was not only a working space but also a home to live
in for Brancusi. Fully dedicated to his creative work, from the earliest years the sculptor
subjected his creative work as well as life to a unique concept; the fact that he was always
surrounded with his sculptures is only one of its segments. Filled with finished and unfinished sculptures, wooden furniture that he made and material for his future sculptures,
Brancusi’s studio was a work of art itself – a giant artistic enterprise. The whole studio
was set around ”hybrid”, changeable groups of objects that Brancusi had arranged in the
form of a giant scenography (Marcoci, Batchen, Bezzola 2010: 96–112). Photographs of
the arrangements show that Brancusi did not create ”for his eyes only”. By exploiting the
dimension of constant changes to the settings of sculptures and other objects in the studio,
Brancusi achieved a continuous transformation of his own works and gave them a new
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life in the photographs, not a changeable one though. His legacy (around 1,500 shots)
tells us about a sort of virtual diary that noted every, even the slightest movement inside
the opposing objects. That particular manner of selfquoting opens a vast area of possible
interpretations of Brancusi’s work, simulataneously pointing to Brancusi’s high-levelled
comprehension of contemporary, modern, but also avant-garde ideas that he alienated
from in his statements. Although a close friend with many photographers, Brancusi insisted upon the autobigraphical character of the images. By shooting individual sculptures or
arrangements, he often violated basic rules of photography: shifted the focus as he pleased
or changed the point of observation depending on the effect that wanted to achieve. In
addition, by directing beams of reflectors to a specific point of a perfectly polished metal
sculpture, the effect he achieved was that its contours faded and the sculpture itself turned
into a reflection of light. His presence in certain arrangements contributed to integrity of
the photographs as conceptual creations in the same sense as selfquoting is articulated in
the frame of postmodern poetics. On the other hand, since he was a sculptor, such use of
photography opened an entirely new, exceedingly exact road to reevaluation of modern
sculpture as well as sculptural modernism.
mUSES AND FACES
One of Brancusi’s favourite motifs was a female head, present in his work especially in
the period between 1906 – 1912 and frequently depicted as an independent ovoid shape
disconnected from the body. The artist found a symbol of the origin of life, the miracle of
creation, as well as a typical goal of the quest for the essence of things in the shape of an
egg, ideally rounded and dense. A precursor was The Sleeping Muse from 1906, in which,
in Rodin’s spirit, polished marble emerges from a roughly processed base (Piper 2005:
394). Yet, the sculpture from 1910 in polished bronze, ultimately exposed with fluid lines,
shows the author’s intention to eliminate any personal feeling in respect of the model and
depict essential, universal and infinite characteristics of a human face in its basic form.
Originally, The Sleeping Muse was a portrait of the Baroness Frachon, who sat to Brancusi
for a classical portrait from 1908/9 that had never been finished. The impression that the
sculpture is to generate is concentrated in the oval shape of the head. Despite the exhquisite feeling of smothness of lips, eyes and hair, it was not produced by the artist’s hand but
emerges from the material itself. The last portrait of the Baroness Franchon dates from
1912: the egg-shaped face rests upon her hand, which somehow anticipates yet another
portrait painted in the same year, namely Madamoiselle Pogany. More than any other female character, the portrait of a young Hungarian art student is recognized as a timeless
icon of the 20th century avant-garde modernism. It was presented to the audience for the
first time in 1913 at Armory Show in New York. The portrait resembles an egg with two
huge nut-shaped forms instead of eyes and a hint of the nose, ears and mouth. In its later
version (1919, 1931) those hints disappeared too leaving just the egg-shaped form leaning against hands folded as if in a prayer. It is becoming obvious that alining the portrait
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among the sculptures exhibited at Armory Show was not a coincidence: beside Madamoiselle Pogany in white marble (Arnason 2008: 151) in New York, Brancusi showed The
Sleeping Muse, in white marble too, in addition to a version of Danaide – all three faces
feature a consistently implemented process of abstracting, reducing the head to an ovoid
form and marking elementary details. In case of Brancusi, a detail is not a factor of representation; instead it is promoted with sensitivity of the purified visual language. A slight
indication of features in the later portrait of the Baroness Franchon, as well as it is the case
with Madamoiselle Pogany, is a part of a unique form starting with hands and extending to
the neck and the oval of the head. By neglecting realistic expression, Brancusi deliberately
emphasises different parts of a face in order to create the image of essence – the spiritual
state of a model. The first version of the portrait, unique in its authenticity of material and
an amazing hybrid assimilation of the human and animal, was carved in white marble. A
dominant interest in a female face, as well as consistent identification of the head with an
egg motif, is interpreted as attachment to a unique thematic circle – conception, birth, life
and death. In addition, the insistence on a female principle, without the dualism between
male/female that is found in sculptures such as Torso of a Young Man (1924), points to the
recreation of the primordial onset of magical/artistic through Brancusi’s devotion to an
archetypal model of a mother Godess.
KISS
Although his cooperation with Auguste Rodin was very brief, we gather the impression that the rivalry with a great French sculptor was a sort of driving force to Brancusi.
Hence, in the years that followed, he made sculptures such as the early Sleeping Muse,
Prayer, Thinker or Kiss, that replicate famous Rodin’s motifs (Arnason 2008: 152). Simultaneously, they show the manner in which Brancusi expressed his poetics in a new, authentic language, whose perception of reality had nothing in common with the observed
object. Originally, The Kiss was a gravestone memorial (1907) of an unhappy love – two
people blended together in stone forever. Basically, it is a cubic form vertically divided
by the separation line between the two bodies, where curved breasts and hair falling in
the back differentiate a woman from a man. Other shapes – hands and a semi-circular
line of hair ends – blend with the stone while nut-shaped eyes, as shown from the profile,
are assimilated into one cyclop-like and scary. This simplification of shapes points to the
influence of emerging cubism as well as primitive sculptures by André Derain and Paul
Gaugin. In the visual key of primitive totem poles, formally departing from European traditions, Brancusi resorts to Plato’s myth of an androgen – a two-gender creature that the
gods had set apart and who ever since had been craving to become one again (Pajin 2007:
60). Brancusi would repeat the motif that Gustav Klimt simulteneously painted on canvas
(1907/8) times and again changing the impression with different fractures of stone surface
and degree of geometry thus changing its poetic values accordingly: from the archetypal
over associative to the very edge of abstraction. The degree of abstraction often depended
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on the purpose of the sculpture. Thus, the motif used in the ensemble A Gate of the Kiss in
Targu Jiu as well as in different versions of columns, became a decorative trademark of Art
Deco (Hohl 2002: 980).
BIRDS
In the period 1910 – 1944, Constantin Brancusi created 29 birds. La Maïastra, the first in
the series (1910 –1912), was inspired by folk tales from the author’s homeland (Sidney Geist
1968: 113–114). La Maïastra represents a divine bird from a Romanian folk tale, which has
magic powers. One of them is the ability to reunite separated lovers. A series of birds, based
on a fairytale, is an authentic example of Brancusi’s quest and his attitude to the world. All his
life Brancusi strived to depart from the world of creatures, to ”capture” the essence of flight
as a symbol of reaching the spiritual. The first version of the sculpture is again one of the author’s first attempts to shape the place of a figure in space (Arnason 2008: 153). The sculpture
in white marble rests on a special pedestal – an embraced couple hold a stone block on which
La Maïastra is installed. In that way, the figure and its base are so firmly united that it is impossible to establish the hierarchy of individual segments. The weight of the stone block and
rough rustic of the couple ”land” the sculpture of a bird whose curved chest discloses a neck
reaching toward the sky. In addition, the base that resembles an Indian totem pole, discovers a special dualism between the magical archetype and modern reality. The motif had over
time developed into a sophisticated shape of Birds in the Sky where the motif of a flight is
superior to the look of a bird itself, thus determining the shape of the sculpture. The sculpture
Birds, cast in bronze, whose gleamy polished surface cannot be defined by an eye, transforms
the movement upwards: the substance, light and shape are simultaneously unique and inconsistent. It was with this series of sculptures that Brancusi approached Gaston Bachelard’s
belief that ”the body of a bird is made of the air surrounding it while its life is the winning
movement” (www.aidanharticons.com/.../Constantin%20Brancusi).
Among Brancusi’s birds the figure called Leda has a special meaning (Bazen 1976: 429).
Dating from the middle of 1920s (1926), it did not live to be multiplied in a series. Instead, the
only replica of it cast in bronze, made from a marble model, remained in the artist’s studio.
Installed on a triple base – a thin plate made of shiny nickle that rests on a smaller and a bigger
cube made of two types of black stone – it embodies the myth of Leda, who caused Zeus to
turn into a swan in order to seduce her, in an image of the swan. It is actually the bird whose
body is related to a hybrid identity between the male and female with a phalus-shaped neck
and a body with female attributes. The bird and woman, male and female principle, are united
in a unique movement. In a different light at a studio, installed on a reflecting metal surface,
Leda expresses contradictions with multiple meanings and transforms into an inherent presence of light. Dualism of the meaning and transformation of shapes resulted from changing
the relations and rhytms of light as well as the angle of looking in order to produce a photographic image that would inexorably and definitely preserve the altered state from oblivion.
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A Pagan in Technopolis
Even today, Constantin Brancusi still intrigues with many aspects of his own vision
of the outer reality. Before starting the discussion, there is a problem with his name: although Romanian-born as Konstantin Brankuş1, taking that he created in France for over
five decades, the world history of art knows him as Brancusi, which is also the reason his
name is spelled as such in this paper. Heretically ready to break every rule that sculptors
had observed from the ancient to his time, he never hid his admiration for Gothic cathedrals, especially the one in Chartres, monumentality of the Egyptian sculpture, carved
columns of Cluny, or unknown sculptors from Africa, India, China, Tibet and Turkestan
(Brezianu, Geist 1965: 24). With his heart full of customs and legends from his homeland,
he joined the then most avant-garde community of artists in Paris that lived in La Ruche
in Monmatre, shortly before he moved studios to Monparnasse. The Romanian folk tradition remained one of his first inspirations (Грујић 2002), which is why Paul Moran said
that Brancusi ”was more of an artist than Parisien and less of a Parisien that Romanian”
(Golubović 1967: 14). More than half a century after his death, we could say that he truly
was a citizen of the world – one of the first European artists who was equally, if not more,
famous in America where art collectors of the modern art craved for his solo exhibitions.
The surrounding of New York skyscrapers was probably an embodiment of the dream of
his own modern studio to him, a forest of endless columns from which his birds would fly
into the infinite universe. ”By coincidence, in the same year Brancusi had died, (March 16,
1957), the first spaceshuttle called Sputnjik was launched (October 4, 1957), which was the
beginning of the space era because this was the first time that a man succeeded in launching an object into space, i.e. earth orbit. That is how Brancusi’s birds became the symbol of
the era with their form that implied speed and infinite take-off in the same spirit as later
monuments depicting the rocket flight and conquering the space’ ” (Pajin 2007: 62).
CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI: THE FLIGHT OF A DIVINE MACHINIST
The sculptor Constantin Brancusi, who was born in Romania (Hobitza, Romania,
February 19, 1876 – Paris, France, March 16, 1957), created most of his works of art in
France, which earned him the status of one of the most distinguished artists of the Paris
art school. Very early he joined the avant-garde movement that was active even outside
the European borders, so that his work had a great influence on American sculptors from
the beginning of the 20th century. While growing up in a rural and archaic mountain
region, Brancusi developed his artistic expression from an unusual combination of a traditional wood carver and highly sophisticated modern artist. He started his education in
the School of Arts and Crafts in Craiova (1894–1898), only to enoll at the National School
of Fine Arts in Bucharest afterwards (1898–1902). One of his earliest works, created under the guidance of his anatomy teacher, Dimitrie Gerota, is a masterfully rendered ana1 Constantin Brâncuşi, spelled in Romanian as Brankuš; ”the French version” of the surname would be Bran-KU-SI.
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tomical study; the statue of a man with skin removed to reveal muscles underneath which
was exhibited in the Romanian Athenaeum in 1903. Though just an anatomical study,
the sculpture foreshadowed the efforts of a young artist to reveal the essence rather than
merely stick to the outward appearance. In the course of his studies, he won numerous
awards and then, with a meagre amount of scholarship he set out for Paris on foot in 1903,
to arrive in 1904 after passing through Vienna, Munich and Basel. In Paris, he studied at
The Ecolé des Beaux-Arts, in the studio of Antonin Mercié. Only one of his sculptures from
1905 is preserved. It is called Pride and represents a young girl’s head cast in bronze from
the plaster sketch. It was one of three pieces exhibited at the Autumn Salon in 1906. In
1907, Brancussi briefly worked as an assistant to August Rodin and then pursued his own
career. After 1906, he continued to exhibit at the Salon but also entered other group exhibitions in Paris. He made friends with many of his outstanding contemporaries such as
Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, Fernand Leger, Henry Rousseau le Douanier (Customs Officer), Pablo Picasso, Guillaume Apollinaire, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Marcel
Duchamp, Tristan Tzara and others. Under the influence of Andre Derain, he generated
interest in the African sculpture. In 1913, he entered the International Exhibition of Modern Art known as Armory Show, in New York, the USA as well as other important group
exhibitions of modern art in New York and Chicago. He held solo exhibitions in New York
in 1914, 1916 and 1926. Brancusi’s independent career as a sculptor in Paris began with
the sculpture Kiss, a gravestone memorial at the Montparnasse cemetery. As early as then,
his abstract style which features clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his
materials and symbolic allusions of representational art was distinct. Constantin Brancusi
studies with sculptors of academic orientation, and still developed his style under the influence of the Romanian traditional forlk art, Egyptian and African sculpture, the Far East
art and avant-garde movement of the 1920s. His most famoust works of art include The
Sleeping Muse (1908), The Kiss (1908), Prometheus (1911), Madamoiselle Pogany (1913),
The Newborn Baby (1915), A Bird in the Sky (1919) and The Column of Infinity, known as
The Endless Column (1938). Brancusi defined most of the motifs for his scultpures in the
period 1909 – 1925 and kept on elaborating on them in numerous variations. Around
1920, he began crafting bases for his sculptures because he considered them as equally
important segments of his sculptures. He carved them in wood or stone or casted and
carefully polished them. Owing to his worldwide fame, he was commissioned for a meditation temple in India by a Maharajah of Indorea in 1933, which never materialized. In
the town of Targu Jiu, where he had spent most of his childhood, he finished a monument
in memory of the World War I in 1938. The Table of Silence, A Gate of the Kiss and Endless
Column were created in honour of the brave Romanian civilian victims who stopped the
German invasion in 1916. When he met Man Ray in 1921, Brancusi became engaged in
photography. Mostly, he made photographs of different sculptural ensembles in his studio,
believing that a photograph tells more of them than words. In 1952 Brancusi obtained the
French citizenship. At the initiative of James Johnson Sweeney, the first retrospective mu198
seum exhibition of Brancusi’s works was held in the Musemu ”Solomon R. Guggenheim”
in New York in 1955. According to his last will and testament, Brancusi’s studio at Impasse
Ronsin as well as its entire content were bequethed to the French (1956).
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UDC 7.038.53:791]:305:316.647.8
Vera Kopicl
Serbia
Deconstruction of Gender
Stereotypes in Video Art
SUMMARY: One of the aims of this paper was to illustrate how a piece of art becomes
an operational entity between the artist and the world, a certain kind of a social
sculpture that reflects the fundamental result of the conscious social manipulation
of power. What was clearly demonstrated is that all the authors analyzed express,
via their work, the full extent of the trauma an individual experiences when faced
with having their private, personal and intimate become the domain of the public and
political life and decision-making, when it is transformed into a stereotype, or even
a legally defined way of conduct. Among these phenomena, which are greatly highlighted in this paper, what is particularly noticeable and interesting are the consequences of the new conservatism in post-communist countries under the patronage
of the church, which are visible in the pathology of the conflict of double standards
regarding the morality of the democratic and the secular society. This is why the
selected examples of feminist art are not only artistically grand but are also socially
important, thus inevitably adopting both political strategies, and internal media attributes involved, the art scene.
Identifying the mechanisms of constructing stereotypes is also supported in this
paper through analytical emphasizing of the fact that women themselves participate in maintaining these stereotypes and in doing so highlight them, where the very
identification of this paradox gives grounds for the deconstructive discourse of the
here analyzed artists, which is, by default, expressed in the first, I, feminine person,
which, via the use of the selected motif-stereotypes, creates both a piece of art and
a political meta-discourse in the form of art.
The necessity of moving across categories of gender does not, as far as the result of
this research suggests, bring about its negation, but rather its new contextual determination, the fact that gender as a concept and social structure can be understood
only in relation to other axes of identity, including active speech, self-reflection and
self-expression, as well as its specific sub-type such as art.
Therefore, this analysis seeks to demonstrate that strongly canonized theories and
categories cannot encompass the wide range of aspects of questioning identity, and
that they, having their globalist and totalizing nature, certainly bear the risk of colonizing the experiences of others.
Key words: deconstruction, otherness, identity, irony, contextuality, locational feminism, editing, narrative, parody, performativity, simulation, subversion, stereotype
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“Technology is the campfire around
which we tell our stories.”
Laurie Anderson
According to Jacque Derrida, who predicated the deconstructionist method as a philosophy of the weak, marginalised and decentralised discourses, art is a mirror which
reflects and exemplifies the chaos of the Western metaphysics.
The ideal of art as an autonomous practice sovereignly negated existence of sex- and
gender - based differences until the middle of the last century. During the fifties and early
sixties, the very female artists started to point out, through the feminist content of their
works, the differences between their own artistic experience and the dominant discourse
of the contemporary art scene at the time.
Being aware that through their involvement in artistic practice alone, they have exited
the gender role stereotypes and entered the male culture’s space in which they have become equally creative and subversive phenomenon, the female artists problematise more
and more pronouncedly their newly achieved specific status and discourse, whereat as
regards gender perspective, provocation and overvaluing of the current order in art and
society become the dominant artistic strategies.
FEMALE EXPERIENCE BRINGS OUT NEW ART THEMES,
CREATE NEW LANGUAGES, DIFFERENT STRATEGIES.
It seems that searching for the female identity starts with “etc.” on the Judith Butler’s performativity of identity, and that her theory of parody becomes a dominant art method with
female video artists. Accordingly, pictures of giving birth, relationship with a child, menstruation, as well as photographs from family albums have been introduced in art and they have
become artefacts, whereas “kitchen art” starts to appear almost as a separate art discipline.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES ALSO ENABLE FEMALE ARTISTS
TO CREATE NEW MYTHIC SPACES.
Breaking stereotypes, searching for identity within the predetermined roles, redefining the myths and archetypes in patriarchal culture, history fabrication and representation
policy in the men’s space, have been followed by creation of the alternative feminist media
such as film or video, with accompanying visual media theory.
The leading female video artists such as Ulrike Rosenbach connect the symbols of
women in the mythology and art history with the personal conditions, Marina Abramović
positions her work within the contexts of other cultures’ mythologies. Unlike the previously mentioned, the Slovenian female artists Marina Gržinić and Aina Šmid use male film
discourse as a matrix for their video art works, where via editing, they insert female characters as the discourse commentators, providing theoretical explanations for the piece of art.
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I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess; Donna Haraway
It is exactly due to the polyphony that as an ideal space for the new art practice the
female artists, more and more noticeably use video art, a form which encompasses the
languages of various art traditions: avant - garde film, dance theatre, performance, documentary film, visual poetry, computer animation with all possibilities provided by digital
non- linear editing.
Thus Donna Haraway, a theorist of the cyberfeminism, speaks of the union of women and
machines as “seizing the tools into own hands to mark the world that marked them as other”.
The contemporary art practice and the accompanying theory show that otherness
may also be viewed as a field of new possibilities in relation to already exhausted artistic
and theoretical discourse.
Body art and performance of the seventies have become some of the most exclusive
domains of the female art, while a body, within those sectors of art, had become an object
of artistic exploration before it did in the feminist theory. The strategies of the female
feminist theorists have also changed, so the otherness in the theories of Hélène Cixous and
Luce Irigaray have become a space for new possibilities”..
Such ignoratio elenchi experiment, where the other becomes different, is possible
with those artistic forms that do not have firm traditional frame, such as video art, which
certainly proves that the policy behind the selection of the artistic language and theoretical discourse is also important.
GLORIFICATION OF difference; Hélène Cixous
Glorification of difference and the new strategies of lucid playing with the very structures
of monitoring discourses, through parody of them or ironic polemisation with them, proved
to be much more effective tool than a speech made by a victim in a pathetic passive position.
This way, the female artistic experience gained within the new medium has also become available for theoretical study, not just promoting the feminist artistic practice but
the accompanying theory as well.
The turbulent and transitional nineties pose a question whether it is possible to
achieve peace within the imposed social roles, stereotypes, in such a manner as to deconstruct them by the individual’s awareness of the mechanisms of their functioning, by
understanding the structure that has been created by a designator, or it is possible to have
the life changed by artistic practice - as fluxus artists believed?
Certainly, such a specific trans-position of video art also requires an adequate change
of artistic positions and discourses. We meet an artist who feels responsibility before the
picture of reality again; therefore there is an incredible influx of documents and documentaries, and a need to announce, through the artistic creation, also a piece of information
that is unavailable. It is interesting that during the process the female video suffers the
greatest changes: starting with the body politics’ treatment (in the seventies), it has begun
to switch towards the political engagement.
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It is dominated by the works which, in the maze of the archetypes, search for the truth
and enlighten a tragedy of an individual who, even when he/she stands still with his/her
eyes shut in an empty space of escapism, actually faces the issue of identity of the human
being, community and the very medium - equally.
Our leading female artists Tanja Ostojić, Sonja Savić, Milica Tomić, as well as other
Eastern European authors such as Ema Kugler, Marina Gržinić and Aina Šmid, Kai Kaljo,
Mara Trala and Alicja Żebrowska, bridge the gap of the 80-es and establish a relation with
the conceptual avant -garde scene of the 70-es, connecting the reception of this artistic
experience with the alternative end of the century phenomena and the changes in the
discourse itself. The constant for the both periods is the theory and the politics of a body,
a concept and a strategy, which, when connected with the new medium experience, transforms artistic practice into a subversive response of the power of the social repression.
If we accept a thesis stating that a body is a female continent, whereas in the contemporary art we talk about a conscious body, then, we can understand how video art and
performances have almost exclusively become the female art space. In some cases it is
difficult to separate the two artistic forms. In the social and artistic contexts, altered this
way, the female discourse has proved to be more radical and open for deliberation on the
even most sensitive themes such as collective guilt and the national identity, as well as the
turbo-folk culture and the mechanisms of media manipulation.
The Western European female artists such as VNS matrix, Miranda Pennell and
Janene Higgins are certainly not less radical in their deconstruction of stereotypes they
are facing within the context that constructs them through the indirect violence of the
post industrial society and the neo-conservatism.
Therefore it is undoubtedly necessary to take into consideration the contextual theories, and talk about the locational feminism, which primarily emphasizes the obvious difference between the experiences of Western and Eastern feminism.
According to Adrienne Rich, the universal theories bore within themselves a threat
of colonising the experiences of others, therefore I talk about the women whose identities have also been constructed by their race, sexuality, national origin, class, cultural
narratives ... in other words, I talk about the contextuality of identity.
MY BODY, NOT A GENERAL BODY; ADRIENNE RICH
Therefore, to illustrate this, I have selected the works created by the female authors
from various cultural and national contexts: “Grzech Pierworodny – Tajemnica Patrzy”
(“Original Sin – The Mystery is Looking”) by Alicja Żebrowska from Poland, “We Hate
You Little Boy” by Janene Higgins USA, “Ja sam Milica Tomić” (“I am Milica Tomić”) by
Milica Tomić from Serbia.
The things those works have in common are that they were created during the same
period, in the last decade of the 20th century, they won awards at “VideoMedeja” the International Women Authors’ video festival in Novi Sad, had similar results of the research
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related to the audience’s reception, based on their outstanding success, in addition to certain cultural narratives recorded as part of the analysis conducted at the festival’s round
tables, where all the works made the greatest impressions, probably due to the radical
artistic strategy as well.
It is also interesting to see the way they have addressed the taboo themes and how
they have argued with them and with the hypocrisy of the social and cultural context, as
well as with the perception of their own sex where a woman /victim maintains the existing
system of values while bearing stereotypes herself.
Creations of Alicja Żebrowska (Poland), Milica Tomić (Serbia) and Janene Higgins
(USA) have been defined by the context and it is only possible to communicate with them
and fully understand them if the context itself has been learned. A real understanding lies
in the process of their mutual conditioning, and this is where some kind of social sculpture is created, where the essential consequence of the social manipulation is reflected,
demonstrating the way the authors, via their work, make visible the trauma an individual
experiences when having their private, personal and intimate become the domain of the
public and political life and decision making, when it is transformed into a stereotype, or
even legally defined code of behaviour.
The works of these female artists have also been characterised by the nature of the
local art scenes they have belonged to. The critics consider Polish video art the most interesting scene of the European contemporary art, Seattle is the centre of the American
underground art, while during the 90s, in Serbia, video represented the most significant
part of the art engaged in the resistance towards the regime. The strong alternative scenes
are the result of the repressive environments which have endangered a self in various ways;
however the mechanisms used have been the same - the creation of stereotypes through
the mainstream culture.
The feminist theory frequently deliberates the political strategies as well and emphasizes that we always have to bear in mind who we address: epistemological narrative of the
audience that perceives these pieces of art.
Both Judith Butler and Luce Irigaray would easily recognise their theories on the
strategy of imitation and parody of the patriarchal models and power of irony, performativity, in the video art works of the Polish artist Alicja Żebrowska, American Janene Higgins,
and Milica Tomić (S&M).
Bodies that mean something; Judith Butler
Alicja Żebrowska, “Original Sin / The Mystery is Looking”
video art work/ installation
single channel, VHS, 5 min.
production 1994 Poland
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The video art work “Original Sin – The Mystery is Looking”, Żebrowska featured for the
first time at the exhibition «Antibodies», of the Centre for Contemporary Art, in Warsaw.
Institutions responded instantly, by accusing the work of undermining morality and being
a pure pornography. The state also initiated the lawsuits, unusually quickly, in order to stop
the «Antibodies» exhibition and prevent it from guest performing abroad.
The church conservatism’s pressures, in the post communist Poland, created new forms of
censorship, unforeseen in the democratic societies. By prohibiting projections, closing galleries,
and even issuing the court orders, the state-church censorship, in fact, provided this feminist
scene with an aureole of the engaged art which, using the women’s issues, opened the problems
of the Polish society in the domains of the freedom of speech, basic human and artists’ rights.
Such a stormy reaction was a result of the fact that the exhibit happened in the year of
great expectations, when a lot eventually happened, and when the legal and political moves
defined the religious position of the whole nation. Based on the mutual agreement between
the Polish Government and the Vatican, the Church acquired the privileged position, without any provisions to guarantee separation of the church and state. In the same year, the
Parliament adopted a strict and restrictive law against abortion and it became one of the
burning problems of Polish democracy.
The video “Original Sin” is not just a naturalistic game of facing and breaking the stereotypes; it is primarily a brutal story on manipulation, the private that becomes political in
the lives of all those women who experience illegal surgeries, proving the Foucault’s theses
that the dominant system of power always controls sexuality. It is a horror movie composed
of topics that led to absurdity of reality of secretly performed abortion and the pathology
that followed it. The theme is, in fact, the way to cover this sick paradox, by monitoring
discourse, through noble actions of the League of Polish Families (the parliamentary party),
the stereotypes surrounding the permanent models of maternity and family values. The very
acknowledgement of the construction of this social mechanism represents a “Leap in awareness“ for the artists, crossing the border of a symbolic circle, and a way to deconstruct it.
The artist’s feminist intervention has suppressed the religious and the asexual archetype
of the female avocation. The video zooms in a vagina, masturbation with a vibrator, medical
vaginal douche, and at the end a Barbie doll is born, pulled out by a hand in a rubber glove.
The video was featured in a room filled with scents of apples, and while the first picture shots were projected the artist was impatiently chewing an apple. The use of an apple places, one beside another, a direct body extremism and unconditional anti idealistic
comparison of the women’s sexuality with the Biblical parable of the Book of Genesis,
the one that made Eve - a woman - the only one responsible for giving in to the Original
sin, the fall of human kind and the expulsion from Eden.
The suppressed religious values agree with the new consumer values demonstrated by
the creation of the Barbie doll, and also by the fact that a woman herself bears the stereotypes.
In the annex that accompanied her video art work, the artist herself explained her
artistic creed as follows:
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“What our faith in the assumed things depends on? Is it our conviction, the power
to persuade others or the number of the acknowledgements? Let’s analyze the issue more
closely: the original sin (if we follow the well known picture) - the first act of evil, which
initiated the whole complication.
There was not a need for the first people to have sexual intercourse in Eden, since
there were individual samples of the ideal, permanent existence. A desire to experience
something new, different, forbidden and their mutual, the rebellious deed could be nothing but a sexual intercourse, and it led to creation of new human beings, and then evil
was established. Therefore it was an act of fertility, which was the beginning of all evil, for
the evil exists only in the interpersonal relations, as an indicator of the opposed interests.
The old myths have become obsolete – the human being now becomes “the evolutive myth”.
Having established an artistic connection between a female body, religion and suffering, actively and vividly, she has achieved the effect of a documentary and managed
to intervene in the public domain, via her work, which is best proved by the attempts of
prohibition and sanctioning of the A. Żebrowska’s work.
Placing a female body next to the religious symbols has become such a common
motif in the Polish art of the nineties, as a symptom which signalises the sick parts of the
public life, indicating symbolic violence. ... ...> 1993.
The Żebrowska’s work links the body art tradition of the urban post industrial society with the post communist context, where the primary body functions are alienated
and pushed to the margins of the symbolic display and use. Thus, she has developed her
artistic deed into a ritual, therapeutic, in other words, existential performance. The artist
has deprived herself from a middleman in order to provoke and express, using a direct act
and manipulation, the feelings of existential terror, fear, suppressed emotions and desires.
Izabela Kowalczyk, in her text “Feminist Art in Poland Today” suggests that the
scene functions in a specific political environment proving that there is a big discrepancy between feminism in the West and East. The changes are all the more traumatic
since the church censorship has continued with the manipulation, the previous ideological structure performed, which was liberal only by its strong rhetoric on the equality
of women’s rights. However, at least the fiction created by the communist government
existed at the time, unlike the repressive laws of the new democratic republic under the
patronage of the church, which represented the headquarters of the opposition during
the years of fight against the communist regime.
Thus the feminist art in Poland has become the centre of the engaged scene confirming the thesis that the fight for women’s rights is the fight for human rights, and in this
case, due to the censorship, the fight for freedom of speech and artistic freedom as well.
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ALL VIOLENCE IS THE ILLUSTRATION OF A
PATHETIC STEREOTYPE; BARBARA KRUGER
Janene Higgins
“We Hate You Little Boy” (single channel, BW, 1998, 4 min.)
Text and sound: John Duncan
Actors/Actresses: Sean Craig, Laura Ellis, Fernwood Mitchell
Camera and editing: Janene Higgins
Janene Higgins is one of the most interesting authors of the new media art scene in
Seattle. Her experience alone, in the nature of media starting with the populist, commercial culture of the magazines such as Esquire, Working Woman, Fame, Vanity Fairwhere she has worked as an assistant to the art director of the media, which creates and
maintains the stereotypes, and builds new myths, the impact of which is measured in the
millions of copies, all the way to the underground video art scene and performance - has
enabled her to build her poetry, using the language of the media, by unveiling the hypocrisy and pathology of the imposed social roles and taboos.
The video “We Hate You Little Boy” was created in cooperation with the performance terrorist John Duncan, where Higgins used the soundtrack from the Duncan’s project “Crna soba” (“The Black Room”) (an installation in the American hotel in Los Angeles, 1980) which displaced from the original art context enters into an unusual multiple
dialogue, at the same time continuing with its primary artistic intention.
Duncan’s text:
“We hate you, little boy... just go out and die... we hate you... die...”
which in addition to the stated, contains about ninety even darker “lines”, Janene Higgins used as a template for the video in the underground film style, with the central picture
dominated by a figure of a blue boy innocently playing in the backyard. Across the idyllic,
typically American middle class picture, runs the cited Duncan’s text, written in capital
letters, and accompanied by the deformed human utterance.
It is only now that, taken from the Black Room and pulled into the idyllic picture
of a family home, as some kind of psychotherapy, the text reveals a trace of an essential
trauma. A humiliation of the young boy is in fact a manifestation of a helpless parent,
demonstrated through the short flashes of images of a hysterical woman and a tired man.
On the other hand, Higgins imposes the opinion that behind such idyllic pictures of the
family backyards, the Black rooms hide, and she confirms the reciprocity by presenting
the Duncan’s text and her picture on an equal basis.
The effect of art de-aestheticization has been achieved by the film that resembles a
home video, whereas she uses the association to set up a thesis on the aestheticization of life.
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A procedure of so called personal cuts, where unlike the global history, a personal
history takes the stage, Higgins has deepened through her partnering “duo works” with
other artists or through entering into already existing piece of art or discourse in the spirit
of post modern nomadism.
The problem of “the American forms of family and community tyranny” has been
more and more frequently put in the focus of the modern feminist theories, which also
deal with the analysis of the American form of patriarchy.
The largest share in creation of the petty bourgeoisie family stereotype has had the
commercial culture industry, which has, in decades, created a cult of a family as a ground
for realisation of the American dream, the central myth of a society that goes beyond the
importance of the racial, national and religious.
The first association evoked when watching “We Hate You Little Boy” is the American
movie industry which repeats a picture of a bourgeois family, as a leitmotif. It is exactly
at this first associative level that Higgins sets up the basic thesis on deconstruction of the
mass culture mechanism related to the maintenance of the social stereotypes, with the
main aim to fit an individual into the collective identity.
The author achieves surprise effect through recognition of the matrix, the extremely
visible becomes invisible, and through the establishment of the rational attitude towards
the mechanism of manipulation.
Using the text, which she writes across the picture, she breaks the codes of normal behaviour in the civic society, introduces provocative forms of life and ironically and satirically brings them to the point of paradox and absurdity. The visual disorder itself, shown by the
piece of art, rhetorically emphasizes a new social sculpture during the process of its creation.
Mismatch between a word and an image has a long tradition in visual arts, while in
the feminist art, visual and verbal constituting and functioning principles are important,
due to the effect of discrepancy and irony as artistic strategy where a piece of art becomes
a mediator between an artist and the world, it becomes an operational subject. Additionally, the video of a child playing, with violently insulting verbal comments, also indicates
estrangement between the physical and linguistic registers.
In short explanation that accompanied the video, stating that suppressed emotions
cause inexplicable fears, the author establishes a different attitude towards the personal/
collective relation. According to Higgins, the issue of the individual’s autonomy and freedom of personality is the issue of freeing oneself from fear.
Epistemological narrative of the audience becomes a participant in the dialogue with
the piece of art as well, placing its experience with collective stereotype in the game where
various possibilities of constitution of identity are mutually ironized and parodied.
The verbal violence, the sound and text taken over from the Duncan’s installation,
have been interpreted as a sign of male inferiority, powerlessness in the relation with
woman, and the social construction of gender as well, where a role of the father is equally
burdensome as a role of the mother.
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Strategies of the feminist theory and politics should certainly deal with the deconstruction of gender, the social roles of men, which labelled this way create a possibility of
their own caving in, and when they denote power, with the issues concerning fear, manipulation and freedom of personality.
The fact that this type of art still operates within the underground scene and that
Janene Higgins, who lives and works in New York, places her works through a distributer from Seattle, who is specialized to promote American underground scene, indicates
how difficult it is to cross a border of a circle, particularly the one created by the media
and commercial culture as the most powerful guardians and producers of the stereotypes,
even when you are familiar with them as much as this artist who used to be a part of the
mechanism.
NATIONALISM IS A DISCOURSE that is
ALWAYS MARKED BY GENDER: SamantHa RAY
Milica Tomić
“Ja sam Milica Tomić” (video, installation, loop)
Sound: M. Tomić
Camera and editing: 3 D studio, M. Tomić, SME, 1999.
Like nationalism, a gender also represents a social construct, and their symbiosis creates
powerful, socially desirable stereotypes which endanger other constituents of an identity.
I am Milica Tomić. I am Korean.
I am Milica Tomić. I am American.
I am Milica Tomić. I am Croatian.
I am Milica Tomić. I am Serbian.
I am Milica Tomić. I am Romany.
I am Milica Tomić. I am German....
Thereby Milica Tomić, through the act of piling up the possible identifications, while
keeping her name, ruins in fact, the very context and the very notion of the national identity.
Like the American artist Cindy Sherman, she builds some kind of a female prototype
that, while fitting into each of the statements about the national identity, leads to its negation. The prototype gets an iconic dimension through repetitions, and transfers into the
artificial interface, dominated by a non- identity.
The speech is followed by a model that was taken over from mass media - her posture
is unchangeable, still, her head raised a little bit as anchorwomen do, whereas the styling
imitates the stereotype of a model, a mannequin, while she slowly turns towards the camera as if she is turning towards a mirror.
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Each turn and each statement about the national identity are followed by the traces of
violence, which also become a picture of the identity, where being a subject with its own
name and nationality means that you are a subject , the reason for wounding.
The artist herself testifies about the various phases of designation: name Milica (the
medieval Serbian duchess) and the identity of an orthodox Serbian woman connect general and personal history - and how her intimate identity has been identified in various
contexts, starting with the period of communism, modernisation, nationalism and the
Balkan wars:
“My name is Milica and I got it in 1960. I was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, the country
that entered a phase of sudden modernisation during those years.
However, in the early 80s, I started to meet people who pronounced my name with fear.
During those several years when I got acquainted with people who pronounced my name
with fear, all of a sudden, I started to feel as if I was stabbed with an arrow of urgency to
equalise the following elements:
I=MILICA= A SERBIAN WOMAN=AN ORTHOD OX
CHRISTIAN
The thing I considered to be my most intimate identity, the fact that I was an Orthodox
Christian Serbian, in the late 80s, set a hypnotic pendulum of the state politics in motion,
which led to the mass hallucinative effect of the collective identity, leaving no space for those
who did not feel Serbian or Orthodox Christian. Moreover, the ideologists of such policy
claimed that the intimacy of the personal identity was biologically conditioned, written in
the genes, and the Serbs who did not share the feeling were scoundrels (bastards) with genetic
defect, and they should have been destroyed since they represented a wound on the healthy
body of the Serbian society. It is then that I discovered that my own, intimate identity, was
in fact carefully constructed trap perfectly catching its identity prey, regardless of whether I,
Milica, a Serbian Woman and an Orthodox Christian, was ready to declare or at least relativize it. Facing the impossible choice: wound or a healthy body of the nation, I decided to
privately keep the identity of an Orthodox Serbian, and to speak publicly from the viewpoint
of a wound” (Milica Tomić).
Through this act of speech the artist undermines the very statement that pertains to the
unity of the national identity per se, devolving it by deploying the process of multiplication.
In the light of this, Milica Tomić also defines her artistic position of postmodern nomadism, according to which an artist is transnational, and illustrates it in the title of her
work, which does not contain any determinants of the national identity, and as a nomad
she takes over different roles.
However, this nomadism of various identifications is also a public demonstration of
non-acceptance of the political manipulation of the collective identity. The artist does not
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address the audience as subjects being of different sex and nationality, the audience members are instead brought to the point where they address her work as different subjects.
According to Griselda Pollock, the term “misrepresentation”, derived from the theory
and practice of the feminist film, implies inversion of the identification process, undermining the expected models of the positive narrative. In this process, as object of marking,
Tomić sets the very context of forced identification, in order to deconstruct its mechanisms through marking.
Like Jo Anna Isaak, who sees the effect of “the ruin of representation” that is based
on the omitted, as a goal of misrepresentation; and it is exactly the absent that becomes
important to the artist in her research on the means that assist creation of a subject and
a body, whereas the whole history of discourse of the national identity is omitted and in
the dark emptiness where the subject’s body turns, lies the issue of designation of the constituents which determine the national affiliation. If the firm, natural constituents do not
exist - then construction is everything.
creation of a universal, totalitarian theory is wrong
and it fails the reality, probably always,
AND now for sure; DonNa HaraWAY
In the end of the last century an intimate identity became a political issue and accordingly an instrument of manipulation.
Deconstructing the mechanisms of the monitoring discourse means marking the stereotypes used for exercising the power of manipulation. As Lacan would put it, recognising the elements of the structure the designator establishes and propagates via symbolic,
but also in the spirit of the Guattari/Deleuze’s thesis on the discourse as a political and
psychiatric, at the same time.
The universal female issues and the archetypes of birth giving and parenthood, position of the church, violence, identities, and social stereotypes features in the works
analysed above, have been determined by the context they communicate with, and
only if one understands their mutual conditioning, one may fully read the art of Alicja
Żebrowska, Janene Higgins and Milica Tomić.
I agree with Foucault, who claims that the female intellectuals do not fight to achieve
power but to act locally, and by conquering a language, in this case the language that constructs the stereotypes, to make it possible to destroy and change the dominant structures;
I also agree with the J. Butler’s theory on the performativity of identity, according to which
we live through different identities, and when one of them prevails it becomes violent.
The essence of contemporary feminism is primarily reflected in the attempts to break
free from identification, since the previous experiences have proved that in the interaction
between resistance and power, marginalised identities have, in fact, participated in the
identification regimes they have intended to confront.
211
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Butler, Judith: „Od parodije do politike“, Ženske studije, Beograd 1990, no. 4.
Bonitzer, Pascal: Površina videa, Beograd, Institut za film, 1997.
Coui, Elisabet: Osetiti sećanje i priče drugih, Zbornik, Novi Sad, VideoMedeja, 2000.
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kritike, Tulsa 1996.
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Haraway, Donna: „Manifest kiborga“, Feminističke sveske, Beograd 1997, no. 1.
Irigaray, Luce: „Spekulum - Svaka teorija je uvek bila prilagođena ‘muškom’“, Ženske studije, Beograd
2003, no. 6.
Isaak, Jo Anna: „Women: The Ruin of Representation“, Afterimage, 1985, no. 6.
Kowalczyk, Izabela: „Feminist art in Poland today“, N. Paradoxa, 1999, no. 11.
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Leszkowicz, Pawel: Feminist Revolt: Censorship of Women’s art in Poland, ###http Bad Subjects, 2005.
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Sretenović, Dejan: Video umetnost u Srbiji, Beograd, Centar za savremenu umetnost, 2000.
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[email protected]
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213
UDC 75(496.5)
Mixhait Pollozhani
State University of Tetovo
Faculty of Art
Macedonia
The Image
Censorship in Albanian
Soc-Realistic Painting
Summary: The socialist realism in form of an artistic doctrine of the communist ideology, along with other instruments of propaganda, invented the censorship of image. After it had been implemented in the soviet soc-realism in
the time of Josef Stalin, the censorship became a very efficient tool for the
propaganda in Albanian soc-realism as well. Precisely the theme of the article:
Censorship of image, will testify that with the strengthening of the personality
cult, censorship also became very active during the 70’s of the previous century
in Albanian art through glorification of the figure of the Albanian communist
leader, Enver Hoxha. In Albanian painting, another version of its own kind of
the censorship of the image emerged, which was used for political purposes
in an aggressive way. After the suicide (murder) of Mehmet Shehu in 1981, he
was proclaimed an enemy of the state, and his figure began to be erased from
some paintings. For that reason the painting “The Moscow Conference 1960” of
the author Guri Madhi was censored and revised three times. Meanwhile “The
Declaration of the Republic” of Famir Haxhiu, was announced inappropriate and
for that reason it was made in a clean version by Vilson Kilica.
Key words: Censorship, cult, personality, art, doctrine, ideology, communism
This kind of visualization shows that the political course of the communist doctrine,
through the unprecedented brainwashing of the citizen led the Albanian society to a
very big spiritual paralysis. This kind of philosophy of the Albanian communist party
confronted the Albanian art with an esthetic sterilization. So, not only did the instrument
of the censorship ruthlessly damage the art, but in that way it was used as a means of
falsifying the historical truth of the NLW (National Liberation War) of Albania.
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The search for the aesthetic in the ideological world resembles a trek through the
story of psychological drama, which can only be caused by a politicized art doctrine,
as it was in socialist realism, which was utterly obsessed, and was, even to absurdity,
possessed by dogmas and propaganda, and more or less by feelings and the secrets of the
heart. This means that soc-realistic canon was more inclined towards the mimetic rather
than the ontological in art.
As these kinds of ideologies function outside of the soul, for that very reason they
become merciless in the no-alternative life-giving of prearranged painted holy ideals, so
their creators often place themselves in truly hopeless situations. In reaching the goals
that have been set, ideological followers, which inevitably become hostages of their own
dogmas, put in use all possible and impossible mechanisms to accomplish the utopias,
and having no conscience, often bring into question even the absolute truth. Art became
a victim of this totalitarian thinking, while censorship proved to be a very efficient
instrument in its (mis)use.
The power of censorship
Censorship exists from a long time ago and becomes an unavoidable phenomenon in the
centuries-old social development of humanity. Through time, it gained new shapes of action
and reached a status of political apparatus of the state, whereas it enabled control and gave
help to the governments. This gained power was expressed through control and authorization
of certain state instruments for suppression of words, paintings and all kind of acts that are
considered to be anti-state or are not to taste of those who are in power. It was like this before,
but unfortunately, it is the same today, it is misused both when it is needed and when it is not.
It is commonly known that the censorship is intensified, especially at the times of social
unrest, where the governing structures in the name of high state interests, with the purpose
of preserving the public peace and order, impose orthodox methods of censorship in political
and cultural life. Most prominently, it is practiced and conducted through censorship in
visual culture, which nowadays takes more and more application in all its work. Of especially
great interest is its use in fine arts, and that is also the subject of this topic, which is about
image censorship1 in Albanian soc-realistic painting, which was not only (mis)used in the
imposing of communist ideology, but also became and instrument of the misuse of history.
The article, which comprises a special chapter in my doctoral thesis under the title:
“Socialist Realism (1945-1950) in Fine Arts in Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria”, done
at the University St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, is an attempt to convey a part of
painting created under the censorship of “Enverism”, which reinforced the “personality
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_the_Soviet_Union: The censorship of the image or the
Visual censor in the Albanian soc-realistic painting was copied from the Soviet Union, which was installed
in visual arts during the rule of Josif Stalin. It was used for political purposes, by removing inappropriate
personalities and the politically persecuted, not only from photographs, posters, but even from paintings.
215
cult”2. That happened during the 70s, since 20th century in SR Albania is probably one of
the rare examples of art demotion by politics.
Soc-realistic painting in Albania was created between censorship and fantasy. Regardless
of strong dogmatic thinking, the liberal fantasy of some Albanian artists never stopped
acting, as attempts of a constant struggle to abandon the imposed ideological framework in
Albanian art. This means that in spite of the isolation with which Albanian society was faced,
and the impossibility of direct contacts with the modern artistic achievements worldwide,
Albanian artists did not stop mounting resistance, to gain greater creative freedom at least.
But even so, the party’s reaction was quicker, as always, and the government aggressively
reacted to any kind of more liberal tendencies, so this time it was a lot sharper, closing in on them,
so in the next few years the development of Albanian fine art was put under complete control.
In the next ten years in Albania exclusively dosed and controlled dogmatic art was created, full
of schematic cliche elements, which almost became daily in art realization, known as the phase
of Enveristic communism aggressively entered against any kinds of liberal tendencies.
Glorification of history through painting
The most open different art expression appeared in the exhibition opened in 1971, and
in some other exhibitions in the following years. However, experimenting in Albanian art,3
following the example of the south European trends, which meant the release or abandonment
of the method of soc-realism, lasted for a short period of time and without any notable results.
As it is pointed out above, in the IV Plenum of CK of PTA, held in June 1971, the avant-garde
movement4 of Albanian art, supported predominantly by the generation of young artists educated
at the Albanian Art Academy, was interfered by the communist government, and the same was
proclaimed anti-communist.
This was a motive for the Albanian communist government to continue with the harsh
political measures, so during the next years, a certain number of artists, writers, directors, and
musicians were unremittingly repressed and persecuted. Their creative destiny depended on
the cruelty of the people, who probably did not even have anything to do with art culture, and
were least interested in art, because they were more affected by the loyalty to their communist
superiors, as well as the execution of party directives.
With the “unsuccessful Albanian Spring”5 the end of all hopes also arrived and once and
for all the canons of the most orthodox dogmatic communism in art were abandoned, and
this means that the chances for Albanian artists joining the worldwide modern art trends were
suppressed for a better future.
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality: The terms “cult of personality” and “personality cult”
were popularized by Khrushchev’s Secret Speech of 1956.
3 Çika, Leon, Drishti, Ylli, 2005, 34-35.
4 Elsie, Robert: 2001: (373-374)
5 Çika, Leon, Drishti, Ylli, 2005: (35)
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If somewhere after the 60s art in Albania continued to develop almost completely cut off from
the happenings in the developed southern countries, after 1974 Albanian art continued to be created
completely isolated even from the rest of the socialist world. It got more and more impossible for
the artists to get in contact with the original works of the famous, old and new world authors.
Their contact with foreign art was not possible even in a legal way, as it happened with music
or literary works, because all the doors of modern fine art worldwide, were nearly closed. So,
painting was more and more becoming a hostage of schematic modeling, so artists were put in a
hopeless situation. Through painting even history began to be glorified.
The artists that ventured in the adventures of a more liberal expression at the beginning of
the 1970s were faced with unprecedented consequences. Also, there was a significant number of
artists who, in order to show their loyalty to the party, continued, with an even more vigorous
tempo in creating paintings, to adhere strictly to soc-realistic canon. With that attitude, the
path towards the Albanian variant6 of socialist realism opened even more, and according to
the academic Luan Starova, it meant persistent propagation of “naive maniheism”, “credulous
triumphalism”, as a type of “messianic promises”, in achieving their “goal”, not only in the field of
fine art but also in the entire Albanian culture.
There were artists who continued strict adherence to soc-realistic art doctrine, accepting
and applying the suggestions of party officials consistently. The figure-image of Enver Hoxha,
that more and more occupied cult features, became one of the main concerns of party promotion
and certainly because of that he was a lot more present in art. Thus, quite openly the so-called
official artists7 were promoted by a way of court artists, whose activity was not formally official,
but practically functioned that way.
Only a certain number of artists had the right to shape the image-figure of the first Albanian
communist leader, Enver Hoxha, while a lot more rigorous were the criteria according to which were
chosen the artists in front of whom the leader posed. Among the artists who had this opportunity,
who also left paintings – artistic creations with his image-figure, of the older generation there were
the sculptors Odise Paskali and Shaban Haderi, and of the younger generation Muntaz Dhrami,
while famous soc-realistic painters were: Wilson Kilica, Zef Shoshi and later Sali Shijaku.
Even though there are more undiscovered works, this time we will take only the two most
important examples into consideration, to show the improper truth which the painting of socialist
realism in Albania has experienced.
The image censorship on a painting composition
Undoubtedly, one of the most productive painters of that period was also the painter Guri
Madhi, who was just politically rehabilitated and right at the embers of the great purges that
6 Starova, Luan, 1994, 1-15
7 According to the writing of Albanian press and the stories of Albanian artists that we contacted, among
which was Wilson Kilica. The painter Zef Shoshi, author of some paintings dedicated to the figure of Enver
Hoxha, in our conversation denied that had the opportunity to have Hoxha sit for him, but he confirmed
that the communist leader sat for the painters Wilson Kilica and Muntaz Dhrami.
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swept through the country. He presented some significant works, among which was also the great
composition entitled “The Moscow Conference”8 (Mbledhja e Moskës). The painting attracted
attention, not only because it was marked the most symbolic painting of Albanian soc-realism, but
also because of its underlying destiny, which represents pure political absurdity. This is a typical,
maybe even the most extreme example of how politics in the most unscrupulous and roughest
way intruded into an artwork, similar to the “image censorship” in the Soviet art. But this painting
was significant because it keeps the original version of the cruel function of Albanian socialist
realism in itself. The destiny of this painting composition also hides in itself the truth about the
relationship between the artist and the government, within a totalitarian communist regime,
which was in power in Albania at the time. One of the most important historical moments is fixed
in this painting, glorified by the extreme communist propaganda and was about the separation
of Enver Hoxha and Nikita Khrushchev, which meant permanent separation of Albania from the
Soviet Union, and at the same time with the remaining part of the socialist block.
The Moscow Conference, exactly the event in “Gorkovskaya Hall” gained very large
dimensions in Albanian art. Among the numerous works of all fields of art, in the same year
some significant literary works also originated. One of the most famous is considered to be the
novel “The Winter of Great Solitude” (Last winter) of the famous Albanian writer Ismail Kadare.
There are also some very interesting but unusual connected stories9 regarding this painting.
The purpose of the actualization of such a great historical event for the party’s Central Committee
was to affirm the personality of Enver Hoxha.
The composition “The Moscow Conference” was created nearly fifteen years after this historic
event, significant for the destiny of communist Albania, happened, and in a quite tense atmosphere
that happened soon after the liberal attempts in Albanian culture were foiled. This painting reflects
the history of Albanian society in the period from 1960 to 1985. The event of the great fraternal
separation of the Albanian nation from its bigger brother, Soviet Union, is covered in it.
Because the intention of the highest Albanian official was to use the painting for big
propagandistic purposes, he set the criteria in advance stating how one should compose a
painting dedicated to the famous conference of 81 communist parties from all around the world,
held in December 1960 in Moscow10.
Considering the significance of the Moscow communist conference, in the further
course of history of the Albanian people and the Albanian state, it was required that the
8 Andon Kuqali, 1988: The Painting represents a huge composition whose dimensions are: 210 cm 265
cm ; Drishti, Ylli. Varvarica, Suzana, (35); Bushati, Andi, 2009: www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php
9 Galeria e Arteve figurative, 1978: See the introductory word: The work was created after Plenum IV of the
Party of Labor of Albania, ordered in September of the year 1973, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of
the Liberation of Albania and the inauguration of the new building of the National Art Gallery in Tirana.
10 According to the stories of his son, Pandi Madhi, the author was touched* by that correction, and
because of his disobedience he was expelled from the communist party. The artist and critic Abaz Hado,
in a documentary on TV-Klan of the author Andi Bushati, says “Guri Madhi presented the figure of Enver
Hoxha without glorifying him.” See: Bushati, Andi, 2009: (01. 06); “www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php,
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painters tell the truth in an ‘artistic’ way, exclusively according to the Albanian delegation’s
version of that dramatic act. The artist was required to stress the most dramatic moment
when Enver Hoxha stood up and by pointing the finger warned the people who were present,
with special accusation directed to Nikita Khrushchev, as traitors of real communism.
The author, Guri Madhi, in his canvas brings it in its own common distinguishable
narrative way that fulfilled the composition, with countless characters portrayed. The
composition’s action happens like in a courtroom, where Enver Hoxha is painted in
the position of the prosecutor, while the others are the accused. During the pictorial
performance of the composition, the author applies two layers, one concerns the approach
toward the Albanian delegation, while the other concerns the rest of the people in the hall.
After the example of the French realist painter, Onore Domie, the images of numerous
communist leaders are presented in caricature. They remained faithful to Khrushchev,
frowning and being surprised, and painted with darker colors.
The portrayed figure of Enver Hoxha was there in front of them, in a standing position,
in a superior way, accompanied by the three members of the Albanian delegation that sit
on both sides of their communist leader. Also, a more decent presentation of the figures of
the Chinese delegation can be noticed standing to the left of the Albanian delegation. This
means that the author first put on the graphic – figurative aspect, which means that he did
not dedicate enough attention to the aesthetic value of the painting.
The painting represents a pale colonistic edition, with modest colorful coating, with
a domination of blue-greenish and dark-yellowish color. The stress of colorful symbolic
and optimistic soc-realistic note is in the background, that is to say, to the central space
of the composition, where the Albanian delegation is placed. It is exactly this painted
version that matches the attitude of the Albanian communist leader, Hoxha, expressed at
that conference, posing as the savior of communism from the American imperialism and
the Soviet socialist revisionism. The symbolism of the light in the paint gets even religious
connotation, because apostolic-pastoral features are carried through it
It is obvious that the light in the painting is forced a lot, which sometimes seems
baroque, because according to the interior arrangement of the “Gorgovskaya Hall” there
are no such opportunities for natural lighting as it is seen on the canvas, because of the fact
that there are no big windows. Since the portrait of Enver Hoxha was placed at that part,
the author was forced to add more light, so in that way the right path that the Albanian
leader chose, in his opinion the lighted path, would be symbolized.
Repercussions of the painting “The Moscow Conference” by Guri Madhi began after it
was exhibited in November 1974 at the annual exhibition opened at GKA. However, because
of the vicissitudes that this painting had experienced, its popularity rises today, not because
of its aesthetic values, but because of its historical-documentary significance. The way of
modeling the event was set under a powerful stroke of Albanian communist art critics.
Bigger remarks were directed to the way the figure of the Albanian communist leader
Enver Hoxha, was painted, representing a central figure of the composition. But despite
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that, in the beginning the criticism was not always public or sharp. Even in the media of that
time, the painting The Moscow Conference is mentioned completely superficially, which
means that the suggestions of the superiors were also moderate. The real truth of reactions
is certainly hidden in the original party documents that are still unavailable to the public11.
The author, Guri Madhi, was asked by the commission in charge of the cultural-art
life in the country to perform some corrections12, because, according to their opinion, the
painting was not finished and it was not proper for such an historic act of importance to
Albanian communist party, while it was even less worthy of the figure of Enver Hoxha,
who should be given a greater importance.
It was required that the figure of the Albanian communist leader look even more
superior, in a figurative and artistic aspect. But as the author of the painting, Guri Madhi
did not agree to perform corrections in his work, his colleague, a very successful socrealistic painter, Zef Shoshi13, performed them. The figure of Enver Hoxha is distinguished
from the other portrait figures, because in its performance a special touch and a special
figurative access is noticed. The figure of the leader seems far more photographic, if not
more natural14. Also, it should be noted that the painter, Zef Shoshi, painted his own formal
version of “The Moscow Conference” in 1980, where the figure of Mehmet Shehu and the
Chinese delegation were cleaned, so aesthetically it looked more pale but politically it
looked safer15.
11 Rama, Kristaq, 1975: (92) The famous soc-realistic Albanian sculptor, of the painting Moscow
Conference of Guri Madhi, wrote that the combination is realized in a circular shape, with the figure
of our leader in the central position, dominating the canvas, is resolved fairly. If in the upper part there
is some kind of order and safety, in the lower part the circle closes with a disorganized costume graphic
rhythm, disturbed faces and scattered papers. The painter tried to bring that atmosphere in the canvas. If
in the lower part of the composition the goal is achieved, in the upper part, especially in the central part,
where our delegation is positioned, a more careful and deeper work was required, not only on the aspect
of colorful treat, but also in the painting of figures and their psychological condition.
12 Bushati, Andi, 2009: www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php, When it was exhibited, the painting was declared unfinished. They required that the portrait of Enver Hoxha be painted in a more detailed way, They
wanted photographic similarities of his figure, rather than artistic performance. Their remarks were that
the portrait was painted paler than it should have been. As I remember, the face of Hoxha was painted with
a yellowish color. At that exhibition the original variant of the painting of Guri Madhi was exhibited. 13 Maliqi, Toni, 2009: http://tonimaliqi.blogspot.com/2009/06lloqe-kavaje.html; In the conversation
the painter Zef Shoshi confirmed the same, that the portrait of Enver Hoxha in the painting The Moscow
Conference of Guri Madhi is his work.
14 Bushati, Andi, 2009: www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php, According to the stories of his son, Pandi
Madhi, the author was upset about that correction, and because of his disobedience he was expelled from
the communist party. The artist and critic Abaz Hado, in the documentary on TV-Klan of the author
Andi Bushati, says “Guri Madhi presented the figure of Enver Hoxha without glorifying it“. A normal and
communicative person. But he was asked to present the face of the communist leader in a more militant
way and more unrepeatable. The now existing portrait of Enver Hoxha in the composition The Moscow
Conference is a work of Zef Shoshi, and the experts of his creation can recognize his way of painting.
15 http://tonimilaqi.blogspot.com/2009/06/lloqe-kavaje.html
220
In order for the absurdity to get bigger, it should be remembered that the vicissitudes of
this painting do not end with that intrusion, because something similar to that happened in
1978, when Albania had a disagreement with PR China, because in the original composition
the portraits of the Chinese delegation were painted, but it was required to erase them from the
painting. This time the author accepted and he erased the figures of the Chinese delegation from
his painting. The erased figures of the Chinese delegation were replaced with silhouette features
outlined, but the original figures can be identified with X-rays.
The composition “The Moscow Conference” survived even a third attempt of its correction,
as it was required16 in 1981, after the suicide of Mehmet Shehu, a long-time president of Albanian
government, who also was a member of the Albanian delegation, and as the closest associate of
Hoxha, had quite a noticeable position in the painting. But, thanks to the astuteness of the author,
Guri Madhi, he avoided the worst, hauling himself with the explanation that if he did that, then
the composition would lose its balance and it would question even the character of the painting.
Even though, from and aesthetic aspect, the painting does not represent a valuable artistic
work, it is considered to be a most symbolical work, not only in the works of Guri Madhi, but
also in Albanian soc-realistic art
Unsuitability of a painting
Another example also presents notable interest, but it varies somehow from the
previous ones, which had the same purpose of revising the truth about an important
historical event. During Albanian soc-realism, not only were people and artists declared
ineligible, but also their artistic works. The act of the declaration of Albania as a republic,
exhausted as a painting theme, shows the real political preoccupation, but also the unseen
absurdity that is present in soc-realistic fine art in the following years of this communist
state. This painting’s composition has its own authentic story because since the first
painted version was pulled out from public, the second version was created, which had
also experienced content and artistic censorship.
In the first painting: “The Declaration of the Republic” (1974)17 (Shpallja e Republikës)
– the painter Fatmir Haxhiu, brings out one of the most significant moments of Albanian
communism. Through a harmonized symmetric composition the author succeeded in catching
the most exultant moment, when the highest Albanian communist leader leaves the building,
where moments ago it was declared a communistic republic. The act occurs in the large square
in front of the building where the winners were welcomed by the blissful, jubilant crowd.
According to the position of the composition, because it has been a long time since this
happened in 1944, we can understand that it is about a well-studied topic. The composition
16 Veizi, Leonard, 2009: www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php; Bushati, Andi, 01.06.2009; http://tonimaliqi.blogspot.com/2009/06/lloqe-kavaje.html: For about 13 years this painting was isolated from the
public and was placed at the black fund of artistic works.
17 Galeria e Arteve figurative, 1978; Drishti, Ylli, Varvarica, Suzana: Monogafi
221
is quite compressed with grouped figures of people in the table on both sides, while in the
center-middle the figure of Enver Hoxha is painted, in a military uniform, accompanied
by his associates in the background, also wearing uniforms. In a more studious artistic
performance, the solemn atmosphere is carried in a frontal scene position, where the
ordinary people dominate: villagers, workers, soldiers, young and old, which with raised
flags shout happily, while traditional folk dancers perform the “dance of freedom”.
The canvas as a whole represents a complete soc-realistic performance, which is
described in small details, as it is the case with the dance group, which occupies a large
space in the composition. Over seventy human figures compressed in the canvas, some of
which are wearing older everyday clothes, carry a part of the authentic atmosphere enriched
with an emotional colorful extension, expressed in the military uniforms, the traditional
costumes which are features of the atmosphere created in those liberation moments.
Very often an impression that all portraits are painted with the same colorful intensity
and tonification is created, that at one point the effect and the tonality of the color fades
away. Also, we can notice the similar way of the performance of the figures; whether
they are inside or outside, in the shadow or in the day light18, it creates more optimistic
features, typical of a soc-realistic painting. Because of the successful soc-realistic figurative
language, the painting “The Declaration of the Republic” was considered to be most
representative, and because of that, the painting was put in the building of The National
Parliament of Albania19, in 1981, and was declared as ineligible, and was put in the black
fund of the gallery, and instead of it another painting was ordered.
In the last decade of Albanian soc-realism some unexplained political events happened.
Among the most dramatic events, without doubt is the mysterious death of the second man
of the communist Albania, Mehmet Shehu20. Since then “The Declaration of the Republic”
by Fatmir Haxhiu was put in the black fund after the “suicide” of Mehmet Shehu, who
was attacked as a reactionary and an enemy of the government. As its substitute, the
painter Wilson Kilica was asked to paint another version dedicated to this significant
event of Albanian communist history. He agreed to paint the canvas “The Declaration
of the Republic” (1981)21, which consists of a different and more schematic version of the
painting of the same theme. This also represents a big-size composition, where the figures
18 Rama, Kristaq, 1975: (90-91)
19 Mile, Alma, 2010: www.panorama.com.al/index.php
20 Mehmet Shehu (1913-1981) was for many years the Chairman of the Government of Socialist People’s
Republic of Albania, at the top of the military apparatus and the notorious Security, who was first considered the closest associate, but later even Enver Hoxha’s rival. Initially, it was said that it was a suicide, but
later came out the versions that it was a liquidation with political motifs.
21 Mile, Alma, 2010: www.panorama.com.al/index.php www.panorama.com.al/index.php; Bushati,
Andi, 2009: www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php; The author Wilson Kilica, confirmed the same thing
in our conversation. As he told us, there was an order to replace the work with the same title of Fatmir
Haxhiu, which hanged on the walls of the building of Albanian Parliament.
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are grouped in three parts. In the central part, where the main event takes place, is the
figure of the communist leader Enver Hoxha, who is wearing an officer’s uniform, leaves the
building where the solemn declaration of the Albanian Communistic Republic happened.
This version of the Declaration of the Republic is also a big canvas composition, with a
bigger number of figures of uniformed people and civilians in different positions, enriched
with dynamics and gesticulations22. The colors are not so bright, the grey and white color
dominating. The composition is balanced with three more figural groups, the organization
of which is in the function of the main figure, which takes the central part of the painting,
that is, the figure of the commandant, Enver Hoxha, wearing an officer’s uniform, escorted
by his close associates and the honorary military guard on his left. While, on his right and
left side, dominate some people and soldiers in uniforms.
The gestures of the people show that their leader is welcomed as a messiah, where
attention is drawn to the reaction of an elderly lady with the way she experiences
the appearance of the leader in front of the people, as if he was the savior. Another
monumental figurative accomplishment paints the mood of the communist elite shown
in the application of the soc-realistic requirements in the post-liberal years in the country.
Conclusion
This way of visualization of similar themes shows that the new course of communist
political doctrine leads to a bigger spiritual paralysis and peculiar brainwashing of
Albanian citizens, which apparently succeeded in that, causing to the Albanian society
unforeseeable consequences23 that will be felt for a long time. After that, follows a real
terrorization conducted on Albanian artists and intellectuals, for example, the Stalinist
method of political purges in the time of the creation of the Soviet federation in the early
1930s. These events present a huge step back for the entire Albanian art, especially fine art.
Now, from this perspective, after 20 years, when the Albanian socialist realism is out
of figurative methodology, the question is often brought up about whether this figurative
expression represented the reality as it was proclaimed by that same art doctrine!? After
all, today it is considered to be a quantitative aesthetic product and with the examples
presented in this work, one thing is certain: that the Albanian socialist realism, in its
forty years of existence is shown as being most dogmatic and most orthodox, but also as
more provincial than the rest of the soc-realistic art in the neighboring countries, such as
Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.
22 www.panorama.com.al/index.php?id=28035; Alma Mile, Kilica: Enver Hoxha ka pozuar n[ studion e
Mios, 08, maj, 2010; www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php, Zone e ndaluar , Andi Bushati, Imazhet e pambledhura te Moskes, 01. 06. 2009
23 The author Wilson Kilica, confirmed the same thing in our conversation. As he told us, it was made as
an order to replace the work with the same title of Fatmir Haxhiu, that hanged in the walls of the building
of Albanian Parliament.
223
In this way, it can be concluded that if the socialist society conceived by Marx,
experimented with by Lenin, implemented by Stalin, for the needs of the Marxist-Leninist
ideology, among other things, also invented the socialist realism, their ideas, and with
that method, Enver Hoxha, the most faithful ideological successor, finished them off,
whose managerial philosophy not only brought Albanian art to aesthetic sterility, but also
intended to change it, even to forge the historical truth of the NLW (National Liberation
War) in Albania.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Drishti, Ylli. Suzana Varvarica. Monografi me artistët shqiptarë të shekullit XX (Postcurriculum),
Galeria Kombëtare e Arteve, Tiranë
Elsie, Robert : 2001: (373-374) Historia e letërsisë shqiptare, Pejë
Kuqali, Andon: 1988, Historia e artit shqiptar 2, Tiranë
Rama, Kristaq: 1975: (90 – 91), Piktura e ndritshme e bukur shqiptare, Nëntori 6, Tiranë
Старова, Луан: 1993/4, Социјалистичкиот реализам и балканските литератури, Скопје
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_the_Soviet_Union:, decembar, 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality, mart, 2010
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Klan, Revista Telegraf, Pse refuzoi Guri Madhi, të hiqte Mehmetin nga tabloja; 09 October, 2009,
04:27:00 Leonard VEIZI; www.tvklan.tv/off_art_emisioni.php
13. www.panorama.com.al/index.php?id=28035; Alma Mile, Kilica: Enver Hoxha ka pozuar në studion
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[email protected]
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225
UDC 316.75
Aleksandra Đurić Bosnić
The Institute for Culture of Vojvodina, Novi Sad
Serbia
The Ideological Speech
of Culture: Circulus Vitiosus
Summary: The paper will investigate the aspects of the interdependence of
ideology and culture based on philosophical (Mannheim, Althusser) and culturological (Geertz) insights. The ideological potential of culture, irrespective
of its foretoken or qualifications, will be investigated as well as the nature of
its formative capabilities in socio-psychological context. The hypothesis is that
ideologicalized culture, which can be understood as a consequence, or in fact,
both the outcome and the source of the re-created ideology or an ideology perpetually created from the start: symbolic forms as a sequence of “plausible
images” are, therefore, those that enable mental comprehension or a perception of ideological constructs through the senses. If the ideological constructs
are specific intellectual maps or landmarks, holders of certain attitudes to the
world which at some point inevitably become an instruction for a concrete social
activity, then the question of the postulates of values on which those constructs
are based, may be among the primary ontologically distinctive questions of ideologies, as well as their practical emanations.
Key words: culture, ideology, ideologized culture, ideological constructs,
state ideological apparatus, symbolic forms, criteria of truth, closed society.
There is a permanent, almost causal conditioning and interdependence between a closed
society, closed culture and an ideology compatible with it. The ideological framework of a
group, a social system, or a state is never just passively compatible with the culture that it
promotes and develops. Their relation implies a double formative and active relation, first
the relation of the ideology to culture and then reciprocally, the relation of the culture to the
ideology. If it is the ideology that forms a culture convenient and efficient for itself, then it is
the culture formed in that manner that is also responsible for the promotion, creation and sustaining of the ideological framework within which it was created. The ideological expression
of the culture in this respect is a specific vicious circle: the existence of a particular ideological
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framework owes its duration to the related cultural model which in turn, owes its own creation
and unhampered development to this ideological framework. Current political and sociological theories deal with the “elusiveness” and the impossibility of the semantic determination of
the term “ideology”. Following Antoine Destutt de Tracy’s definition of ideology as a “science
of ideas” in 1796, ideology became a key term in Marx’s German ideology (1846/1970) with
characteristic determinants which point to the essence of the term: ideology is ontologically
intrinsic to illusion and mystification, its origin points to the system of classes as a reflection
of interests and Weltanschaung of the ruling class, and finally, the function of ideology is the
manifestation of the ruling power. The Marxist definition also includes the dimension of the
“spiritual” effect of ideology: “The thoughts of the ruling class in each epoch are the ruling
thoughts, i.e. the class which represents the ruling material power of the society is also its ruling spiritual power.” (Marx, Engels, 1974, 43, VI)
One of the most impressive theoretical contributions to defining the concept of ideology
was given by Karl Mannheim in “Ideology and Utopia”. In the most general sense, Mannheim
defines ideology as a manner, structure and content of thinking which is socially conditioned
and inseparable from the primary collective life experiences, aspirations and activities of social groups and as such, the thinking which is the holder of the collective Weltanschaung.
(Manhajm, 1978). According to Mannheim, the main goal of thought is the knowledge of reality which, in its ideal version, should be as comprehensive and encompassing as possible, and
it should correspond to reality: “A thought must not have less or more content than the reality
in which it stands.” (Manhajm, 1978, 96) A thought which is true enables orientation and adjustment within the limits of reality. Opposed to the thought which is true lies false awareness,
which comprises ideas disabling existential orientation and its conceptual and categorical
framework cannot be used by an individual for the adjustment to social circumstances. (Milić,
1978) If the main criterion of truth is its most adequate reflection of reality, then both ideology and utopia are two forms of distorted thought separate from the potential of truth, since
they always contain more than the existing by way of transcending it. The common trait of
ideology and utopia is the very possibility of the false awareness. Mannheim makes the difference between two separate forms of ideology: particular ideologies that represent ideas, systems of values and beliefs of individuals, groups or parties as opposed to total ideology which
encompasses the entire Weltanschaung of a historic period, society and social class. The crucial thesis of Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge, which explains that it is impossible to understand the ways of thinking if its social origin is obscure, leads to several premises, which
could be indicative for the investigation of the interdependence of culture and ideology: a)
people think within particular groups, b) groups have a developed specific style of thinking,
and c) the style of the thinking of the group is always a reaction to a typical situation which
characterizes the position of the group. These premises show the dual determination of the
individual: on the one hand, he arrives to a situation which is already formed, and on the
other hand, within the found situational framework, he also finds the models of thinking and
behaving which are already formed. In this respect, the question of the connection between
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the existential states previous to the formation of a certain ideological code and their interpretation is one of the crucial questions for the understanding of the origin of an ideological
doctrine. Namely, the question is, in what way certain socially structured states condition
certain ways of the interpretations of existence, which are later to condition a certain type of
socio-culturological reactions... According to Mannheim, human thinking is not constituted
freely “floating in a space free of society”, but rather, it is the opposite, i.e. “always rooted in a
certain place within the space”. (Manhajm, 1978, 80) However, among the norms of a social
context, as well as among its immanent ways of thinking as orientation schemes (space/time),
it is possible to differentiate true and false, real and deceptive concepts and beliefs. The concept of false awareness is explained by Mannheim in various contexts: “In the ethical sense,
awareness is false when a wrong action is forced by wrong moral imperatives; in psychological
sense, awareness is wrong when, through the established sense (of the world and existence) it
is concealing, obstructing and preventing a new “spiritual” reaction and a new attitude of the
individual; in theoretical sense it is false when it is offering obsolete and false norms and when
it is “thinking” in categories which are impossible to use in order to manage within the existential framework. Therefore, in this contest, false ideological awareness could be defined as
the awareness whose “way of orientation has not reached new reality, so that it is concealing
the reality with obsolete categories”. (Manhajm, 1978, 95) In order to master a historical existential situation, it is necessary that the process is simultaneous with a certain kind of thinking: the thinking which, according to Mannheim, moves towards the current issues and which
is capable of knowing the essence of the existing. The ideological practice which opposes this
power to know the essence of the existing, according to Mannheim, is fascism. In the context
of the fascist ideological code, politics is stripped off the element of knowing and is focused on
one single function, i.e. to pave the way for action in two ways: at first by destroying “all those
who are below”, all the referential points which make history experienced as a process and, by
“paying attention to the soul of the masses”, particularly to their will to power and their instincts whose functioning it closely follows: “This psyche of the masses is completely subjected
to the laws which are to a great extent timeless, because it was separated from history while the
“historicity” of social psyche can be noticed only there where the socially and historically engaged man is taken into account”. (Manhajm, 1978, 137) A social and historical disengagement initiated and maintained by the action of false awareness is the basis of ideological manipulations. Mannheim notices that the basic ideas of such political and ideological manipulation are to be found as early as in Machiavelli: the “elan” of the great leader, the “realism” which
demystifies”, the techniques of socio-psychological propaganda which he uses in order to “rule
over the soul of the masses”, which he profoundly despises, as well as the tendency towards
disintegration of the historical plan coupled with the theory of the necessity of immediate action. In the process of transformation of modern societies, in which open crises break out, and
in which, according to Mannheim’s formulation, the path of evolution occasionally fails, and
the individual has lost his orientation of identity, it is easy for “creations of the moment” to
occur, as well as for the mass to form and for the possibility of dictatorship to be imposed. In
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such “eruptive moments” the social context inevitably has a profound layer of the irrational,
which in its essence is a-historical and rationally incomprehensible. This a-historical sphere is
a sphere of “straying vital instincts”, which, although essentially incomprehensible, is open to
manipulation with certain techniques. It is most frequently added to the super-historical and
spiritual: “That which is not rationalized forms an alliance here with that which in our mind
and spiritual life cannot be brought down to historical categories. But it is this point that offers
the view to the sphere which, at least up to now, has been completely a-historical. It is the
sphere of totally insidious vital instincts which, in their eternal equality, lie as a foundation
under each historic event which we cannot understand, but which we can externally control
with an adequate technique.” (Manhajm, 1978, 141) Between the two extremes of the a-historical and super-historical, there is the comprehensible, structured and formed artistically or in
some other way. In his effort to demystify the attractiveness of the fascist-activist experience
and strategy, Mannheim realizes that its secret is to be found in the fact that here the entire
sphere of thinking is manifested as a play of illusions and is reduced to a paradox: although it
is capable to use “myths” to animate the masses, this kind of political thought is incapable of
giving scientific explanation of the political field or future: On the contrary, it is a wonder that
man, in the bright light of the irrational, occasionally manages to gather empirical facts necessary to master the everyday life”. (Manhajm, 1978, 142)
Mannheim’s distinction between ideology and utopia is indicative for this investigation,
in the context of the problem of the mastering of “the present” and of “thinking as the play of
illusion” as well as of certain techniques which are efficient. For Mannheim, the utopian
awareness is the one which transcends reality and is not congruent with the “being” which
surrounds that awareness, which turns into action, partially or completely destroying the current existential order. There are, therefore, two large groups of ideas which transcend existence. One is a group of ideologies and the other is a group of utopias. While ideologies are
ideas that transcend existence but without realizing their content (exhausting themselves at
the motivational level), utopias are ideas which, by transcending existence, alter the current
historical reality using counter-action in the direction of their own design. As a criterion for
differentiating ideologies from utopias, Mannheim suggests the category of realization: “Ideas
which later turned out to have the task of obscuring by hovering above some past or potential
social order, were ideologies; while those which were adequately realized in the succeeding
social order were relative utopias”. (Manhajm, 1978, 202) However, it is often possible in practice that something, which in one period was impossible to realize, becomes reality in another.
This happens due to the fact that labelling certain contents as utopias is usually done by the
representatives of the previous order or system. In other words, the dismantling, or “exposing”
of ideologies as deceptions “incongruent with reality” as a rule, comes from the representatives of the system, order or the social reality which has just begun. Therefore, the concept of
utopia is always determined by the ruling class, which is always compatible in values with the
current order of existence. The concept of ideology, on the other hand, is always determined
by the “oncoming class” as the class which is opposed to the current existential order. In the
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historical sequence, but also in a concept of time and reality, utopian and ideological elements
are not separated nor completely opposed to each other. Mannheim maintains that the utopias of the classes on the rise are often, and to a great extent, mixed with ideological elements.
In order to study the degree of mutual influences, conditioning or joint action of ideology and
utopia, and to precisely determine the meaning of the term “the expression of culture”, the
distinctive theory of ideologies and utopias points out to the discourse on “the principles of
representation”, as well as to the question of the “means” of activity which have the potential to
convert ideology into utopia by realization. Actually, Mannheim realized that “imagination
dissatisfied by the given reality”, objectivised in myths, humanistic phantasies in adventure
novels, had a tendency to construct “opposing utopias”, which destroyed the realized existence. (Manhajm, 1978, 203) The projections of human aspirations are affected by formative
principles which are possible to articulate. Sometimes the projections are about time, (in
which case Mannheim defines them as chiliasms) and sometimes they are about space (in
which case they are defined as utopias). In this context, utopias are all transcendental concepts
that have the potential of becoming realized and which are, therefore, capable of altering a
certain socio-historical context. However, according to Mannheim, it is not always the same
“forces”, “substances” and “concepts” in the human mind that take over the active utopian
function as a function which by alteration destroys the current order: “The given existence in
each case is destroyed by various existential-transcendental factors.” (Manhajm, 1978, 204)
Each one of these alterations occurring during the formation is connected to certain sociohistorical circumstances and certain social classes as potential subjects, although quite frequently the main utopia appears as a phantasm of a “solitary individual” only to be absorbed
in the political will of the wider masses later. Mannheim defines such cases as the “forerunners” which are characterized by the “pioneers’ effort”. This effort (at the beginning of the
utopia) of a solitary forerunner points to the principle of formation which the inspired leader
first used as a source for his ideas, which were later efficient, as socially rooted, also in the case
of volition impulses of his followers. Although it is the “charismatic mind” of the individual
where the new comes to existence, the starting point of the transformation is always found in
the existing and most often as its opposition. The new, active effort of the charismatic individual will become a general stream only in the cases of the connection of the individual to the
general stream which has been tuned to suit the “tendencies of the collective will”: “If, therefore, initially, only an apparently solitary individual forms a utopia of some class, then the
utopia can rightly be attributed to the class whose collective impulses were harmonious with
the achievement of the individual”. (Manhajm, 1978, 205) The problem between the initiation
(by the charismatic leader) – adoption (by the collective) of the utopia extends its existing
definition. Namely, for Mannheim an effective utopia is, as an individual awareness, capable of
formulating already existing tendencies in the social space so that, formed compatibly, it returns into the awareness of social classes where it transforms into action. The gradual activation of social classes towards transformational action in its basis is always realized with connection to various forms of utopia: “The transformation of a modern utopia is a sociological
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topic only because there is a narrow correlation between various kinds of utopia and the classes that are transforming existence”. (Manhajm, 1978, 205) The views of Louis Althusser are
close to the concept of the ideological modelling of existence and subjectivity in “Ideology and
State Ideological Apparatuses”. The ideology is here understood as a means by which social
classes create, maintain and renew the vital conditions of their existence, while the subjectivity is gained with the very mediating of the “ideological interpellations” i.e. specific “summoning” or the inevitable labelling and positioning within the prevailing ideological discourse...
Starting from Marx’s theory of the state (and remaining in its constitutional framework), Althusser adds the explication of the new ideological reality to the existing dichotomy which
establishes the difference between the power of the state and state apparatus naming them
state ideological apparatuses. (Altiser, 2009) State ideological apparatuses differ from state
repressive apparatuses in the Marxist theory. While the latter included the government, administration, army, police, legal system, prisons etc., state ideological apparatuses comprise
realities which can be seen in the forms of determined and specialized institutions. The difference is also made by numerous state ideological apparatuses (compared to the uniqueness and
singularity of the state repressive apparatus) as well as the fact that their major part in its “evident dispersion” is part of a private sphere rather than a completely public one, as is the case
of state repressive apparatus. According to Althusser, there is a religious apparatus (clerical
system), educational (the system of state and private schools), family, legal, political (system of
political parties), trade union, information (system of the media), and cultural (system of art,
science etc.). Although each state apparatus, repressive or ideological, functions simultaneously through violence and ideology, state (repression) apparatuses, according to Althusser’s
knowledge, function mainly through repression (including physical violence). State ideological apparatuses, on the other hand, function mainly through ideology and only as a secondary
means there is repression used “in a mitigated way”, secretly and symbolically: “(there is no
pure ideological apparatus). Thus schools and churches use adequate punishment to discipline not only the shepherds but their flocks as well. The same is true of the DIA cultures
(censorship, among other things), etc.” (Altiser, 2009, 31) Ideologized social reality is inevitably interwoven with a web of more or less explicit or implicit combinations: the plays of repressive and ideological state apparatus. This play is even more complex if, in their essence, the
ideological apparatuses are more diverse. However, it is the ideology of the ruling class that
enables the characteristic mutual ideological trademark. This ideology is always dominant
and prevailing as it possesses the power of the state through the state repressive apparatus.
Particularly important for these investigations appears Althusser’s claim that the ruling class
(or political option) is also active in the state ideological apparatus, “as long as the ruling ideology is realized in the state ideological apparatus in its own contradictions”. (Altiser, 2009, 32)
That is, in order to contribute to the definition of ideology and state ideological apparatus,
Althusser explains that none of the classes (or political options) can manifest or realize state
power over a longer period of time if they do not simultaneously realize the hegemony over
and through the state ideological apparatus. In this context, state ideological apparatuses tran231
scend the function of the cause of class (or political) struggle becoming an arena of severe
class (political) conflicts in the struggle for power. However, for the ruling class or political
option it is much easier and more efficient to rule in the state repressive apparatuses than in
the state ideological apparatuses, because the latter are complex and “contradictory” and may
be a source of resistance and attempts at ideological transformation.
Therefore, some of the characteristics of state ideological apparatuses which also determine their function are their number, diversity, relative autonomy and appropriateness for becoming a field for the expression of contradictions. Similarly, the very unity of state ideological apparatuses is possible through the action of the ruling class but in contradictory forms.
Here is another role, in this case a crucially important one, to be found in the mediating of
the ruling ideology with which it secures the “harmony” (for which Althusser says that it is
sometimes questionable) between state repressive apparatuses and state ideological apparatuses, but also among various state ideologies. Although he finds that all state ideological apparatuses produce the same result, Althusser claims the educational ideological apparatus of
schools to be the dominant state ideological apparatus in capitalist societies: “It (school) takes
children from all walks of life at a very early age, and then over many years by old and new
methods, at the age when the children are the most “vulnerable”, confined between the state
apparatus of the family and the state apparatus of the school, it imprints the “skills” wrapped
in the ruling ideology (French, Arithmetics, Science, Literature) or simply the crude undiluted ideology (Morality, Citizen Education, Philosophy).” (Altiser, 2009, 43) Nevertheless, each
state ideological apparatus contributes to the “result” in its own way: politically – through the
straightforward compliance of the individual with the political state ideology (to the indirect,
that is, parliamentary, direct or fascist and democratic ideological practice). Through information/media and culturally by “spamming” citizens with “daily dozes of nationalism, chauvinism, liberalism, moralism” or some other “ism” adapted to the dogmatic code of the ruling
ideology and through the media (press, radio, television) and cultural and artistic production.
(Altiser, 2009) It is in the effort to analyze the relations and interdependence in the triad
of state-ideology-culture, and in the investigation of the hypotheses about the establishing,
reproducing and maintaining of the ideological expression of culture in the function of the
establishment and conservation of the ruling state or social order (or the one in the process of
establishing) that Althusser’s definition of ideology, as a concept of an imaginary relation of
the individual towards their relative conditions of existence, seems sufficiently complex and
indicative. On the one hand, it points to the imaginary nature of the ideological construct
i.e. a specific construction as an attitude to the world which does not correspond to reality or
does not correspond to it although its perception relies on it. Althusser calls such ideological
types of interpretations “imaginary deformities” of the real world... “people” do not present
concepts of their real conditions of existence to themselves, their real world in the ideology,
but primarily, their attitude towards those conditions of existence which is presented for them
there. It is that relation that contains the “cause” which explains the imaginary deformity of
the ideological concept of the real world as well.” (Altiser, 2009, 56)
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If that which is presented as ideology is not a system of real relationships which conditions and directs the existence of individuals, and if it is always an imaginary and therefore,
interpretative relation of individuals to real relationships of existing, then Althusser is right
to pose the crucial question of his theory: “Why is the concept which is given to individuals
in their (individual) relation to social relationships, which rule their conditions of existence
and their collective and individual lives, inevitably an imaginary relation? And what kind
of imaginary nature is that?” (Altiser, 2009, 57) The answer to that question is suggested in
the fact that the ideas or concepts forming the ideology are materially existent for the very
reason that the imperative of realization is inherent in the nature of ideology: according to Althusser, the ideology is always existing in state ideological apparatuses and their practice. The
form of practice of ideological constructs leads Althusser to another question important for
the investigation of the problem in the context of ideology-reality-individual. Namely, what
does really happen to the individuals who are ideologized and exist as such in the imaginary
deformed concept of the world, which is in turn, conditioned by their imaginary relation to
the given conditions of existence? The answer to this is related to the conditio sine qua non of
every ideological aspiration, i.e. the alteration of the awareness of the individual. The ideological framework of concepts itself contains certain practical attitudes, which the individual
adopts when participating in the ideologically determined and established practices, which
are always the practices of the adequate ideological apparatus. However, the choice made by
the individual within the offered ideological arsenal is, paradoxically, “conscious” and “free”.
Within the dominant ideological code, the individual makes his decision “freely” as to which
ideological variety (which is always adapted to its natural contradictions) or which combination of varieties he will choose. This paradox of the ideology, which is false in its essence, is
based on the assumption that every subject has awareness, that he believes in the ideas which
the awareness arouses in him and that he inevitably acts according to the ideas selected in
this way. The final outcome of this mechanism is that the “free” subject necessarily follows
the imperative of transforming his “own” ideas into action of his material practice because
“if he does not, it is not good”. (Altiser, 2009, 60) To the extent to which practice depends on
ideology, ideology depends on the subject, that is, ideology constitutes subjects. In the basis of
this constituting, as well as in the basis of ideology itself, Althusser finds two primary functions – recognizing or not recognizing as differentiating between “truth” and “error”. In this
way, ideology interpellates, summons, i.e. labels concrete individuals as concrete individuals1:
“We will find that ideology “acts” or “functions” by recruiting subjects among individuals
(it recruits them all) by the very operation that we called interpellation and which can be
visualized as a common daily police cry: “Hey, you over there!” (Altiser, 2009, 69) Interpellation, according to Althusser, is inseparable from the ideological mechanism of recognition:
1 For Althusser considers interpellataion as a term that deals with ideological recognition or summoning:
interpellation, as a daily practice and a precise ritual takes a very “special“ form in police practice of “summoning“ which considers the interpellation of “the suspected“ (Altiser, 2009, 69)
233
“Supposing that the imaginary theoretical scene is acted out in the street, the individual that
has been summoned in that way will turn around. By making this simple 180 degrees turn he
becomes a subject. Why? Because he recognized that the call was “actually” directed at him
and that it was “him who was summoned” (not somebody else). (Altiser, 2009, 69) Althusser’s phenomenological adventure in the field of the demystifying the conceptual definition
of ideology, as well as its mechanisms, is indicative in many ways. Firstly, it is indicative as a
distinctive explication of state and ideological apparatuses (among which, within the context
of this investigation, systems of education, often in the symbiosis with culture, could be found
as equally dominant). Secondly, in the detailed diagnosis, it is indicative of the two crucial
principles for the establishing and sustaining of ideologies: the effect on the subject and his
submission by way of “recognition”. Thus the effect of the submission of the subject expresses
itself as the primary motive and the ultimate end of any ideological indoctrination. In this
respect, according to Althusser, the imperative of ideology would be for the subjects to “act on
their own accord” ceasing to be free subjects determined by the activation of initiative and by
accepting of the responsibility for the acts performed, simultaneously becoming subjected to
a higher authority, devoid of any freedom which is not the freedom of the acceptance of the
necessity of submission. The ideological recognition always implies interaction and mutuality:
the recognition of the subject and authority, mutual recognition of subjects, and, finally, the
recognition of self by the subject as “the summoned” and thus, paradoxically, free and relieved
of responsibility as relieved of the possibility to choose: “The individual is interpellated as a
(free) subject so that he could devote himself freely to the orders of the Subject, i.e. so that he
could accept (freely) his submission, i.e. so that he could himself perform all the motions and
acts of his submission. Subjects do not exist if not through or for their submission. That is why
they “act on their own accord”. (Altiser, 2009, 80) This acting “on his/their own accord” is most
conspicuous and most evident in the ideological expression of culture. The most complex,
and apparently, the most sophisticated (as they are the most implicit) summoning in it, most
frequently in the form of fiction (artistic production), but also in the form of re-interpretation
of reality (media, science, institutions), is done by providing the illusion of freedom.
Linking cognitive and expressive systems of symbols as extrapersonal mechanisms of
the perception of understanding and reasoning in the world, but also as the means of manipulation with the ideological expression of culture, Clifford Geertz concludes that religious,
philosophic, aesthetic, scientific and ideological-cultural forms offer a template i.e. a detailed
scheme for the organization of social and psychological processes. (Gerc, 1998) If we accept
Geertz’s thesis, according to which the forms of human behaviour are ruled predominantly by
cultural and then by genetic templates (which are only a psychological context within which
realisation and social activity take place), we also accept the assumption according to which
symbolic forms and symbolic models formed by the individual are, in fact, the key constituents of his existence. In this respect, the ideological potential of culture, independent of its
qualifying foretokens or other qualifications, appears as unambiguously formative in sociopsychological context. Thus, that which could be understood as a consequence, such as an
234
ideologized culture, is in fact, both the outcome and the source of a re-created ideology or
an ideology which is perpetually created again from the start. Symbolic forms as a sequence
of “persuasive images” are, therefore, those forms that enable the mental comprehension or
sensory perception of ideological constructs: “Where the area is emotionally or topographically unknown, we need poems, namely road maps”. (Gerc, 1998, 301) If the establishing of a
new ideological template of culture is preceded by the sense of collective uncertainty, tension,
and loss of orientation signifying the incapability of perceiving the social context, due to the
deficiency of the existing models, then it is clear that it is the new ideological and cultural
constructs that eliminate the existing “conceptual confusion” and by which the weakened images of the preceding socio-political order is substituted. This is why the style of ideological
expression of culture is inevitably vivid, tendentious and suggestive, always engaged in agitation and motivation: “Ideology labels the structure of situation by treating them with dedication. Its style is flamboyant, vivid, and deliberately suggestive: by objectivising the moral
sense with the very means which are avoided by science, it intends to motivate action”. (Gerc,
1998, 318) Following our intention to single out some key points in the theoretical research
of ideologies, Heywood’s attempt at a specific synthetic definition which determines ideology as a predominantly a display of the current order and its immanent attitude to the world,
secondly, it is a vision of a desired social model as the projection of the future, and finally, it
is a concrete instruction how to achieve the desired order starting from the existing one, we
find a new, not quite thoroughly investigated field of values which are immanent to concrete
ideological practices. Therefore, if ideological constructs are specific intellectual maps and
landmarks, bearers of certain “attitudes to the world”, which at some moment inevitably become instructions for concrete action (with a clear goal to create a new, projected “attitude to
the world”) then the question of the postulates of value on which such ideological constructs
are based could be one of the primary ontologically distinctive questions of the ideology both
as a term and its practical emanation. Thus the criterion of truthfulness as an affirmation
of accepted and desirable social values of a civilization (ethical, pluralistic, tolerant, open,
solidary, non-violent, intercultural) would be a criterion which enables evaluation and facilitates an analytical approach to certain ideological systems, as well. Such an approach prevents
any offhand labelling of certain ideological practices, any biased or additional ideologizing
of the ideology caused by a-theoretical intentions of potentially biased interpreters. If, after
such a determination of the concept of ideology we accept as a fact the theoretical view that
ideology has “a powerful emotional or affective character”, that consequently, it is always a
powerful “means for the expressing of hopes and fears, friendliness and animosity, as well
as of articulating beliefs and understanding”, (Hejvud, 2005), then we can see more clearly
the possibilities, the legitimacy, but also the need (with a distinguished goal of a social and
cultural diagnosis and prevention) for the differentiating between the ideological frameworks
of closed and open societies and the closed and open systems of culture harmonized with
them. In this respect, it is impossible and theoretically inadequate to evaluate some ideological
practices as neutral and “neither good nor bad” per se. It is particularly true for the practices
235
whose results and practical emanations have their clear historic foundation through realization: communism, socialism, liberalism, conservativism, fascism, nationalism. The problem
of “presenting” of the existing projected order, in turn, points to the problem of the postulates
of value underlying an ideological framework, which would, desirably, be rational, consistent
and founded on facts, which most frequently is not possible because of the very nature of the
ideological awareness, which is prone to modelling according to its own interests. It is clear
that the ideological interpretations of confronted ideological constructs are always rational
and stigmatizing and derogatory at the same time. Thus, for instance, for the conservatives,
ideology is a manifestation of the arrogance of rationalism, it is unattainable and as such, tied
to socialism and liberalism. For the liberals, immanent to ideology is repression and totalitarism, and its main exponents are communism and fascism. As opposed to this, for the fascists,
ideology is a form which is too systematic, constricted, void of passion and insufficient so that
it is substituted by the omni-permeating and super dominating Weltanschaung as a vitalistic
and comprehensive approach to the world. Some of the most reliable criteria of the value
orientation of ideology could be related to the type of both collective and individual identity
which it promotes, as well as to their mutual relation emanated in the balance of the ethics of
the private in relation to the ethics of the collective, in respect to the human rights and their
violation, as well as to the attitude towards the centres of power and authority. Closed societies, in principle, and regardless of their ideological attitudes, which can appear to include
extreme divergent theoretical paradigms and practices (e.g. communism, ethno-nationalism
or fascism), have particularly repressive ideologies with clearly inverted systems of values:
the ethics of “the goal which justifies the means”, of non-pluralist tendencies which promote
the model of isolation from the world, uniformity and the forcibly imposed superiority of the
collective, “blind loyalty or submission to the centres of power and authority, encouragement
of intolerance, conflicts and, most often, militaristic tendencies. In such societies, the cultural
systems become one of the primary modulators, transmitters and promoters of the adequate
ideological framework, being its own creation, manifestation and materialization.
Literature:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Manhajm, Karl, Ideologija i utopija, Nolit, Beograd, 1978
Altiser, Luj, Ideologija i ideološki državni aparati, Karpos, Loznica, 2009
Adorno, Teodor, Žargon autentičnosti, Nolit, Beograd, 1978
Karl Manhajm 1893-1947 (ed. Dušan Marinković), Vojvođanska sociološka asocijacija and Mediterran publishing, Novi Sad, 2010
Marks K., Engels F., Dela, Prosveta, Beograd, 1974
Apaduraj Ardžun, „Kultura i globalizacija”, Biblioteka XX vek, Beograd, 2011
Gerc, Kliford, Tumačenje kultura (I), Biblioteka XX vek, Beograd, 1998
Hejvud, Endru, Političke ideologije, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, Beograd, 2005
[email protected]
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f o t o
K a t h e r i n e
S q u i e r
k a t h e r i n e s q u i e r @ s b c g l o b a l . n e t
s t r a n a :
2 3 6 ,
2 3 7 ,
2 3 9 ,
2 4 0 ,
2 4 1 ,
2 5 1 ,
2 5 5 ,
2 6 3
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UDC 1(091)
Nenad Daković, Belgrade, Serbia
On the Historic Task of Philosophy
I have been thinking whether to put the word
“knowledge” in quotation marks. I have not, because
it actually has no alternative in the way an essay does.
It is not difficult to write an essay, or perhaps it is. But
it is rather difficult to write in the genre which was established, I believe, by Bora Ćosić, and whose name, or
title is – “instead of an essay”. I am not sure that Bora
Ćosić continued to exploit this genre, which is based
on an endless substitution of essays, which is the form,
or the language, of reality itself – all I know is that I
have read Ćosić’s “instead of an essay” in The Helsinki
Charter, in which I have been writing columns for
decades, and consequently gave my column the same
title, and it has remained so for a number of years.
As far as I remember, in this “instead of an essay”
Ćosić himself lets life take precedence over the essay
or maybe literature itself, so this substitute for an essay,
and life itself, had a clear message that life is not only
more important than the essay but also the only thing
that matters, even if it is a single episode or affliction
in life, which has been described, under this title, or in
this genre, by Bora Ćosić. And what about the great
and dramatic events in life which no essay, even with
the awareness of one’s impotence, is able to depict?
I used the word “event”, as this is a philosophical
essay and my intention is to say something, as is becoming at the beginning of an endeavour of this kind,
about the relationship between philosophy and life itself, as if it were the genre whose title right now could be
“instead of philosophy”. And we shall take the example
of Husserl’s and Heidegger’s philosophy or two styles
of philosophizing, possibly the most influential in the
20th century, because of the fate of these philosophies
and their numerous followers, one can perhaps see the
historic task which awaits philosophy, or our still postmodern era, if that still is the “historic task” philosophy
would have in our age. Anyway, when I speak about the
so-called postmodern era, then we are talking about a
“postmodern state” or the causality of time, rather than
a clearly delineated philosophy, knowledge or style of
philosophizing which is a characteristic of our age.
Here we will discuss the relationship between
Husserl’s and Heidegger’s philosophy, of course, in
the clearest and most popular way possible (to use the
common phrase) and as it is expected from a philosophical author who dared to write about philosophy
in a weekly, whose correspondent he has been for decades, albeit in the field of theoretical criticism, since
the term “philosophy” itself has become debatable today, just like the task of philosophy itself in our day.
This can only mean that, besides the essay, philosophy
today, too, has found itself in the position where it retreats before the challenges of life or survival, which
our colleague, Mile Savić rightly called “challenges of
the marginal” in his book, or the dangers and temptations of survival and existence.
Has philosophy today become free of this arrogant
self-importance or “idealness”, which is the term Časlav
Koprivica used in his book on Heidegger, Being and Fate,
writing that the term “event” (Ereignis) in Heidegger, is
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actually, a substitute for the most important ontological
problem of foundation which Heidegger, coming after
Edmund Husserl, was trying to solve, going further than
Husserl, in this idealness or normativity.
Because, the problem with philosophy is, I believe, exactly in the fact that it cannot go on without
this idealness, or rather, normativity. In other words,
“event” is so contingent, despite its presumed philosophical normativity that it is not able to establish the
“knowledge” which would be necessary, and therefore
earn the dignity which undoubtedly scientific knowledge has today. Generally, and according to Lyotard,
whose essay “The Postmodern State” started the philosophical postmodernism, this domination of science
is the basic characteristic of the postmodern age. Philosophy is today in the shadow of science, if not even
the ancilla of science, as was once said of the relationship between philosophy and theology.
Husserl was trying to solve this basic phenomenological problem of the relationship between contingency and necessity, science and philosophy, if that was
a solution, by the so-called phenomenological reduction, that is “putting the world (“the world of life) in
brackets” and “hypothesis about philosophical knowledge”, which is the philosophically necessary “knowledge”, independent even of the fact whether the world
and the sciences which describe it really exist or not. It
was a project which was faced with or was hit by a crisis
when Husserl tried to solve the problem of the relationship of this hypostasized knowledge and the world
of life and history because the transition to, or the link
with the world after the phenomenological reduction
was not possible, but at the same time “all philosophical stances have become possible” and “the dream of
philosophy as a strict science has been dreamed”, as
Husserl admitted resignedly. This is nowadays, I believe, a post-philosophical situation in which philosophy has lost a clear historic task of poetry.
This can be seen in the example of Heidegger,
who, while trying to solve this epoch’s problem of the
245
relationship between philosophy and science, wrote
that “science does not think”. However, this pathetic
statement did not solve the problem. Not renouncing the necessity of philosophical knowledge, which
was an unreachable ideal even for Husserl, Heidegger
found himself in an impossible poetry that, solving the
problem of phenomenological reduction and phenomenological renunciation of the Contingent, Historic
and Factual, through the so-called “existential analysis” in the new philosophical terminology (Dasein and
Ereignis – “being-here”, or “the being of being” and
“event”) hypostasizes man’s existence itself into the
“necessary” philosophical knowledge, attempting to
regain the dignity of the historic task of philosophy.
I think that this project has failed because the “difference” between the factual and philosophical existence itself, anyway, as in the case of phenomenology,
was a problematic basis of the project itself, which has
thus lost its foundations. Heidegger’s metaphor about
“event” has thus become a poetic and mystical milestone of this historic failure of the contemporary philosophy to solve the problem of its foundations and
thus respond to “the urgent requirement of the time”.
“After Heidegger”, writes Agamben, “it has become clear that the possibility of a significant turning point in historic existence has vanished and that
templ(at)es, pictures and customs are no longer capable of taking over the historic calling in order to force
people to undertake a new historic task. Traditional
historic potentials – poetry, religion and philosophy
– have lost all of their political efficiency and have
been transformed into cultural spectacles and private
experiences. In the name of economy’s triumph, historic tasks have been dropped, or rather, reduced to
simple functions of national or international politics.
Natural life, managing one’s physiology, taking on the
burden and total management of biological life, that
is, the animality of the man itself, seems to be now
the last serious historic task and the only remaining
(non)political mandate of people”.
pêrspëctîvés
UDC 33:929 Sombart W.
Dušan Marinković
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, Serbia
Werner Sombart
and the spirit of capitalism
Werner Sombart’s book Luxury and Capitalism is considered with good reasons as an exceptional contribution to sociological and economic
theories of rise and growth of capitalism. Although
in Sombart’s opus this work is on the borderline that
divides the early works of the author from the mature, it is an integral part of a complex sociological theory about the spirit of capitalism, on a course
traced by his magnum opus Modern Capitalism
(Sombart 1919).
Sombart’s ideas are known to our public mainly
through rather sketchy and fragmentary secondary
sources, and this is not surprising, since it presents
nothing peculiar regarding the reception of his ideas in other languages (except German), but a common characteristic in almost any well-developed
national sociological tradition. His first and most
widely translated work Socialism and Social Movement (1896[Zombart 1922]) is a work which may
be considered not to belong to the mainstream of
his sociological theory. This work in spite of being a
significant and pioneering contribution in the field
1
1 In Serbian translation: Verner Zombart, Luksuz i kapitalizam, Mediterran Publishing, Novi Sad, 2012.
of sociology of social movements does not belong to
Sombart’s spirit of capitalism. By contrast, Luxury
and Capitalism can be considered as one of the rare
works of the writer which may become central to
contemporary sociology in an endeavor to reinterpret and reaffirm ideas of this important author in
order to secure a place for him among the great classics of sociology which he most certainly deserves.
In addition, taking into account the substantial controversy regarding Sombart’s mature ideas on spirit,
rise, development and destiny of capitalism, this
work stays firm defying time and harsh criticism
directed to the author for more than a half of a century. This work written with no less passion than his
other works, represent a significant alternative paradigm (reference) to the most famous work about the
spirit of capitalism – Max Weber’s Protestant Ethics
and the Spirit of Capitalism.
Werner Sombart was born on January 19th 1863
in Ermsleben in Germany into a family of wealthy
industrialists and landowners. He studied law and
economics at the universities in Pisa, Rome and
Berlin. In 1888 he was awarded a doctor’s degree.
His mentors were the leading German theoreticians
of the period Gustav von Schmoller (1838-1917)
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and Adolph Wagner (1835-1917), who had a lasting
influence on Sombart’s intellectual development.
After a short period in Chamber of Industry, he accepted a chair at the University in Breslau, although
he received invitations from prestigious German
universities in Heidelberg and Freibourg. In 1906
he accepted a professorship at the Berlin Business
School, which was a less renowned educational institution than the University in Breslau, but much
closer to the actual political, cultural, social and
activist events which marked Sombart’s personal
development. In 1917 Sombart, already a distinguished and influential German theorist, became
a professor at the University Wilhelm Friedrich in
Berlin, which was one of the most prestigious universities at the time (today Humbolt University, the
name was changed in 1949), where he inherited
the chair of his mentor Adolph Wagner. Sombart
worked there, as one of the leading German sociologists and economists – at that time in Germany even
better known than his friend Max Weber – until his
death in May the 18th 1941.
THE GERMAN INFLUENCES:
THE BACKGROUND AND THE NIETCHEAN
TRANSVALUATION OF ALL VALUES
The sociological theory of Werner Sombart was
developed – it can be rightly stated – exclusively
under German influence. It was as in Fichte’s case:
his life was the life of his nation. On the other hand,
the meaning of the phrase German influences is very
broad and heterogeneous, for, it does not denote
any conceptual, theoretical or methodological homogeneity. As a rule, the phrase refers to the German Classical Philosophy, from Kant to Marx, and
to various neo-Kantian or neo-Hegelian schools of
thought; however, German influences could be extended to the influential historical economic school
of Schmoller and Wagner as well as to the unavoidable German historicism of Wilhelm Dilthey (1833247
1911), to the hermeneutics of his followers and to
the methodological historicism of Heirich Johann
Rickert (1863-1936) (the concept of ideal types). In
any case, one must not sidestep Nietzche and the
whole generation of thinkers under his influence
who were, within the confines of German tradition,
powerful critics of the dominant spirit of German
Classical Philosophy. In this context Ferdinand Tönnies (1855-1936), the originator of the conceptual,
structural and historical dualism of Gemeinschaft
and Gesellschaft, of community and society, must be
mentioned. Besides, in case of Werner Sombart, into
German influences one should include the various
national and nationalist movements and a number
of different socialist movements of the period. In the
early period of his academic development, Sombart
was deeply influenced by Karl Marx. Finally, Sombart himself, who belonged to a younger generation
of the German school of national economy, together
with Max and Alfred Weber contributed to building
up the German influence of the generation who recognized the epoch through the concept of the spirit
of capitalism. As Abram Harris rightly remarked, in
one of the first comprehensive but belated American retrospective on the occasion of the death of
Werner Sombart, he was four years old when Ferdinand Lassalle (1825-1864) inaugurated the German
Worker’s Movement; he was eight years old when
the age-old dream of the Empire under the Prussian
military hegemony became a reality after the victory
over France in 1870 -1871; he was fourteen years old
when Bismark (Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismark
1815-1898) as a chancellor established the Realpolitik of the state and institutionalized the anti-socialist law, but, in the same time, institutionalized
health insurance for workers and the first pensions;
he was a student at the University in Berlin when
in 1882, a year before his death, Marx was declared
the leader of the German Socialist Movement; soon
after that he witnessed the transformation of revo-
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lutionary socialist ideas into reformist ideas of the
German Socialist Party and social democracy; as a
middle-aged man, Sombart witnessed the downfall
of Germany after the defeat in the First World War
and the collapse of the fragile social democracy of
the Weimar Republic; finally, he was contemporary
to the rise of German anti-Semitism to which he
himself made a theoretical contribution, and witnessed the coming to power of National Socialist
Party. “In a word, his life began with the decline of
German capitalism, and ended when German Fascism reached its peak” (Harris 1942).
Of all the influences mentioned, and all the
social, political and cultural circumstances under
which Sombart’s sociological ideas reached their
maturity, the Nietzchean idea of revaluation of all
values must be singled out as the most prominent
one. This idea connects him most intimately with
Max Weber in the effort of their generation to define the epoch in terms of spirit – the spirit of capitalism. Whereas, on the one hand, Marx’s theory
offered a relatively solid foundation for a structural
analysis and description of functioning of capitalism, or of the period preceding, for, “this very
word (capitalism –D.M.) Marx, in fact, never used”
(Braudel 1989, 61), and of the socio-economic relationships within, the generation Sombart and
Weber belonged to, wanted a shift of the national
paradigm in the economic theory established by
Schmoller. This shift was inspired by Nietzche and
his revaluation of values. Thus a generation gap between the older and the younger school of nationaleconomics emerged. The younger generation was
not satisfied with structural analysis only of the
monetary economic system based on free market,
market economy, private property and free competition covered with the blanket term capitalism, but
searched for the causes and historic origins of the
epoch or paradigm that was signified with the term
spirit (of capitalism). In other words, they wanted
to understand the (possible) epochal changes which
would mark the decline of old, established values
that would no one question within the epoch, and
the rise of new values, and the causes of revaluation. Schmoller criticizes Sombart, one of his best
students, as to this very point: “what Sombart calls
capitalism, I would rather term as a modern monetary form of economic organization which was developed within the framework of the liberal system
of unlimited professional mobility, free competition and unrestrained desire for wealth-acquisition”
(Werner Sombart, Die Kapitalistsche Unternehmer,
quoted in Loader 2001: 637). In Schmoller’s formulation capitalism signifies but one, albeit dominant,
element of the modern epoch, without any question
regarding its origin and without any intention to
recognize it as the unique spirit of the epoch which
will inevitably go through so deep a changes till it
eventually becomes unrecognizable.
It should be noticed that at this point, neither in
Weber nor in Sombart the Nitzchean idea of revaluating of values appears in its pure philosophical, Nitzchean-nihilistic and mystical form, but as an organic
integration with Tönnies’ dualistic analytical formula
Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft – society and community.
This, to a high degree pessimistic (ibid:637), analytic
and comparative model of explaining social changes
and processes was used as an important attack strategy
of the younger generation on the absence of moral dilemmas which distinguished the older school of German economic thinking. In other words, Gesellschaft,
could not be understood in the old way anymore: as
a morally neutral domain (subsystem) in which capitalism coalesces with the civil society, as a sphere depoliticized enough to be independent from the state.
The new generation, therefore, was ready to accept the
view of capitalism as the spirit of Gesellschaft which
destroyed the spirit of the organic Gemeinschaft. In
Sombart this Nietzche-Tönnies combination receives
a special methodological and analytical significance.
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pêrspëctîvés
As a result of this, Sombart was able to see beyond the
narrow horizon of strictly economic analyses. From
this new vantage point the state is not a privileged domain that vouches the guarantee for security, stability and normativity. Nevertheless, he was not ready
as Marx had been, Loader observes, to go so far as
to regard the state to be an epiphenomenon (ibid:
637), a superstructure. Sombart (as well as Weber)
believed that state is but a mechanism of the society
(Gesellschaft) which contributes to the processes of
dehumanization and rationalization. Fernand Braudel rightly says when he concludes that the relation of
the state to capitalism is ambivalent: “Sometimes the
state would support it, sometimes put it into a difficult position; sometimes let it expand, and sometimes
destroyed its driving force” (Brodel 1989:77). Finally, Braudel is right when he claims that: “capitalism
would not prevail, not until it identified itself with the
state, when it became the state” (ibid: 77). Sombart
asserts - referring to a French treatise wherein it is
written that luxury is a resource not only useful, but
also necessary for the progress of the state, (Zombart
2011:135) – that capitalism could not have developed
bypassing the state or against it, as an absolutely depoliticized civil-economic sphere, but only under the
aegis of the state. Although he discusses the factors
that were directly or indirectly responsible to the rise
and growth of capitalism, and not its definite forms,
the connections between the state and capitalism
could not escape Sombart’s attention. Thus luxury
went in tandem with the state at first; the mass production of luxurious goods in the 18th century did not
expand in the framework of capitalism, but was under
patronage of the court aristocracy, that is to say, the
state (ibid:191). All this led to the theory of the crisis
of morality in modern society and modern capitalism. Since Marx’s structural analysis of the capitalist
way of production did not offer an acceptable ethical
model, but only a theoretical, economic and sociological, the younger generation turned to the Nitzchean
249
idea of revaluation of values. To understand the modern world, which Max Weber regarded as an iron cage
of bureaucracy and rationality of specialists without
imagination and sensualists without feeling, and
Sombart as a world of exhausted souls, both Sombart
and Weber added the Nietzchean element to the basic
Gesellschaft\Gemeinschaft dualism\distinction.
“Both of them identified the revaluation of all
values, the ideal type individual who breaks up the
bonds with the traditional society based on routine,
and secures the foundations for forming a new world.
Singling out the one who revaluates the values, Weber and Sombart offered an ethical model of transforming the present. True, the dynamic creation of
that revaluation, capitalism, rigidified itself turning
into an iron cage without any possibility of returning
to some particular types of revaluation. Nevertheless,
as a factor of destruction of the routine based system,
it may serve as a model for revaluating the modern
process of rationalization.” (Loader 2001:638)
However, their trans-evaluators, the protagonists of revaluating the rigid, routine based, traditional world as having been presented in Weber’s
Protestant Ethics, and in Sombart’s Modern Capitalism and in Luxury and Capitalism as well as in
his other works, differ. Weber’s protagonist is the
protestant, specifically Calvinist ethos, the ethos
of vocation and its worldly asceticism (which has
been often imprecisely covered with the name – Puritanism), whereas Sombart’s protagonist is not to
be found in the sphere of religion, but exclusively
in this world, he calls him the entrepreneur – der
Unternehmer. Although, in his work The Jews and
Modern Capitalism the Jewish people appear as
the possible alternative to Protestantism, they had
never got the role of the key-actor to revaluation
in Sombart’s works. This heroic role, as he calls it
in his controversial work The Trader and the Hero
(Sombart 1915), was set aside for the creative, rational and venturesome spirit – the entrepreneur.
pêrspëctîvés
Parsons comments this in the following way:”the
creative impulse is, no doubt, ascribed to the spirit
of entrepreneurship. This spirit is responsible for
the destruction of the old order of things and for
the formation of the new one (Parsons 1928:650).
In this context one should bear in mind that there
is a very interesting interweaving of mutual influences between Weber and Sombart; for, in spite of
the fact that Weber explicitly never did give Sombart credit, it may be said with some certainty that
his work Modern Capitalism inspired Weber to develop his thesis about the key-role of Protestant ethics in the rise and growth of capitalism, and after the
book was published, Sombart wrote that “Weber’s
researches are responsible for this book” ( he meant
the book Jews and modern capitalism D.M.) (Sombart 2001: 134). Moreover, it can be rightly stated
that Sombart’s entrepreneur has the same meaning
and historical role in the development of capitalism as Weber’s Protestantism. However, it should be
reminded once more that the concept of historical
role of the entrepreneur in revaluating the old order
had changed its meaning relative to the role of Jewish people in the rise of capitalism. Whereas in the
book Jews and Modern Capitalism he claims that “
everyone who follows him (Weber-D.M.)should ask
himself whether everything that Weber ascribed to
Puritanism can equally be related to Judaism, and
to a large extent, at that; moreover, it could be suggested that the same thing he calls Puritanism is in
reality Judaism”(ibid:134). However, Sombart cannot simply identify or substitute the spirit of Protestantism with Judaism, namely, the spirit of the
entrepreneur and his role is not the same as the role
of Jews in the rise and growth of capitalism, because
the Protestant and the entrepreneur are both men of
vocation, whereas the trader does not have a clearly
defined vocation (ibid :116), and precisely that is
what Sombart ascribes to the Jews, but not to the
Jews understood as a nation or to the “ Semitic race”,
but to Jews as a metaphysical property(attribute) of
a specific Volksgeist (Harris 1942: 812), and to historical circumstances that made possible that the
Jews become one of the dynamic forces in capitalism. The Jewish spirit, says Sombart in German Socialism (Deutcher Socialismus), can be found among
the English, in the same way as the German spirit
can among the Negroes, and the Negro spirit among
Germans, albeit the number of such people is small.
In Jews and Modern Capitalism he adds that the
Eskimos are different from Black people and southern Italians from Norwegians, and we do not need
any anthropology to tell us that. (Sombart2001:
203). Therefore, the spirit of entrepreneurship is the
spirit of revaluation of the values and that was confirmed by the organizational form of the new companies which obliterated the old order of associations in the middle-ages – the guilds, but, eventually, it turned into the very opposite of its entrepreneurial origins, into an iron cage without spirit. On
the other hand, the trader spirit had its contribution in rising and growth of capitalism, but its role
cannot be understood within the framework of the
Nietzchean revaluation of all values. Since the entrepreneur is “quick on the uptake, fair in his judgments, clear in his thoughts…by contrast, the intellectual and emotional world of the trader is directed
towards monetary values and business conditions”
(Grundmann and Stehr 2001: 262). Therefore, although both of these ideal types carry the spirit of
capitalism, only one of them, the entrepreneur, is really capable for revaluation.
THE LATE CAPITALISM:
THE IRON CAGE WITHOUT SPIRIT
The Nitzchean idea of revaluation of all the values did not influence only Weber’s and Sombart’s
search for the factors that would destroy the old and
build up a new order of things – the new hierarchy of values, but also both authors shared certain
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skepticism and pessimism regarding what is usually
considered to be the late forms of modern capitalism; Sombart even more than Weber. This skepticism and pessimism amalgamate both Tönnies’ idea
of the impersonal Gesellschaft and the critique of
modern culture. Perhaps the best example of this
pessimism is an event in 1904. Then, on the invitation of Hugo Munsterberg (1863 -1916), a famous
German psychologist of the time, who was, in the
US, one of the pioneers of applied psychology, in the
field of organizational and industrial psychology,
Max Weber and Werner Sombart, together with a
group of German academicians traveled to America and attended the Congress of Arts and Sciences
in Saint Louis2. That was an excellent opportunity,
after having delivered their lectures in the section
for social sciences and economy, to tour across the
United States (Weber traveled with Ernst Troeltsch
[1865 – 1923] and his wife Marianne [Weber 1975])
and get first hand knowledge of the most highly
developed capitalist country. In September of the
same year Weber visited New York and, according
to Marianne Weber, what he saw on the Manhattan
impressed him as the spirit of capitalism that created
the most impressive symbol of its own (ibid: 281). After that he visited Chicago, Baltimore, Washington,
Philadelphia and other great cities. However, the immediate sensations and impressions from this long
journey were not the same for Sombart and Weber;
each of them saw America from the perspective of
his own theoretical assumptions on which their different approaches to rising and growth of capitalism
are based. Marianne Weber notices Max Weber’s
genuine enthusiasm with what he saw from the
middle of the Brooklyn Bridge accepting it to be the
2 For the sociologists it could be interesting to note that one
of the vice-presidents of the organizational committee of the
congress (Congress of arts and science, Universal exposition,
St. Louis, 1904) was Albion Small, an outstanding pioneer of
American sociology.
251
confirmation of his deepest beliefs about the connection of Protestant ethics and the American spirit
of capitalism in action. However, there is a sentence
expressing the constant skepticism in which the
reader can fathom the deepest ambivalence regarding Protestant ethics actualized in the American
spirit of capitalism: “How sublime man’s work is,
and how small man has become!”(ibid: 283) What
had been created outstripped the creator.
On the other hand, Sombart expressed his impressions from the journey to America in a much
more radical fashion sending post-cards to his
friends in Germany – post-cards from this spooky
cultural hell, from this Wagnerian Gotterdammerung (twilight of the gods) of a culture (Loader 2001:
636). As a matter of fact, for Sombart this was a
country of Jews, or rather, of Jewish spirit, whereas
for Weber the country of Protestant sects. For Sombart it was the coming true of the doubts that the
business would prevail over the entrepreneurship,
that the spirit would not be free and creative any
more, but captured in a rigid structure of a rational
bureaucratic system without heroes and conquerors, without the protagonists of revaluating the values of the civilization. For Weber, it was a monstrous
creature – the protestant ethics materialized in the
most fully developed form of capitalism, and in the
same time an iron cage without emotion and spirit,
an action in its late form lacking the original values
of its roots stripped of everything but its rationally
defined end. Therefore, both of them shared with
their generation, succinctly put, the faith of deep
ambivalence and contradiction.
In the end let us remind the reader that Luxury
and Capitalism is a work of a still optimistic Sombart, an author engaged in searching for the causes and conditions of coming to be of a spirit in an
epoch we cover with a broad and often vague term
capitalism. It is a work of an author about whom in
the addenda to Marx’s Capital the following is writ-
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ten: “This is the first time that a German university
professor succeeded in seeing in Marx’s writings
what mostly Marx therein really said, and declared
that the critique of Marx’s system cannot consist in
its refutation – this job should be left over to the
pedantic - but only in its further development. Sombart is, understandably, concerned with our subject.
He examines the significance of value in Marx’s system and gets the following results: the value does
not manifest itself in the relation of exchange of the
produced commodities in the capitalist production
process; it is not in the minds of agents of the capitalist production; it is not an empirical fact, but a fact
of thought, a logical fact”. But there is more:” Neither Sombart nor Schmitt…do take sufficiently into
account that the matter here is not just about some
purely logical process, but about a historical process and about a thoughtful reflex that explains it…
(Marx 1973: 1878 – 1879). Sombart, of course, did
very well know that the question about capitalism
must be formulated within an historical framework;
there is ample proof to it in Luxury and Capitalism,
as well as in other books. This commitment to capitalism and its spirit could not be taken otherwise
but historically. Finally, wasn’t Braudel right? Isn’t it
correct that for Marx the issue was about the capital
and not capitalism? Wasn’t Braudel right when he
said that “Max Weber’s error was, for the most part,
a consequence of his overstatement of the role of
capitalism as the prime mover of the modern world”
( Brodel 1989:79)? Wasn’t Weber’s early enthusiasm
which he observed the Manhattan with, the consequence of the very thing Sombart understood, but
Weber did not: Amsterdam imitated Venice in the
same way as London would imitate Amsterdam and
as New York would imitate London (ibid:79). Braudel says that Weber thought capitalism is “nothing
more and nothing less than the creation of Protestantism…Every historian stood up against this subtle thesis (Sombart did too – D.M.) although they
never succeeded in getting rid of it entirely” (ibid:
78). It should be borne in mind that Weber followed
Sombart’s idea of exploring the unanticipated consequences of the Protestant ethos in the 16th and 17th
century, but as Braudel says, taking the liberty to be a
little bit subjective, the very notion capitalism gained
currency only after Werner Sombart.
LITERATURE
1. Brodel, Fernan (1989). Dinamika kapitalizma. Novi
Sad: Izdavačka knjižarnica Zorana Stojanovića.
2. Grundmann, Reiner and Nico Stehr (2001). „Why
is Werner Sombart Not Part of the Core of Classical
Sociology?”Journal of Classical Sociology. 1 (2): 257–287.
3. Harris, Abram L. (1942). „Sombart and German
(National) Socialism”. The Journal of Political Economy, 50(6): 805–835.
4. Loader, Colin (2001). „Puritans and Jews: Weber, Sombart and Transvaluators of Modern Society”. The Canadian Journal of Sociology, 26(4): 635–653.
5. Marx, Karl (1973). Kapital. Beograd: BIGZ i Prosveta.
6. Parsons, Talcott (1928). „Capitalism” in Recent German
Literature: Sombart and Weber. The Journal of Political
Economy, 36(6): 641–661.
7. Sombart, Werner (1915). Handler und Helden: Patriotische
Besinnungen. Munich und Leipzig: Duncker & Leipzig.
8. Sombart, Werner (1919). Der moderne Kapitalismus.
Historisch-systematische Darstellung des gesamteuropaischen Wirtschaftslebens von seinen Anfangen bis zur
Gegenwart. Munchen, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot.
9. Sombart, Werner (2001). The Jews and Modern Capitalism. Kitchener: Batoche Books.
10. Weber, Marianne (1975). Max Weber: A Biography. New
York, London: A Wiley Interscience Publication.
11. Zombart, Verner (1922). Socijalizam i socijalni
pokret. Beograd, Sarajevo: Izdanje I. Đ. Đurđevića.
12. Zombart, Verner (2011). Luksuz i kapitalizam. Novi
Sad: Mediterran Publishing, Novi Sad.
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UDC 355.1-055.2
Nina Živančević, Paris, France
Women and War
Since literature is my main and major concern, for
a long time I have been thinking about my REPULSION
for writing texts about the war or the wars in Yugoslavia.
One of the reasons I believe was my distrust in
lies and inaccuracies which I’ve been facing in regard to this topic ever since the civil war started in
former Yugoslavia in 1992.
Another reason, which for me was much more
real and essential than the one I mentioned, was hidden in a feeling I’ve had for a long time but was not
able to formulate until recently. A while ago, I ran
into a critical text by a French literary critic Laurand
Kovacs who was analysing the fragmented texts of
certain modernists as well as their jagged, chopped
off sentence - the sort of sentence we find in Joyce,
in Cendrars, and in Milosh Crnjanski, for instance.
On the occasion, Laurand said that IT WAS NORMAL for the modernists who have lived during the
First World War and Second World War to write
this kind of sentence as well as the texts which were
not logical and coherent, because, the very desire to
systematize horrible experiences and put them together into coherent memories or a text would have
meant justifying the whole war experience. In a way,
justifying such a text would imply justifying an ex-
perience which in its nature was unjustifiable, or it
would mean making coherent something that otherwise escapes logic and coherence. His intelligent
statement I felt almost intuitively at a guttural level
throughout these recent Balkan wars as I was systematically refusing to accept writing assignments
when editors asked me to do so.
However, in 1992 and in 1993, at the time when
the war in Bosnia was in its full development, one of
my American publishers, Semiotexte of the Columbia
University, asked me to write a story, just a short story
on what was going on there. My position was very
delicate - at that time my mother, who was a Bosnian
Serb was going crazy - she was recalling the events
from the Second World War when the Ustashis and
Nazis slaughtered her whole family in Jasenovac.
So, as much as I wanted to take an impartial
position, for me it was emotionally hard to do it – I
possessed certain knowledge about things, but the
“knowledge” was mainly influenced by the media.
On one hand, I was not allowed to be partial, and on
the other, which involved my personal family history - I could not remain impartial. I wrote the story
which dealt mainly with my work with the Serbian
intelligentsia in Paris throughout 1992. These peo254
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ple were trying to prove something, and if not prove
- at best, they were trying TO SAY SOMETHING
– different from the official media reports - that
there were Moslem women who were being slaughtered there, but that there were also the slaughtered
Croatian women and slaughtered Serbian women in
there, the war was one big slaughterhouse as such.
A year later, I was invited by the Hague Tribunal for War Crimes to join their elite translators’
team. The souvenir of how I was treated as a woman
and a human being at the Tribunal by my fellowtranslators of non-Serbian origin would make a
good journalist’s report. The fact is that I resigned
from my job after 3 months, despite the encouragement to persevere which came from certain decent
and impartial judges such as the Irishman, O’ Connor or an American judge who remarked- « You are
the only one here with the Serbian accent - if you
go the truth will go with you, and we will only hear
testimonies from one side ».
However, the truth is that I was exposed to daily
humiliation and browbeating from the court employers supervising the team, and all of them were sent to
the Hague directly from the cabinet of the Croatian
president, Franjo Tudjman. They made my working
hours unbearable to me. At that time, I did not blame
them for their partiality and their biases towards me
- the civil war was still going on, it was a full blown
thing. We were translating the testimonies of the violated victims and when I asked a woman and a colleague of mine if it was possible that, according to
these testimonies, only the Moslem women had been
violated during the war, she retorted in an agitated
manner, “EVERYBODY was committing atrocities but, Nina, you should not forget - the Serbs had all
started them, and then, the vicious circle was created.
It was a bloody civil war and no one was there to be
wrong, and no one to be right. “
I was trying to get it straight - how did the conflict start in these unfortunate regions? Certain Ser255
bian families were revenging for the atrocities committed upon them by the Croatian Ustashis in the
World War II and these families bore certain names.
Those were the names of families who had young
people of the third generation now, youngsters who
had nothing to do with the old wars, but were suffering from vengeance in return. It would be preposterous to say that the dictator such as Milosevic
was the only one to blame for the killings he committed in the former Yugoslav republics. Somehow
we know that nowadays the scariest thing about
Heider in Austria is that he is not the only instigator
of various violent actions of the right-wing extremists as he is just a well-guarded social phenomenon.
Many different things have already been spoken
about the civil wars in Yugoslavia, notably by my
fellow-writers, women such as Dubravka Ugresic,
Jasmina Tesanovic or Snezana Bukal who live in different countries - Holland, the U.S. or Great Britain.
I live in France thus I dare say that the French government was not so welcoming towards the refugees from the Balkans, especially women refuges. I
will quote two examples : I went to Pigalle which is
a real refugee camp with young prostitutes from former Yugoslavia - one of them, an older one, Mima
was complaining to me “ALL THESE KIDS are taking away work from me, their labour is cheap and
they are inexperienced they don’t even know how to
turn tricks…” Many of these exiled women have no
rights in France and are pushed brutally to the street
to earn their living.
Just a couple of days ago, I was deeply hurt by
the French legal system - I have lived there since
1995, and now am going through a custody battle
with my son’s father who is French. The judge, who
ordered a social survey, sent me a social assistant
who proclaimed loudly:” Madam, you’d better be
nice to the father of your child - he is French and he
has all the rights, this is his territory, you are only a
guest here and - to be honest with you, an unwant-
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ed one as you are of the Yugoslav origin.” Then she
added, “You know, there is a strong anti-Serbian climate in court here, you can’t win the case…”
I often wonder why she said that, as all Serbs
cannot be like Milosevic, I surely know that, and the
fact is that no social assistant was supposed to express herself in such manner.
There are all other sorts of accidents and incidents that I’ve lived through as a woman writer
and a journalist in my self- imposed exile, since I
left Yugoslavia as early as 1981. Now I could see the
difference between the times “before” and AFTER
the war. The way you remember those photos of fat
and ugly people, suffering, the photos that signify
their life BEFORE the aesthetic surgery, and then as
they changed their looks, it becomes AFTER. In my
case it is just the opposite – the respected and beloved colleague and author that I was “before”, and
hated and ugly creature AFTER… As I believed in
so called non-commercial or ‘pure’ literature, and
had some aesthetic criteria which propelled me
to refuse writing articles on and about the war - I
gradually became stigmatized and dead in the eyes
of general public…
Once I ran into Susan Sontag at Columbia University and asked her what seemed a very good question to me - “why don’t you invite, just once, a Serbian woman writer to one of your round tables? Such a
woman would certainly have something to say too…”
Well, I’m afraid that she somewhat avoided
answering my question - perhaps the question was
somewhat bluntly blurted out, perhaps it was the
wrong kind of question, but anyways, to the present
day, it remains unanswered as much as the problem
remains vivid. The problem, which I am referring
to in the text, is not so much the problem of biases that have been expressed towards Serbia for the
last twenty or thirty years, but it is of a much larger
scope regarding the so called DOUBLE STANDARDS that had been visible in politics throughout
the world in any armed intervention in general and
in the Balkans’ wars in particular.
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UDC 323.1:159.95(497.11)
Mikloš Biro, Novi Sad, Serbia
psychological Aspects
of Reconciliation: the Example
of serbs and albanians
A nation is the society that shares
common illusions about its ancestors
and the common hatred for its neighbours.
Ernest Renan, French philosopher
In September 2010, following a debate in the
United Nations, negotiations between Belgrade and
Prishtina were announced. For the first time since
1999, when the armed conflict in Kosovo started,
when the NATO intervention occured, and when
the Kumanovo agreement was signed, there was no
mention of sovereignty, no mention of the ownership
of the Kosovo territory, only of the people and their
problems – which the two sides were to talk about.
It seems pointless to mention how anachronistic and senseless fighting for a territory is in the 21st
century, at the point when both sides are turning
towards the European Union in which there are no
borders, in which the goods, capital, and workforce
move freely – which has made the classical notion
of territory and sovereignty completely absurd. The
shift of the focus to the problems of the people who
live in Kosovo, therefore, is more than welcome.
The central problem of both communities, especially the minority one – Serbian, is their co-ex-
istence, and the central condition for co-existence is
reconciliation.
Historically viewed, the conflict between the
two communities, two nations – Serbian and Albanian – can be sought in the recent and distant past.
The historic versions are, naturally and unfortunately, different and very often (mis)used for political, that is, nationalist purposes. Myths about a “historic defeat“ (which implicitly call for revenge) or
about the “historic cradle“ (we had been the first to
arrive here, and you drove us out) are not our specialty. The Armenian myth of Nagorno-Karabakh
is an almost identical replica of the Kosovo myth.
Naturally, everything is possible in a myth, and, as
a rule, we are always right and “our cause“ requires
a just solution. Being ironic about the nationalist
claims and requirements emerging in the Balkans
on the eve of the disintegration of Yugoslavia, David C. Pugh of Norwegian Refugee Council offered
a causerie entitled “The seven rules of nationalism“:
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If a territory was ours for 500 years, and yours
for 50, it has to be ours – because you are invaders.
If a territory was yours for 500 years, and ours
for 50, it has to be ours – because the borders must
not be changed.
If a territory was ours for 500 years, but never
again since, it has to be ours – because it is the cradle
of our nation.
If our majority lives on a territory, it has to be
ours – because the right of self-determination has to
be enforced.
If our minority lives on a territory, it has to be
ours – because it has to be protected from your repression.
All of the rules stated above apply to us, but not
to you, though.
Our dreams of national greatness are historically
inevitable, and yours are pure fascism.
In the psychological sense, something like “century-old hate“ does not exist. There is only the present hatred and it is based on personal experience
or it is the result of pathological feelings. Resorting
to “centuries“, though, is an instrument, a convenient platform to build one`s war propaganda on and
something the nationalist horsemen of the Apocalypse ride on in order to conjure a conflict between
nations or states in their own interests. Therefore, if
we are thinking about reconciliation, we are thinking about the most recent events.
Reconciliation is a complex phenomenon,
which may be seen as a result of social processes
which have been taking place on several levels of
hierarchy: on the level of the country and international community, on the level of group behaviour
and the perception of the group behaviour, and also
on an interpersonal level.
Different theories of reconciliation address different levels of reconciliation. Theories of political
science and international law focus on the global
259
spheres of interest and legalistic instruments for
conflict resolution, while psychological analyses are
predominantly turned to individual and socio-psychological prerequisites and obstacles, as well as the
theory of mediation (negotiation).
The first group of theories stresses the significance of institutional solutions and “signals“ which
the opposing parties send. In this context of territorial aspirations of one side towards the other (especially when they are written down in the constitution) they are a permanent threat which obstructs
any idea of reconcilliation. On the other hand, constitutional solutions which include the minority
community (in this case the Serbs in Kosovo and the
Albanians in Serbia) and which are proposed in the
spirit of the protection of human rights and protection of cultural and national identity of the members
of the nation with which there has been a conflict,
produce a significant contribution, first to “disintimidation“ of the minorities, and then to defusing the
tensions and the process of reconciliation.
Because of the “leopard skin” ethnic map of the
Balkans, each minority group is seen as a threat to the
stability of the state. As irredentist and expansionist
ideas became the main slogans of the political programs of the nationalist leaders, this threat became
real. In this context the insistence of the international
community on unchangeability of (new) borders and
the European Union’s promises that they will incorporate the countries of South-East Europe in the EU
(which will make fighting for the borders pointless)
seems to be a signficant stabilisation factor.
As one of more interesting ideas we will cite one
of O’Leary’s (2001), who proposes a macro-political
regulation of conflicts through the implementation
of federalism and the so-called “consociational”
electoral system, in which the conflicting groups
elect both “their own” and “others’” representatives, which results in a greater number of moderate
representatives of both groups among the elected
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and, in that way, the increased chances of coalition
agreements and compromises, and thus, of reaching
a consensus and resolving the international conflict.
In another group of theories there is a domination of psychological theories which recognize
two factors in the process of reconciliation: degree
of identification with one’s own group (nation) and
the way of perceiving the opposing group, on the
one hand, and individual experience, on the other.
Social psychology recognizes several levels of
group identification: you may be a member of a tennis
club, belong to a guild, feel that you are a local-patriot,
being a citizen of a town or region, as well as belong
to a nation or a race. In all of these identifications, besides the sense of security, belonging to a group also
brings a certain feeling of greater value, and the more
exclusive the group is, the feeling is stronger.
However, the group is not just the sum of individuals – it has a dynamic of its own. Since the
works of Gustave Le Bon (1963) psychology has
recognized the power of the group to change the
behaviour of an individual. One of the most compelling examples of how an individual can become
evil under the influence of the group and the group’s
“task”, is the experiment in which students, acting
out a prison situation, were divided into prisoners
and wardens and where the “wardens”, very quickly,
identifying with the role, started to horribly abuse
the “prisoners”, who had been their good friends
until very recently! (Zimbardo, 1998: 125-133)
The power of the group to alter attitudes and
behaviour of an individual is a result of the perception of its greater effectiveness – “Together we are
strong”, which is clearly seen in Fascist symbols1. The
experiments of Solomon Ash (1981) demonstrated
an alarming human need to conform, but they have
1 Fascis – a bound bundle of wooden rods around an axe (a
symbol which originates from the ancient Rome) is the wellknown “logo” of Fascism.
also shown that an individual does not change his
or her attitudes aware that they are wrong, that is,
that he or she is right, while the group is not (but
that it is “useful” to change one’s attitude in order to
fit in with the group’s thinking), but that there is a
sort of “internalization” of group thinking, meaning
that there is a cognitive dualization – the belief that
the group’s reality is different from my own reality2.
Why do group attitudes prove to be stronger
than the individual ones? Because this “escape
from freedom”, as it was called by Erich Fromm
long ago (1986), brings security to the group, and
also because investing in the group values gives
one the feeling of one’s own personal value. Outstanding personal strength is necessary (along
with financial independence, which is not to be
neglected) or, perhaps, asociality, for an individual
to resist the magnetism of the group. Of course,
if the group offers morally unacceptable values,
readiness to accept such values will depend on the
degree of the individual’s internationalization of
moral norms and his or her readiness to subordinate social rules to the current personal interests.
On the other hand, the bigger the agreement between individual values and beliefs and the ideology promoted by the group, the higher the level of
the individual’s identification with the group.
Different social identities have a different quality, which has direct repercussions on the group behaviour. Psychology calls it “identity salience”, which
is not just a degree of identification with a particular
group, but also the impression that there is an essence,
a certain quality which distinguishes this group from
the others. The more difficult to change belonging to
2 In the experiment people were asked to give their opinion
about an obvious fact – the length of a line, but the guess was
made after the other members of the group, who (as agreed
with the organizer of the experiment) gave wrong answers.
A great number of subjects approximated their guesses with
(obviously wrong) the group’s opinion.
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a group is, more visible (we can recant our nationality and religion, but we cannot change the colour
of our skin) and the more it brings (in psychological
or material sense), the bigger the saturation of identity is. In addition, the bigger the saturation, the bigger is the possibility of a social categorization (Tajfel,
Turner, 2004). The group is beginning to be seen as
a strictly defined category, with clearly pronounced
borders, with no transitional forms: there is “Us”, significantly different from “Them”, and “They” – those
are all the others that do not belong to our group.
With the perception of bigger homogeneity grows
the feeling of the group’s efficiency and supremacy. At
the same time, the need for the feeling of superiority
is amplified and “We” are the best, the most beautiful, most honorable, while “They” are worse, uglier,
and less honourable. There are numerous socio-psychological experiments (Tajfel, Turner, 1986) which
show that this process takes place in case of a division
into groups, even when the principle of the division is
based on so harmless a criterion like the preference of
the artistic style of Paul Klee or Wassily Kandinsky!
Of course, in that mechanism lies the core of
the development of stereotypes towards others; in
this lies the basis for the generalization which states
that all members of my nation are good (so, based
on this, it is impossible that there are war criminals
in my nation, for example), while all the members
of the other nation are unacceptable. Thus, one easily reaches the total dehumanization of “Others”,
which makes the crimes easier to commit. Because,
if “They” are not OK, if they are not “human”, why
would it be a problem to exterminate them?
Nationalism as an instrument of politics invariably produces a threat, as it expresses expansionist
or irredentist ambitions. Elevating and homogenizing one’s own nation, it foreshadows degradation
and subjugation of other nations; by emphasizing
one’s own being endangered, it endangers other nations. The slogans used to homogenize a nation,
261
“They hate us”, “They are going to exterminate us
again as in the previous war” have the power of a
self-fulfilling prophecy: if they threaten us, then we
need to arm ourselves in order to be ready for the
defense. And when one side takes arms, then it is
an open threat to the other, so the other side starts
arming themselves and an outbreak of hostilities is
just a question of when the first spark will start it.
According to the Theory of social identity, once
established, prejudices are very hard and slow to
change (Tajfel, Forgas, 2000). This was also shown
by the comparative studies on ethnic distance in the
states of Former Yugoslavia (Šiber, 1997: 3-26). After the war had broken out, ethnic distance between
the Serbs, Croats and Bosnians increased dramatically, and after the war it started to fall, slowly, but
steadily. It was, unfortunately, even after the respective regime changes in Serbia and Croatia in 2000
(and some obvious changes in rhetoric) still significantly higher than before the war, but, at the same
time, a certain tendency of fall could be detected.
Another problem and an obstacle to a potential reconciliation between the Serbs and the Albanians is
the fact that the ethnic distance (as opposed to the
distance between the Serbs, Croats and Bosnians)
was extremely big even before the conflict (Biro,
Mihić, Milin, Logar, 2002: 37-47).
The analysis of the results of research studies
conducted in Serbia tells us that the ethnic distance
is in high correlation with (low) qualifications, authoritarianism and age – which is in keeping with
the theory and earlier results. What is, actually, new
and unexpected, is the fact that very young people
too maintain a very big ethnic distance towards the
peoples with whom there has been a conflict. The
fact that these young people grew up during the war
and that they were brought up in the spirit of hatred
is the only possible explanation. Another explanation of these results is in the spirit of the “contact
hypothesis” (Allport, 1954): that those adolescents
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did not stand a chance of meeting their peers –
members of the “enemy” people, so their perception
of these peoples is exclusively abstract. Namely, according to this theoretical concept, individual contacts are an important prerequisite of breaking down
(and challenging) prejudices – when you meet an
individual member of a nation and see that he or
she is the same as any other man or woman, then it
will be very hard to make you believe in a negative
stereotype, e.g. that “all Bosnians are stupid” or that
“all Albanians hate Serbs” (and vice versa).
Ethnic prejudices and stereotypes are undoubtedly the greatest obstacle to the process of reconciliation. One of the basic ways to sustain self-respect
of the members of a group is to humiliate the nonmembers. And, when the non-members of the group
are also perceived as a danger to the group, then negative emotions are a completely logical answer.
How to challenge prejudices? How to change
the value orientations of the members of conflicting peoples so that they could start recognizing
their common interests, find their general common goal (e.g. joining the European Union) which
would move them closer to each other? Education
for democracy, for the tolerance of differences and
respecting human rights is the first and the most
important step to be taken in order to create the basis of a true change of prejudices and stereotypes. It
is a slow, but the only possible perspective though.
As a great number of studies show, in the formation, and also in the sustaining or elimination of
ethnocentricity and xenofobia (especially in highly
authoritarian peoples of the Balkans) a significant
factor is authoritarianism. However, besides the
fact that authoritarian rigidity and cognitive-style
(“black-white” judgements) contribute to the categorization and formation of prejudices, maybe
the fact that authoritarian characters are silently
obeyed, people of authority could be employed in
the promotion of democracy, human rights and in-
ternational tolerance. But this message would have
to be sent by a national authority – those who are
ready to renounce the nationalist ideas!
Messages of the media and political elite (especially in authoritarian societies) are of great importance for the perception of the “enemy” group and
orientation towards reconciliation.
An interesting theoretical question is – how important is the gesture of a country’s leader’s apology
in the name of his people for the crimes commited
by individuals belonging to the people? Did Willy
Brandt’s act of kneeling in Auschwitz contribute to
“the removal of the guilt” from the German people
for the crimes commited in World War II? To some
individuals with liberal and cosmopolitan value
orientations it certainly did not mean anything, because before and after this act they were able to differentiate between an individual and collective and
to individualize the guilt. However, to the majority
of those who have succumbed to national homogenization, this kind of act carries a symbolic value
and the head of state is perceived as a personification of “the people”, and his apology is unboubtedly
perceived as an apology of “the whole nation”.
The media can play a very powerful role, independently of the political elite. The promotion of
“positive experiences“ is one of the ways. Examples
from the particular conflict in which neighbours
gave mutual support and showed human and neighbourly loyalty are the right way for the idea of reconciliation with the people (as well as the hatred for
all members of the pople) to be viewed as an issue
concerning individuals. With individualizations:
“an Albanian“ or “a Serb“, the possibility for the formation of stereotypes and the categorization: “all
the Albanians“ and “all the Serbs“ is removed.
In accordance with the reconsideration of the
original “contact hypothesis” according to which
contacts between conflicting groups can contribute
to such individualization and consequently rec262
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onciliation, new perceptions claim that contacts,
unless they have been established gradually and
carefully, can even aggravate the conflict (Deutsch,
Shichman, 1986). This opens a practical question
whether the creation of “barriers” on the state level
is good or bad. Bosnian experiences show that, after the removal of “barriers” between the (ethnic)
entities, there have been no serious incidents. A
significant factor of the free passage between territories populated with different nationalities and
consequently opening up the possibility of contacts, may be the fact that the peacekeeping forces
in Kosovo are international.
Perhaps the best examples which support the
arguments that the effect of contact depends on the
context are the public events in the post-Yugoslav
countries: while at rock concerts there is obviously
a total indifference to the ethnic origin and unconditional acceptance of rock bands from other states
in the region, sporting events are still dominated
by nationalist incidents. It is only logical – at sports
matches the two sides compete against each other.
The most illustrative example of a “negative message” at a public event was the incident at the football
match Italy vs. Serbia in Genova, when the Albanian
flag was burned, which spurned some analogue actions among Albanians – not only in Kosovo! Such
events, especially if they are followed by unfavourable commentaries in the media, unfortunately feed to
the stereotype “they are all the same“ and, of course,
reinforce the stereotypes and hinder reconciliation.
Finally, individual experience, especially if it is
traumatic, may be a factor of great significance to
the process of reconciliation. Is the memory of the
suffered trauma an obstacle to the process of reconciliation and if yes, to what extent? The results of the
research we conducted on the population of nationally divided towns which, during the 1991-1995 war
suffered greatly – Vukovar, Prijedor and Mostar,
show that individual traumatic experience does not
263
determine the stances toward reconciliation with
the opposing nation at all (Biro, Ajduković, Čorkalo,
Djipa, Milin, Weinstein, 2004)! Value orientations
are obviously much more important than the level
of suffering. To put it differently: whoever is “immune” to nationalism will be able to individualize
the guilt for the suffering, he will not generalize it
to include all the other members of the opposing
nation and will readily turn to reconciliation. It is
interesting that similar results were also obtained by
the authors who studied the victims of Holocaust
(Cherfas, 2003).
If nothing else, these results tell us that, in spite
of the size and tragedy of the conflict which occured
between the Serbs and Albanians, there are chances
of reconciliation after all.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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MA, Addison-Wesley, 1954.
Ash, S. E.: “Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments”. In: H. Guetzkow
(Ed.) Group, Leadership and Men, New York, Carnegie
Press, 1981.
Biro, M., Mihić, V., Milin, P., Logar, S.: “Did socio-political changes in Serbia change the level of authoritarianism and ethnocentrism of citizens? ”. Psihologija, 2002,
35: 37-47.
Biro, M., Ajduković, D., Čorkalo, D., Djipa, D., Milin, P.,
Weinstein, H. M.: “Attitudes towards justice and social
reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia”. In: E. Stover & H. M. Weinstein, Ed., My Neighbor,
My Enemy: Justice and Community after Mass Atrocity,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Cherfas, L.: Explaining variation in aversion to Germans
and German related activities among Holocaust survivors. Unpublished graduation thesis. Department of
Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 2003.
Deutsch M. & Shichman, S.: “Conflict: A Social Psychological Perspective“. In: M. G. Herman (Ed.) Political
Psychology, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1986.
Fromm, E.: Bekstvo od slobode, Zagreb, Naprijed, 1986.
Le Bon, G.: Le Psychologie des foules, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1963.
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O’Leary, B.: “Nationalism and ethnicity: Research
agendas on theories of their sources and their regulation”. In: D. Chirot & M. E. P. Seligman (Ed.) Ethnopolitical Warfare: Causes, Consequences and Possible Solutions, Washington, DC, American Psychological Association; McGarry, J. & O’Leary, B. (Ed.).
The Politics of Ethnic Conflict Regulation: Case Studies of Protracted Ethnic Conflicts, New York, Routledge, 2001.
10. Šiber, I.: “War and the Changes in Social Distance toward the Ethnic Minorities in the Republic of Croatia”,
Politička Misao, 1997, 5: 3-26.
11. Tajfel, H. & Turner, J. C.: “The Social Identity Theory of
Intergroup Behavior”. In: S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Ur.)
Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Chicago, Nelson, 1986.
12. Tajfel, H. & Forgas, J. P.: “Social categorization: Cognitions, values and groups”. In: C. Stangor (Ur.) Stereotypes
and Prejudice, Philadelphia, Psychology Press, 2000.
13. Tajfel, H. & Turner, J. C.: “The Social Identity Theory
of Intergroup Behavior”. U: J. T. Jost & J. Sidanius (Ur.)
Political Psychology, New York, Psychology Press, 2004.
14. Zimbardo, P. G.: “The psychology of evil: A situationist perspective on recruiting good people to engage in anti-social
acts”, Japanese Journal of Social Psychology, 1998, 11: 125-133.
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UDC 75.071.1 Konjović M.
Sava Stepanov, Novi Sad, Serbia
The Initiatives of Milan Konjović in
Serbian Painting in the 20th Century
The history of art considers painter Milan
Konjović to be one of the artists who had significant
influence on Serbian and Yugoslav painting in the
20th century. The artist began his opus during the
second half of the last century and finished it at the
beginning of the 90s, more precisely in 1993 when
he died in his beloved Sombor. Over this long period, Konjović’s painting had a harmonious and logical development. What is particularly interesting in
his artistic evolution is the fact that his opus, almost
in its entire span, had remained a relevant fact in the
contemporary events on the big Yugoslav art scene.
Of course, that sort of presence had its specific characteristics and was determined by a unique “syndrome of an underground river“. Namely, in some
vitally important moments in the art of the country,
Milan Konjović would appear with his works which
anticipated, inaugurated and proved the characteristics of the oncoming “trends“. After the initial work
influenced by impressionism and post-impressionism, the artist started his own concept of painting
in a rationalistic attitude to colour and form only to
arrive, among the first in Serbian painting, to the
cubist contemplation which, instead of a picture of
the world, offered a world of the picture. However,
during the 30’s and 40’s, he insisted on strong colours and expressionism which was later to become
a trademark of his entire expression which, at that
time was in full accord with the latest modernist
movement in Paris. At the beginning of the second half of the last century, when the manifestations
of the post-war trauma were still relatively fresh in
the not very comfortable atmosphere of state proclaimed requests for “socialistic realism“, the “pure
painting“ of Konjović was among the works which
defended the dignity of the painting and freedom
of artistic expression. Milan Konjović, as an active
individual in his times, was a unique initiator of a
new wave of the abstract concept of the painting
which, at the time, was equal to the newly achieved
freedom of the creation in the arts in our country.
In the early 60’s, quite suddenly, Konjović had a performance in Novi Sad announcing some events in
the art world that would happen later in the 70’s. At
the same time, with his “painting with gesture and
action“ he gave a premonition of the postmodernist
(neo)expressionism which would dominate the Yugoslav artistic scene during the 80’s. It is interesting
that Konjović, being in his eighties himself, actively
participated in the “philosophy of the 80’s“ with his
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characteristic concept of the “painting of quotations“ and his own reinterpretation of the Byzantine
icon. What was specific to all the activities done by
Konjović on the contemporary scene is the unique
temporality. A spontaneous and authentic initiator,
Konjović would sporadically appear in the most significant phases of the art here to touch, hint at, or
proclaim the spirit of innovation by his own innovative artistic concept only to return, deliberately and
consciously, to his own continuity as a consistent
and original expressionist.
I. A cubist’s folly.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Milan
Konjović transferred the experience of reality into
a strict formalistic expression which will emancipate into a cubist concept in several paintings he
did during 1922. The motif was breaking and dissolving into the basic geometric surfaces and the
painting became a sum of calculated relations and
thought-out methods. His painting “The Grey Still
Life“ (1922) theoretically meets the requirements of
the cubist concept – a real object from nature is but
an inducement for the creation of an artistic truth
about it; instead of the picture of the world there is
a parallel world of the picture being created – “it is
no longer the art of imitation but the art of thought“
(Apollinaire)...Konjović himself used to say: „That
short phase of cubism was my confrontation with
cubism. I didn’t stay in cubism long because it didn’t
fit my temperament. I found it restrictive. However,
I have learnt a lot from it and that is that a painting
is a new autonomous reality which has its own laws
and which only uses nature or its artistic elements.“1
This was how Milan Konjović, with a few other important artists such as Šumanović, Radović, Bijelić,
Petrov and Balaž introduced the problem of the
ontological aspect of a painting as a separate reality
1 Dragoslav Đorđević, ibid
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in the art here, directing Serbian painting towards
modernism.
II. Expressionism, pure painting.
In the 30’s, Konjović developed his painting in
the manner of expressionism. It was that expressionism, so relevant in the contemporary “Paris Circle“,
that he “transferred“ to Serbian painting when he returned to Sombor immediately before the war. It was
the period when one of the most important characteristics of Konjović’s art was formed. Namely, in very
different social and cultural circumstances, the artist
managed to create a metaphysical autonomy and the
paradigm nature of the essence of art. His expressionistic “pure painting“ was always consistent in the
onthological sense, because the painter, by describing
the tension and turmoil in himself, created the aesthetic autonomy of the universe in the painting...
“Konjović is not an expressionist of the neuroses of a metropolis, miasmas and existential panic,
of the “uneasiness in culture“, nor of the nausea
and the feeling of being discarded into the void –
even his paintings from the Paris period, the series
of terraces and artists studios crave for the whirlpool of natural energies“ – says Miodrag B. Protić.2
Konjović reached the wide areas of painter’s freedom so that one of the eminent connoisseurs of his
Paris works, French critique, Maurice Betz wrote
about his “noble, bold, powerful and crude art“. On
returning from Paris to Sombor, the painter built an
impressive and plausible “expressionism of colour
and gesture“ which would distinguish him as one
of the most important artists in the history of art in
Yugoslavia and Serbia in the 20th century.
2 Miodrag B. Protić, Konjović – a metaphor painter, in Otmica Evrope, Likovni eseji i studije, Gradska narodna biblioteka, Zenit, Zrenjanin, 1995
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III. The defence of
the autonomy of the painting.
Immediately after the WWII ended, the new
communist ideology and the socialist state concept
was installed. The ideological form of socialistic realism was imposed on the art in Serbia and entire
Yugoslavia. A newly established social system considered art useful and reserved a pragmatic role
for it so that artists and their work were expected
to support and promote the construction of a new
social and ideological system. Of course, the artists
in the country resented that. In the period just after
the WWII, Milan Konjović was probably the most
prominent and persistent fighter against the administrative rule forcing socialistic realism upon artists
in the country. In one of the reviews of Konjović’s
exhibition in Belgrade in 1949, which broke all the
records of the number of visitors (some 2000 daily),
the main ideologist and theoretician of socialist realism in the country, Jovan Popović, maintained the
following: “when it comes to portraying our man,
our new man, the man from our society which can
be compared only to that of the great Soviet Union,
then the deformation of his image is unacceptable“...3
Konjović endured all criticism and in Belgrade in
1952, he had another very important exhibition titled “People“. In his paintings, his authentic, subjective and expressive manner full of potent colours and
gestures, only confirmed his own artistic attitude, his
unshaken belief in the authentic canon of the painting and art in general. This is why that particular
exhibition, as well as the one of Lubarda, has been
considered the crossroads on the path that Serbian
art took towards the authentic pictorial thought.
IV. Towards abstraction.
Only one performance.
During the 50s and the beginning of 60’s,
Konjović went through his discretely abstract phase
which he used to “defend“ the introduction of abstract art in Yugoslavia at the time. There was another rebellious “dissention“ from the tracks of his
own continuity. Since his first works from 1953,
Konjović sporadically “supported“ the then innovative abstract tendencies in the art in the country,
the tendency so sorely needed after all the perturbances of the previous period. Under the influence
of the obsessive idea to reach freedom of creation, in
his studio in Sombor, he painted a few paintings in
which the impression of abstraction was achieved by
the abstracting of motifs and the application of geometrical elements into the structure of the painting...
In this respect, Konjović was dealing with practical
problems and the painting as an aesthetic object.
The artist insisted on the primary effect of colours
and forms, disregarding concrete interpretation. He
also insisted on some other kind of the sensibility of
the world of the painting, free from all the “lateral“
interpretative obligations and functionality...
It is interesting that the support that Konjović
gave to abstract tendencies was not evident only in
his painting. As the person in charge of “Artistic Autumn“, an important event in Sombor, he initiated
an exhibition of paintings by all of the most eminent
advocates of that artistic concept which was gaining
popularity. That exhibition, in which 27 artists took
part, was considered by Lazar Trifunović as “the
first and only representative exhibition of abstract
art in Yugoslavia.“ Thus the activist-organizational
gesture once again showed and proved the artistic
intuition of Milan Konjović.
3 Jovan Popović, Umetnici i lik našeg čoveka, Književnost
1, Beograd, 1948.
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Novi Sad Performance, 1962.
There was one more event that illustrated
Konjović’s capability of anticipating artistic trends. It
was in the spring of 1962 in Novi Sad, when he had
his own artistic performance. The event was organized within the programme of the popular theatre
festival “Sterijino pozorje“. The event was significant
because it showed the tendency towards a new kind
of expression, not only in drama but in art as well.
It was there that Konjović, with simultaneous comments from Lazar Trifunović, in front of the public,
began and finished a painting in one sitting. It was all
about de-mystification of the act of creation, about a
procedure with a clear concept. Irma Lang is right in
maintaining that that happening was the precedent
of all the later ones which were to begin during the
70’s. From our perspective now, it is clear that it was
yet another initiative by Konjović - another of his
authentic anticipations of future events in the art in
this country.
VI. Towards postmodernism –
“The painting of gesture and
action“ in the 70’s and the
Byzantine Cycle“ in the art in the 80’s.
In 1973, in the Gallery of Matica Srpska there
was an exhibition honouring Milan Konjović, who
celebrated his 75th birthday that year. Dr Lazar
Trifunović, who was the organizer of the exhibition,
gave it the title “The painting of gesture and action“.
The most dominant piece of work at the exhibition
was a frieze made of eruptively painted landscapes,
269
in which realistic contours painted in the 60’s were
fading. In the paintings, the most striking feature
was the artist’s action and the unique corpora,
which were to become the characteristics of postmodernist painting in the Serbian art in the
penultimate decade of the 20th century. He moved
from the position of an anticipator to the position
of an authentic participant of post-modernism or
the tendencies of the “new painters“ in the middle
70s when his “Byzantine Cycle“ was done. In those
pictorial creations he “quotes” and reinterpreted the
motifs of Byzantine icons in a neo-expressionist
manner adapting them, of course, to his own
concept of the painting. Konjović did not deal with
a precise quoting of the motifs from the history of
art, but rather effortlessly adopted a method which
was adequate at the time of the post-modernist
concept of art.
Milan Konjović’s exceptionally rich opus had a
great influence on the development of the art in our
country in the 20th century. His authentic art was
permanently based on characteristically pictorial
and expressive elements, but it was also extremely
personal in the experiencing and interpreting the
world. His art continually offered numerous initiatives with which Milan Konjović directed Serbian
art towards modern trends, consistency and authenticity. At the same time, during almost an eightdecade long creative period, Milan Konjović created
a unique artistic universe which today appears as a
relevant interpretation of the mystery of the world,
man, and his sensitivity.
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UDC 1 Weber S.
Dragan Kujundžić, Gainesville, USA
Ghost Scriptum, or,
Nothing to Play With
That the world we live in and the places we
work at have undergone profound changes under
the pressures of globalization and virtualization, is
nothing new to the readers of Samuel Weber. In his
Institution and Interpretation (Expanded Edition),
Sam Weber has convincingly argued and analyzed
the disappearance of the sovereign nation state under these pressures, together with the transformation of the fields and disciplines of knowledge attending to such sovereignty. Such changes in the
modes of tele- and techno-communications, a persistent line of inquiry in the work of Sam Weber,
emerge “not as possibility to be realized and actualized, but as the dynamic tendency of a network of
links, out of which a knowledge emerges as nodes of
clusters and connections, which in turn are always
subject to transformation by further exploration or
developments of the network or networks” (Weber
2001, 230). What has been for a while now, or perhaps from the very beginning, a passionate intellectual trajectory tied to the name of Sam Weber,
has been an inquiry into this passage, transition or
movement from work to net-work. This transition,
well under way, as Weber argued in the same essay,
challenges, “what was formerly regarded as a uni-
versity of reason,” to reconfigure itself “in light of
virtualization” to a location or place where it will
be or, Weber emphasizes, “has to be in more places
than one.” Such a university would “keep itself open
to the future” (Weber 2001, 235).
And in this place where we are gathered to honor Samuel Weber, are we not entitled to ask, who
would be better placed to write about these dislocating transformations of knowledge (or who is in
more places than one) than Samuel Weber? The
question is of course purely rhetorical. Samuel Weber is, more than anyone I know, in several places,
locations or disciplines, at once, places we know,
places that seem familiar, places that he de-familiarizes, and locations that he opens up or invents by
his transformations, a veritable “Passagenwerk,” the
work of passage from work into network. We are
thus all entangled in his web.
Let us note that Weber’s work entails explicitly
a plea for a net (synonymous with web), for example in The Targets of Opportunity, the chapter on
“Networks, Netwear and Narratives”: “Is it possible
to conceive of a ‘movement’ that would net, rather
than network, one which would leave room for the
question that, for Benjamin at least, follows the end
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of every story—‘And what happened next?’ Or must
that question always be targeted by a preemptive
answer?” (Weber 2005, 108). That last question by
Weber, in his own writings, needless to say, is only
rhetorical, and decided and answered in favor of the
net or the web in advance.
To use the title of his essay on Shakespeare’s
Hamlet to which we will return, Sam Weber is “hic
et ubique,” here and everywhere else, or, as he himself proposes to translate this Latin expression used
by Hamlet, “here and wherever” (Weber 2004, 388).
Such multiplications of spatiality follow or surround
Samuel Weber like a web wherever he goes. After his
lecture on Walter Benjamin and Angelus Novus at
the University of California, Irvine, some nine years
ago, in a multilingual banter that ensued between
Sam Weber, and Jacques Derrida, discussing how
to translate “network” into French, it was concluded
that in his lecture Weber turned “reason,” in French
“raison,” into “reseau,” a network. Samuel Weber
himself operates like an electronic web, a resourceful reseau, his email address after all being “sweb21.”
In the concluding chapter to Theatricality as
Medium, in an interview session with Simon Morgan Wortham and Gary Hall, Samuel Weber was
asked about the “style” that pertains to “his own
writing,” precisely in terms of a perceptive attention
to dislocation staged by and elaborated in his writing: “In your recent work on theatricality as medium, you comment on the way in which the writing
of Jacques Derrida explores its own ‘theatrical quality as a “staging.”’ But what of the performance or
performativity that attends your own writing? What
of its own ‘taking place’? Does this open up or open
onto a different sort of ‘theatrical/theoretical’ space
or (dis-)location?” (in Weber 2004, 356). This is what
Sam Weber had to say in response to this question:
“Certain impulses have come to me precisely from
the encounter with different [italics S.W.] cultures
and languages: first German, then French, both al271
ways interacting with certain (American) English.
Perhaps this is the reason why a certain ‘intensity’
did not develop in the way it has in Derrida’s writing, an aspect he has described as his ‘monolingualism.’ If you are asking about this kind of difference,
then it is surely not simply a ‘deliberate strategy’ on
my part, but something that my experience—trajectory—imposed on me” (Weber 2004, 361).
Thus, finding Samuel Weber “here and everywhere,” hic et ubique, in the passage-works of the web
and difference, translates in his own idiom as an understated response which is formed in his encounter
with and demand from the Other. Such comings and
goings point out to an ethical element which Samuel
Weber would probably be too modest to avow (when
placing his own significant ethico-political gesture
in a footnote, for example), but is encapsulated in his
footnoted comment on translation of “hic et ubique”
into English as “wherever,” in close proximity to the
colloquial “or whatever”: “By concluding an assertion with the phrase ‘or whatever,’ the speaker disclaims responsibility for the assertions just made. In
contrast to such a disclaiming function, hic et ubique
points to a difficulty of assuming responsibility for
words whose effects cannot be ambiguously localized—but it does not attempt to avoid that responsibility” (Weber 2004, 388, italics D.K.). Operating
in the passages towards the Other, in a dislocating
force of translation, in the time-place, to again use
Hamlet’s words, “out of joint,” Samuel Weber articulates and mediates a singular voice of responsibility.
Such responsiveness and an ability to respond and
welcome the Other (“Certain impulses have come
to me precisely from the encounter with different
[italics S.W.] cultures and languages”) also open up a
space mindful of the future. The only future we have,
the future of and with the Other.
The interpellation by which the Other summons has been already announced in the words by
Samuel Weber quoted above: the future, difference,
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response and responsibility. They are marks of this
interpellation. The topic of justice, being-with the
other, “a politics of memory, of inheritance, and of
generation” (Derrida) impose themselves, precisely,
from the sensibility to the time “out of joint,” from a
certain sensibility which is hic et ubique. In his Specters of Marx Jacques Derrida, writing about Hamlet
and the same scene where Hamlet encounters the
ghost that Samuel Weber has commented upon,
proposes that the source of the ethical announces
itself from the difference at the heart of the living:
“Without this non-contemporaneity with itself of the
living present, without that which secretly unhinges
it, without this responsibility and this respect for
justice concerning those who are not there, of those
who are no longer or who are not yet present and
living, what sense would there be to ask the question
‘where’?” (Derrida 1994, xix).
That is why a certain mournful predisposition is
not dissociated from an affirmation and an affirmative anticipation of the future, from saying “yes” to
it. “The desire for memory and the mourning of yes
set in motion the anamnesic machine. And its hypermnesic accelaration. The machine reproduces
the living, it doubles it with its automaton” (Derrida
1994, 276). A certain gramophony, technicality and
mediality attends to any “yes” and affirmation of
Being, says Derrida in his “Ulysses Gramophone”
while discussing that the telephone comes “before
the act or the word,” and adds: “And as my friend
Sam Weber has reminded me, a Dasein accedes to
itself only on the basis of the Call (der Ruf), a call
which has come from afar….” (Derrida, 1992, 273).
A certain coming and going perceived at the
very heartbeat of the living present, a split between
the respect for and the specter of the inheritance
and the coming of the future, fissures the present “as
such,” and responds to both the living and the dead,
to what may be still to come in the name of the immemorial past. It is a responsive thing to do and a
responsible place to be. “This question arrives, if it
arrives, it questions what will come in the future-tocome. Turned toward the future, going toward it, it
also comes from it, it proceeds from [provient de]
the future. It must therefore exceed any presence as
presence to itself. At least it has to make this presence possible only on the basis of the movement
of some disjoining, disjunction, or disproportion:
in the inadequation to self…. What stands in front
must also precede it like its origin: before it. Even
if the future is its provenance, it must be, like any
provenance, absolutely and irreversibly past” (Derrida 1994, xix).
The protection and respect accorded to life
will have come thus from a respect to a unique and
singular which are divided between their past and
their future, a singular as an iteration and repetition.
(“The word ‘specter’ is the perfect anagram of ‘respect.’ I since discovered that another word is also
the perfect anagram of these two, which is ‘scepter.’”
[Derrida, “Spectrographies,” 2002, 194]). A live presence is also something like a ghost, a specter who or
which watches me and is thus also a spectator, coming and going, a ghost who comes and goes, who is to
come and who is the future, to put it in French, revenant qui vient, qui est a-venir. “This justice carries
life beyond present life or its actual being-there, its
empirical or ontological actuality: not towards death
but toward a living-on [sur-vie] namely a trace of
which life and death would themselves be but traces
and traces of traces, a survival whose possibility in
advance comes to disjoin or dis-adjust the identity
to itself of the living present” (Derrida 1994, xx). In
every revenant there is something of a survivant.
Let us repeat as a reminder, that it is in a dislocated coming and going that we have first encountered Samuel Weber, on the way someplace
else, turned towards the difference of the other, the
ghost, the hic et ubique, and to the future. Now, we
have introduced a concept of spectrality and the re272
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working of the ontological which Derrida dubbed
hauntology: “Staging [italics D.K.] of the end of history. …. Repetition and first time: this is perhaps
the question of the event as question of the ghost….”
(Derrida 1994, 10), in order to underscore the mediatic and theatrical always at work in any “question
of being” or ontology.
In Institution and Interpretation (Expanded
Edition), Samuel Weber will claim that “Iterability
irritates: which is to say, it excites, impels one to
leave the confines of the familiar and the consoling; it troubles, confuses and confounds, producing
precisely the effects that the Cartesian method was
designed to eliminate” (Weber 2001, 244). Samuel
Weber goes on to elaborate how Descartes sought to
exclude from the cogito memory, forgetting, temporality, but forms of repetition and recurrence come
to “haunt the Cartesian, modern, bourgeois subject:
the other as excluded but necessary duplication of
the Self ” (Weber 2001, 245).
In Mass Mediauras, in the chapter “After Deconstruction,” Samuel Weber addresses precisely
this fissure or difference, “the ghostlike manifestation of iterability” (Weber 1996, 145) which is both
followed by deconstruction and traced by it, making
it an exemplary reading strategy for the mediatic.
Deconstruction traces the passage by which “selfsameness, in order to be constituted, emerges out of
repetitive comparison and in order for something to
be there, it must therefore pass through the element
of heterogeneity, or otherness, in order to be constituted as the same” (Weber 1996, 138). “Seen in this
perspective—which Derrida calls differance—iterability splits the mark into a past that can never be
fully rendered present and a future which is always
about to arrive…. What is called the present is the
coming-to-pass of the future” (Weber 1996, 149).
The past comes--back from the future, such is the
logic at work or network weaved by deconstruction,
a hauntology always already at work, in the very
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workings of the world. “The spectral logic is de facto
deconstructive logic,” says Derrida in “Spectrographies” (Derrida 2002, 117).
In Mass Mediauras, in the chapter “Upsetting
the Setup: Remarks on Heidegger’s ‘Question After
Technics,’” Weber points out the strategy by which
Heidegger attempts to ward off the heterogeneity
of the technical only to find himself “led elsewhere,
in another direction, toward poiesis. … Because of
this uncanny, duplicitous, ambivalent singularity,
the questing after technics never arrives at the stable
acquisition of knowledge. Or at least it cannot be
measured in terms of cognition” (Weber 1996, 75).
The mediatic thus dictates another logic of
space, spatiality and temporality, one that allows
no pre-technical appearance of Being, but a being
always already dis-located in the moment of appearance, split between the having been in the past
and going to the future in the movement of singular iterability. “The ‘there is’ [‘il y a’] or ‘that there is
something rather than nothing’ belongs, perhaps, to
the experience of the event rather than the thinking
of being. The coming of the event is what we cannot and must never prevent, another name of the
future itself ” (Derrida 2002, 11). The technological
and mediatic which are always at work wherever
experience is constituted (whenever something is
felt, comes to pass, is recorded, memorized, experienced), thus require another account of being. What
is, to paraphrase Derrida from the Politics of Friendship, need not necessarily be. The question “To be,
or not to be?” may not be the most important question to ask, or does not necessarily pertain to Being,
says Derrida in the Specters of Marx, invoking yet
again Hamlet. It is the spectral that precedes being:
“This other, this specter of this other regards us,
concerns us: not in an accessory way, but within our
own identity” (Derrida 2002, 86).
Yes, we are, like Samuel Weber, all over the
place, hic et ubique, changing vantage points, com-
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ing and going, between texts and analytic situations,
“Catching Up With the Past,” “Going(s) On,” to use
the titles of chapters from his book Mass Mediauras, a hic et ubique on the move. But we are never
far from Samuel Weber and the very practical, experiential situatedness of this analysis, moving back
and forth and in between, temporality, technology, spectrality, and “our own” contemporary time
and space. Let us give just one example, still on the
topic of coming and going. The globalizing forces
of the capital and media make the “subject” more
and more prone to the feeling of isolation and abjection. The contemporary media play at this displacement by attempting to stage a sense of consoling,
soothing sameness of programming, a repetition of
the same, familiarity of the seen. Indeed, as Weber
points out in the chapter “’War,’ ‘Terrorism,’ and
‘Spectacle’: On Towers and Caves” from Theatricality as Medium, the media make a great effort to “support such identification” and make images “clearly
localizable, self-contained, and meaningful” (Weber
2004, 332). This would be the ideology in the image
at work. But such ideological consolidation is pitted
against a structural displacement at its very point of
its origin. The spectacle is always (hic et ubique several times again) “once here and elsewhere,” divided
between the not just now and the now which is not
just there. “At the same time, the spectacle plays to
spectators who are similarly neither here not there,
or—which amounts to the same thing—here and
there at once” (Weber 2004, 331). In Weber’s Targets
of Opportunity the move from work to a net-work,
now attached to a techno-militaristic machine, coupled with targeting, operates as a theater of war, “a
network of netwar,” to assuage collective guilt by
inventing an enemy and doing away with him, and
thus seemingly consolidating the structural displacement at the origin of a networked community.
However, all such acts of targeting are violent since
they consist of a “denial of indebtedness to an alter-
ity without which nothing could be identified, no
aim taken, no target hit” (Weber, 2005, 105).
The collusion of the techno-media and “war” is
no secret. There is a buck to be made there, and the
mediatic is attached to the war machine and shares
in its profits. First the camera shows up, and then
the bombers. An anecdote from the siege of Sarajevo during the war in the former Yugoslavia is illustrative. “A neighbor, who is, say, a Serb, to another,
who is a Muslim, as a curse: ‘May your house appear
tonight on CNN!’” In his essay titled “Wartime” in
the collection Violence, Identity, Self-determination,
Samuel Weber points out that “The fact that a Bosnia or a Rwanda is possible in the glare of the TV
screen is what renders Freud’s psychoanalytic approach to the question of violence as pertinent today as it has ever been” (Weber 1997, 89).
The analysis of “Wars” engaged in Theatricality as Medium has been for a while now a location
where most often one could find Samuel Weber
at work and network. A certain nihilistic turn to
itself from the very interiority of modernity has
been the site of Samuel Weber’s most patient analyses. This nothing turning onto itself and forming a mediatic stage of which the recent mediatic instantiations are only offsprings of mediatic
offshoots, Weber located in the figure of allegory
as deployed by the German philosopher Walter
Benjamin in his book, the title of which has been
translated as The Origin of the German Tragic Drama. In the wake of, vigilantly following and thus at
times preceding, extending and bringing about its
living-on, the work of Jacques Derrida, particularly Derrida’s attention to the concept of spectrality
and iterability, Samuel Weber deploys the concept
of allegory as found in Benjamin, and his own versions of iterability and spectrality, which, in his
latest works appear translated under the names of
“theatricality” and “Benjamin’s –abilities.” It is to
these two concepts that we now turn.
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Analytic traces of the encounter between
Samuel Weber and Walter Benjamin are strewn
throughout his opus. Samuel Weber has emerged as
the most insistent, systematic and simply brilliant
analyst of Benjamin’s oeuvre today. One should give
this its due assessment. In order to give a minimal
justice to the concept of allegory and theatricality in
Samuel Weber and Benjamin, we will have to leave
aside for now Weber’s magisterial analysis of Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Technical
Reproducibility,” for example, in Mass Mediauras,
and will limit ourselves to note that Samuel Weber
was the first to alert to the mistranslation of this title (“reproduction”) and to insist on the –ability in
“reproducibility.” The notion of allegory as found in
Benjamin has been deployed in various critical contexts and interpretive junctures. In Targets of Opportunity, for example, the genealogy of modernity
encapsulated by the concept of allegory is brought
to bear on the concept of war, work and network.
In the aftermath of Reformation and counter-Reformation, the path to redemption formerly available
through the “good works” of the Catholic Church
has been supplanted by the sola fides, faith only of
the Lutheran reformation. In his book on the Trauerspiel, Walter Benjamin examined this challenge
to the Christian soteriological narrative, the Heilsgeschichte, claims Weber, which was replaced by a
theater staging death and destruction, the allegorical “mourning play.” The allegory of the “Mourning
play” appears at the moment when, Weber quotes
this in his essay on “Allegory and Theatricality in
Benjamin,” “The secularizing (Verweltlichung) of the
Counter-Reformation gained force in both religious
confessions, religious inclination” but “religious inclinations still did not lose their weight: it was only
that the century refused them a religious solution,
in order to impose or demand a worldly one in its
place” (Benjamin in Weber 2004, 170). Thus, Christian Europe bars the transcendental narrative from
275
occurring, and only faith, sola fides, a radical immanentism, folds back on itself in a profound selfreferential abyss in which nothing gets to be “represented” since it is nothing that formed the core of
this immanentist fold, but gets to be staged. “Walter
Benjamin designates throughout his text that ‘natural history’ refers to a movement of perdition rather
than progress, a ‘fallen’ creation that is doomed to
finitude and mortality without any perspective of
meaning that would transcend such limitation”
(Weber 2005, 174). The outcome of the Reformation
unleashed forces by which the transcendental was
turned onto itself as radically immanent, and thus
opened a nihilistic void at the heart of the Christian world. This void, precisely as nothing to play
with, appears, in Weber’s and Benjamin’s analysis,
as the very stage on which a profound multiplicity
(since immanent and permutable meanings) vie for
“expression.” A stage movement, mise-en-scene, has
become literally a movement over the abyss, miseen-abyme. What is expressed is founded on these
spectral, nihilistic boards, where no resurrection is
possible, but only a contact between life and death,
and thus a multiplication of ghosts and specters, of
which Hamlet’s father is just the most emblematic
instantiation. Hamlet, let us remind ourselves, was
a student in Wittenberg.
The baroque allegory, the story of the fall, thus
ushers in a crisis in both earthly and divine modes
of representation. “What the baroque consequently
rejects is any admission of the limitation of immanence and it does so by emptying transcendence of
all possible representable content. Far from doing
away with transcendence, however, such emptying
out endows it with all the more powerful force: that
of the vacuum, of the absolute unbounded other,
which, since it is no longer representable, is also no
longer localizable out there or as beyond. The otherness that is no longer allowed to remain transcendent therefore reappears this side of the horizon, rep-
pêrspëctîvés
resented as a cataract, abyss, or fall. Or, even more
radically, as allegory” (Weber 2008, 187).
Instead of the sovereign who borrows his transcendence from God (the path to such transcendence, we should remember, has been foreclosed by
the radical immanentism of sola fides), and whose
legitimacy is shattered, the political space emblematized by the Trauerspiel is inhabited by a plotter, a
schemer, and the political space opened up to certain
ambivalence and theatricality. “It is this medium, in
all of its avowed inauthenticity—which Benjamin
links to a spatial simultaneity of the stage—that replaces the faltering eschatological medium of Christian Heilsgeschichte” (Weber 2005, 104). The outcome
of the European religious wars leaves something like
a car wreck, floodlit with lights of emergency vehicles, while a plotter directs the traffic around it and
tells the gawkers, “Move on, there is nothing to see.”
But like a fleet of emergency vehicles, what is ushered in by this crisis of sovereignty is a staging of an
emergency, an accident, a ruin, a theater of wars and
targets of opportunities, all staging a profound nothingness at work as a network, displayed or staged as
an (emergency, state of exception) vehicle of political expediency. “In short, what you see in the Trauerspiel is all you are going to get: all and nothing,”
Weber concludes in “Allegory and Theatricality in
Benjamin” (Weber 2004, 176). The theatrical site of
the German baroque drama (but this has by now in
Benjamin and Samuel Weber also been diagnosed as
a genealogy of modernity), “The sight of these [theatrical] images is intended to compensate for the
emptying of the world. But they remain allegorical
‘masks,’ and hence the world they ‘reanimate’ is the
world of the living dead, of ghosts and ghouls, rather
than of the resurrected” (Weber 2004, 177).
Thus, the theatrical medium of which German Trauerspiel gives not “artistically” significant
examples, but examples crucial for the genealogy
of modernity and mediality, becomes emblematic
of the post-Reformation nihilism at work—or network in the tormented body of the Christian world.
“Through its staging of suffering, murder, and death
in the mourning play, this rhythm, which marks
the recurrence of the ‘fall’ rather than the coming
of resurrection, endows the baroque network with
relative stability and, indeed endurance. But it is a
stability and endurance of a shared guilt rather than
the expectation of salvation.” This guilt, Samuel
Weber points out in his analysis of the genealogy
of network and netwar, “serves to isolate the other
as enemy, which is to say a potential target to be hit
and shunted aside, beseitig” (Weber 2004, 104-5).
In the crisis of sovereignty, an intriguer appears on the stage of history. In his essay “Taking
Exception to Decision. Walter Benjamin and Carl
Schmitt,” in his Benjamin’s –abilities, Weber indicates that “The intriguer exploits the mechanism
of human action as the result of forces over which
there can be no ultimate control, but which precisely for that reason can be made a subject of probabilistic calculations” (Weber 2008, 191). In American political parlance and crisis of a democratically
elected presidential sovereignty, that would be a
recent denomination of a politician as a “maverick”
or a “decider.” “For the intriguer, … the exercise of
power as manipulation of others must be its own
reward. In the absence of the Work (since the Reformation elimination of “good works” resulted in
the elimination of Work tout court), virtuosity is
all that is left. Anyone who thinks otherwise might
well ponder the fate of Wotan, his family, and the
nation that followed in their footsteps” (Weber
2004, 179). Thus, what appeared as an analysis of an
obscure genre and plays that no one reads anymore,
even at the time when Benjamin wrote the book on
the Trauerspiel, turned out to be a reflection on the
very forces of nihilistic destruction related to the
“death of God” and the void filled with the technomediatic virtuosity and prowess, not unrelated to
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pêrspëctîvés
the situation we currently find ourselves in, and
perhaps first of all in the United States.
Benjamin thus understood and tried to ward off
by his writing the forces, which, unleashed by the
aesthetic ideology of the German tragic drama, and
coupled with the forces of technology, would soon
spell massive destruction on a global scale. (Weber:
“The only hope available to the baroque is to …
slow if not abolish the irresistible pull toward a catastrophic terminus” 2004, 173). Such was Benjamin’s
analysis of Kafka, in whose stories he was the first
to discover, in the minute and imperceptible tremors of Kafka’s narratives, the echoes of the massive
deployment of “the technology of modern warfare.”
But this reality of Kafka’s stories “can virtually no
longer be experienced by an individual, and that, in
Kafka’s world, frequently of such playfulness and interlaced with angels, is the exact complement of his
era which is preparing to do away with the inhabitants of this planet on a considerable scale. The experience which corresponds to that of Kafka, the private individual, will probably not become accessible
to the masses until such time as they are being done
away with” (Benjamin 1968, 143). The nihilistic void
of modernity, staged by the baroque allegory and so
subtly and insistently interpreted by Benjamin, only
needed its target of opportunity (the private body
of Franz Kafka, a Jew, multiplied and massified by
means of technical reproducibility) to come to its
nihilistic telos and end. To invoke Samuel Weber
form Targets of Opportunity, as a coda to the quote
above, to give the full dimension and echo to the sonorous sound of this insight: “It is this act of violence
that registers as ‘guilt’—which consists of the denial
of indebtedness to an alterity without which nothing could be identified, no aim taken, no target hit”
(Weber 2005, 05). In his essay on “Allegory and Theatricality in Benjamin,” to remain a bit longer in the
vicinity of allegory of the German tragic drama (but
now, again, fully aware that it is a genealogy of mo277
dernity that Benjamin and Samuel Weber are providing), a despotism often depicted in these plays,
“Less ‘Oriental’ than ‘Western,” (so it is the genealogy of Western modernity), is itself “a desperate reaction to a no win game. The theatrical medium does
not so much seek salvation as ward off impeding catastrophe though its spatio-temporal, that is, localized suspension on stage. Such a desperate project is
therefore predicated upon inevitable and considerable violence” (Weber 2004, 179). “German mourning play buries itself entirely in the hopelessness of
the earthly order,” says Benjamin (quoted in Weber,
2008, 157). “The secularized world of the baroque is
going towards its end… the baroque mourning play
is going nowhere” (Weber 2008, 159).
The play which for Benjamin and Weber stands
as an emblem of the Baroque is Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It is in the analysis of this play in his “’Ibi et
ubique’: The Incontinent Plot (‘Hamlet’)” of Theatricality as Medium, that Samuel Weber makes most
explicitly a connection between iterability, spectrality and his notion of theatricality. The radical
immanence at work in the German Baroque play
opens up the stage to a melancholic gaze cast on
the world where the staging puts in proximity both
the live persons, personae, and the dead ones. In
Hamlet, German Baroque play, but also in the new
media the genealogy of which could be traced to
these two, “the emphasis on life only underscores
the ghostly nature of the screen as well as that of
stage: what it brings to life is not simply resurrected, but also embalmed” (Weber 2004, 181).
The notorious haunting of Hamlet’s father’s
ghost is given a close scrutiny and an original analysis. Samuel Weber carefully reads the scenes of
swearing and the comic reliefs (Hamlet to Ghost:
“Art thou there, truepenny?”) accompanying these
scenes in act I (never truly read so far or given a
proper accounting), to underscore the splitting of
the space of the stage, and a radical spectrality of
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the play, stemming from the performative force
unleashed by the swearing scenes. Samuel Weber points out how Hamlet is forced repeatedly
to change his place on the stage in order to swear
his friends Marcellus, Horatio and Bernardo, to
secrecy. The outbidding of the oath, first in words
then in deed, never satisfying Hamlet, indicates in
the opening of the play the representational and
symbolic void opened up by the Reformation, of
which, as we have already indicated, the German
Tragic Play is an allegory. “Note Hamlet’s insistence
upon all the external trappings of a formal oath:
it is not enough for Marcellus to protest, ‘We have
sworn, my lord, already,’ not enough that he has already agreed verbally to Hamlet’s injunction ‘never
make known what you have seen tonight.’ Although
Hamlet, like Horatio, has studied in Wittenberg, the
Protestant mistrust of sacramental ritual seems to
extend to the ‘faith’ that for Luther is supposed to
supplant it” (Weber 2004, 183). The rift between Catholicism and Protestantism staged as the bidding
for the “proper” mourning of the father, and as a
one-on-one relation between the father and the son
(Hamlet the Father speaks only to Hamlet the Son,
qua ghost or unholy spirit), explicitly related to Luther and Wittenberg, serves in the play as pointed
out in Benajmin’s and Samuel Weber’s interpretation to underscore the structural forces of representation (or its unraveling) at work in this scene. “Hic”
in “Hic et ubique” should also be heard as an echo
of “hic est meum corpus” of the Catholic Eucharist
here by the Lutheran sola fides (Wittenberg) violently rejected as ghostly, phantomatic, spectral, and
sentenced to wondering. By placing the ghost under
the stage, thus putting on display the impossibility
to internalize the father’s ghost in the act of mourning (Hamlet’s well known melancholia, incapacity
to “introject” the loss), the play, enacting the forces
of the religious schism qua a secularized spectacle,
spectralizes the stage and makes the plot inconti-
nent. Thus, the greatest political rift in modern history, the schism in the Christian church, comes to
haunt the very representational space of the play.
The stage becomes divided and infinitely di-visible,
thus anticipating the workings of the modern media: “The iterable divisibility of ‘representing’ thus
contaminates the visibility of the represented. The
intended act—here, the oath—is derailed by the fact
that it is always already the product of acting” (Weber 2004, 185).
Everything is on the stage and everywhere else.
What is crucial for understanding the workings of
the play is the instability of the symbolic order stemming from the incapacity to “properly mourn” the
father (the death of God; the sacrifice of Christ; the
impossibility of transcendence, the path to which is
barred by Luther’s sola fides, captured for example
in the history of religious painting by Hans Holbein’s Dead Christ in a Tomb) which unhinges the
representational space, or the possibility of the plot
to begin or end in a homogenous way required by
the metaphysical tradition of Aristotelian dramatic
theory. “’Hic et ubique’ is as succinct a characterization of the divisible space of a spectral theatricality as is possible, but ‘shifting our ground’ is hardly
going to be an effective response. Not just ‘time’ is
out of joint,’ but ‘space’ as well” (Weber 2004, 185-6).
The ghost is everywhere and nowhere, and that contaminates, so to speak, the figures on the stage: says
Samuel Weber, both living or dead. The plot leaks
spectrality and mediality, and requires different interpretive tools for understanding the comings and
goings of this play, and subsequently of the modern
media stemming out of it.
The interpretation of Hamlet which, it seems,
most resembles that of Samuel Weber’s is Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildernstern are Dead, both
the play (1966) and the film which he wrote and
directed (1990). The play does not stage Hamlet,
but the very theatricality at work in this play. We
278
pêrspëctîvés
could say of it what Samuel Weber says of Hamlet,
that “Every speech onstage is already an echo and
repetition of a ‘part’ inscribed elsewhere” (Weber
2004, 185). The play starts with a coin toss. It always
turns heads. One should read in this several things
that we have discerned in the original: the play of
Hamlet owes its ghostly, spectral, “spooky” feeling
to the repetitions of which the origin is unknown.
The flipping of the coin intensifies this sense of repetition: something has happened, and like the coin
flip, the two main characters are aimlessly tossed
on the stage, and whatever their actions, it will cost
them their “head.” Furthermore, the coin they flip
is a “Sovereign,” thus inviting the interpretation of
its status in the play in the wake of the attention it
received in Benjamin and Samuel Weber. (In order
to save time, I refer the reader to “Taking Exception
to Decision. Walter Benjamin and Carl Schmitt” in
Benjamin’s –abilities. It is the best assessment of the
question of sovereignty in Benjamin and Schmitt
to date). The Beckettian absurdism of Rosencrantz
& Guildernstern are Dead makes of the sovereign a
coin flip, a flip of the sovereign. The repeated toss
that brings back the king (“heads”) in his symbolic,
spectral guise, parodically repeats the return of the
ghost that refuses to rest in peace in the original
play of Hamlet. This parodic return of the sovereign
ghost qua the coin flip, the very motion of iterability
and theatricality in play, may be best captured by
the interpretive insight in Weber’s essay above that
“the baroque play finds a saving grace in its own
theatricality” (Weber 2008, 191).
The plot in Rosencrantz & Guildernstern are
Dead is interminably divided by more and more
staging and plotting, beginning with the entrance
into (or is it the exit out of?) the play, when found
abandoned on the scene of the traveling stage coach,
and then suddenly transposed into “Hamlet,” forever unsettling the frame of reference, underscored by
the inability of the leading protagonists to identify
279
themselves. The following scene starts at the stage
of the traveling theater, but imperceptibly, like a fold
of a Moebius strip, turns into Elsinore, completely
confusing exteriority and interiority, and delocalizing the frame of reference:
GUIL (turning): What?
ROS: It was tails.
He tosses the coin to GUIL who catches it. Simultaneously—lighting change sufficient to alter the
exterior mood into interior, but nothing violent.
And OPHELIA runs on in some alarm, holding
up her skirts—followed by HAMLET (Stoppard
1967, 34)
The scene above is a perfect illustration (and
vice versa) of Samuel Weber’s: “The visible plot is
suspended by a divisible voice [and multiple framing] emanating from an invisible plot below and
before all possible plots or plotting” (Weber 2004,
184). Their inability to remember the origin of their
departure or destiny, split in their identity and temporality, already living their own death (Rosencrantz
and Guildernstern are dead but alive on stage) underscores this ghostly division in the characters of
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Rosencrantz & Guildernstern are Dead radicalizes Hamlet in a similar
way as Samuel Weber makes its theatricality theoretically explicit: in order to come to terms with tradition and the political, one has to learn to deal with
specters and ghosts, even or especially those that
haunt our most intimate selves. It is not the king that
is spectral, but our own predicament is that we are
haunted, from the moment we have been sent for,
by the ghost of our own existence, and every time
called, summoned, conjured or “mimicked” (should
we say, allegorized) by the staging as if of this play.
“The emptied world” “becomes the condition of the
masked resurrection.” “But that resurrection remains
a mask, tied to the theater” (Weber 2004, 191, italics D.K.). Rosencrantz & Guildernstern are Dead il-
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lustrates the radical theatricalization of the original
play’s potential, “referring to its medial conditions
of possibility” (Weber 2004, 195).
In his Hamlet and Hecuba. The Intrusion of the
Time Into Play, written in 1956, Carl Schmitt has already noticed with some lucidity that Shakespeare’s
Trauerspiel (Hamlet) is unplayable as a tragedy: In
Shakespeare’s “so called tragedies,” says Schmitt, “we
can least afford to ignore the unplayability (Unverspielbarkeit) of the tragic” (Schmitt 2009, 40). Schmitt
tries to arrest however this movement of spectrality
and “unplayability” by insisting on grounding the
play in an exact referential “historical” reading and
insisting on the direct and unmediated connection
between Hamlet and James I, somehow made univocally explicit in the “Mousetrap.” His book even
includes a “response” to Walter Benjamin’s Origin of
the German Tragic Play, downplaying the power of
allegory. We will leave aside this debate and the delayed “response” to Walter Benjamin which is some
thirty years late. We know that he was sent the book
by Benjamin himself with words of admiration and
a dedication upon its publication in 1928. We should
however briefly note that the long delay in responding publicly and to a now dead author says a lot (or
could say a lot to Schmitt) about precisely the unavowable forces at work in his own political trajectory, the undigested and non-introjected historical
baggage that haunts his “response.” A statement in
this response that “Hamlet is not Christian in any
specific sense” (Schmitt 2009, 61), meant as a critical
remark to undercut the authority of allegory as interpreted by Benjamin, is nothing but a Verneinung
of the first order, but one revealing a belated spasm
of the very nihilistic void analyzed by Benjamin,
which started in the Reformation and later on found
a mechanically reproduced sacrificial target (to include “the private citizens” Kafka and Benjamin”)
to fill this void and thus restore itself to a purified
unity, in the worst imaginable manner. In Schmitt’s
response, that target is repressed or talked about or
to, only when it is there no more, while it is there no
more precisely with the historically irreversible ideological and political complicity of Carl Schmitt. But
there is no stopping the ghosts of history. Just like in
Hamlet, the repression makes the ghost return more
insistently. That is what Schmitt’s response misses in
Hamlet and in his own address to Benjamin’s ghost.
The truth of the play according to Schmitt is
paradoxically (and something Schmitt does not quite
take into account in its full consequences), in the
play within the play staged by Hamlet. Paradoxically,
since such staging precisely qua staging, qua mediality, splits the frame of reference and the truth of the
play, inasmuch as the “truth” of his own “response to
Benjamin” remains divided by the decalage, Nachtraeglich haunting. What the play within the play reveals,
rather, is that in this play “every place is part and parcel of a medium, although never simply in the sense
of an interval or transition between two fixed points
or poles. The medium is what happens when places
are haunted by an uncanny divisibility. Medium is
the ghost of a place: its haunt” (Weber 2004, 187).
The attempt to localize the referential truth of this
play solely in the time of Elizabethan England disregards the power of Hamlet and Benjamin, to read in
this play the nihilistic forces of modernity splitting
the stage, its frame of reference, and which affected
not only England, but also Germany precisely at the
moment when it put itself at the promontory of “the
new Europe.” “What otherwise is known as ‘secularization’ becomes, in Benjamin’s account, more like
allegorical theatricalization. Such allegorical theatricalization cannot simply overcome time and mortality, but it can temporarily arrest, interrupt, and suspend their progress” (Weber 2004, 191, italics D.K.).
What is eerily historically “true” in Hamlet are
not particular historical references, but the capacity to serve as a lure of history and provide an interpretive frame not for resembling, but for inter280
pêrspëctîvés
preting and staging it, dare we say deconstructing
it, through the ghostly movements of its “disorderly
excess”, which it also attempts to temporarily arrest
(Weber 2004, 197). Hamlet stages how European
history (the history of “the West”) comes to pass. But
thus also in its wake (as in the vigilant encounter
with the ghost) allows for a different history to be
imagined or staged, precisely in the horrible immemorial memory of its catastrophic origin. “The
elevation of these corpses upon the stage [at the end
of Hamlet] reveals what has been known all along
but perhaps not fully recognized: that the theatrical
stage remains a temporal stage, which comes only
in going, and which, in departing, leaves room for
what is to come” (Weber 2004, 199).
Ghost Scriptum: “Ghosts have an affinity for
mourners, for those who ponder over signs and
over the future,” Walter Benjamin (1998, 193).
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Kernel. Translated by Nicholas T. Rand. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Benjamin, Walter. The Origin of German Tragic Drama.
Translated by John Osborne. London: Verso, 1998.
---- Illuminations. Essays and Reflections. Translated by
Harry Zohn. New York: Schocken Books, 1968.
Derrida, Jacques. “Autoimmunity: Real and Symbolic
Suicides—A Dialogue With
Jacques Derrida.” In Giovanna Borradori. Philosophy in the
Time of Terror. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
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----“Spectrographies.” In Jacques Derrida and Bernard Stiegler. Echographies of Television, Translated by
Jennifer Bajorek. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2002.
---- “No One Is Innocent,” A Discussion With Jacques
Derrida About Philosophy in the Face of Terror, The
Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown
University, http://www.watsoninstitute.org/infopeace/911/article, last accessed June 23, 2010.
---- Specters of Marx. Translated by Peggy Kamuf.
New York: Routledge, 1994.
----, “Ulysses Gramophone.” Translated by Tina Kendall and Revised by Shari Benstock. In Acts of Literature. Edited by Derek Attridge. New York: Routledge,
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Heidegger, Martin. The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays. Translated by William Lovitt.
New York: Harper and Row, 1977.
Hillis Miller, J. “Anachronistic Reading.” Manuscript,
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---- “Ecotechnical Odradek.” Manuscript, 2010.
----The Medium is the Maker. Browning, Freud, Derrida and the New Telepathic Technologies. Brighton:
Sussex Academic Press, 2009.
Schmitt Karl. Hamlet or Hecuba. Translated by David
Pan and Jennifer Rust. New York: Telos Press, 2009.
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.
New York: Grove Press, 1967.
Weber, Samuel. Benjamin’s –abilities. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008.
---- Targets of Opportunity. On the Militarization of
Thinking. New York: Fordham University Press, 2005.
---- Theatricality as Medium. New York: Fordham
University Press, 2004.
---- Institution and Interpretation. Expanded Edition.
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UDC 1 Weber S. (047.53)
Interview conducted by Arne De Boever and Alex Murray
Samuel Weber on
Benjamin’s -abilities
• Could you briefly explain what you mean by
“Benjamin’s -abilities”?
Samuel Weber From his earliest until his latest
writings, Walter Benjamin tends to form many of his
key concepts by nominalizing verbs through the addition of the suffix “-ability”: in German, “-barkeit.”
Examples are: communicability (with respect to language), criticizability (with respect to the Romantic
notion of literature), translatability, reproducibility
and cognizability. This gives a very particular cast to
his manner of forming concepts: instead of seeking
to designate what phenomena or processes have in
common, such “-abilities” designate what Derrida
once called a “structural possibility,” a potentiality
based not on what actually is but on what might be.
Such concepts are thereby directed more toward
a possible future than an already existing present.
They put the emphasis therefore on the potential to
transform reality – or on reality itself as a process
of transformation. But they also reflect what I call a
tendency to grasp such reality in terms of “media”
or “mediality” – one could say “medi-ability” if it
weren’t such an ugly word – rather than in terms of
accomplished “works.” A medium, for Benjamin at
least, is defined as a complex of relationships – today
we might say “links” – rather than as an aggregate of
self-contained, meaningful works or facts. Part of
my project, in this book, is to retrace the genealogy
of Benjamin’s influential insights in the new media
back to his relation to the traditional disciplines in
which he was initially trained: philosophy, literary
studies, art history, political theory. His tendency
to “medialize” concepts through articulating them
as “-abilities” prepares the way for his insights into
the “new” media of photography, cinema and radio.
But these insights are always dependent on the way
he conceives of the “old” media, above all language,
time and space.
• If Benjamin’s and Derrida’s thought can be said to
share a concern with language, time, and space, in
what ways do you consider them to be different?
Perhaps we can begin with language, more specifically, linguistics. In a short text you wrote about
Benjamin’s -abilities, you present Benjamin as a
precursor of Derrida’s rediscovery of Ferdinand de
Saussure’s notion of linguistic value as differential
signification; but isn’t Benjamin’s background in
linguistics different from Derrida’s, in a way that
288
diãlôgüés
might resist the relation between Benjamin and
Derrida that you establish?
Your question, which is multiple, is one that has
pursued me – Derrida would have said “haunted” –
for many years. Where to start? With language perhaps. Both Benjamin and Derrida are in a tradition
that also includes Heidegger, and in which language
plays a decisive role as the medium within which
established notions of meaning and value, based on
an unquestioned subject-object paradigm, are to be
rethought. A clear manifestation of this situation
can be found in the fact that both Heidegger and
Benjamin, independently of one another, planned
to write their “Habilitation” – i.e. the second thesis,
corresponding to the Doctorat d’etat in France – on
the very same text: De modi significandi, at the time
ascribed to Duns Scotus and since reattributed to
Thomas of Erfurt. In short, the scholastic tradition
of investigating the “modes of signifying” served already at the beginning of the twentieth century as an
historical point from which the then dominant NeoKantianism, and above all Bewusstseinsphilosophie
– philosophy based on self-consciousness – could
be called into question. One of Derrida’s first major
works returns to this general configuration in problematizing Husserl’s early attempt to establish an
immanence of thinking by demonstrating how the
sign and signification have to be excluded in order
for such immanence to function, but also how such
exclusion breaks down and ultimately confirms the
inevitable heterogeneity of thinking, precisely as inseparable from language as signifying process.
Both Derrida and Benjamin participate in this
process, which is why both are attentive to language
not just as an object of reflection but as a medium
of their practice – of their writing practice. So, of
course, Benjamin’s “background in linguistics” is
different from Derrida’s, but there are certain common origins and, above all, concerns that they share.
289
Moreover, for both, the question of the alterity of
language as signification also requires a rethinking
of the relation of knowledge and truth in their relation not just to science and reason, but also to religion. Both see language as a medium that opens or
reopens the question of the “messianic” for instance,
with and against an Enlightenment tradition that
sought to eliminate or devalue such perspectives.
But here perhaps is a place where a decisive
difference between the two, between Benjamin and
Derrida, can be found. For Benjamin, the messianic tradition is inseparable from the figure of the
Messiah, no matter how elusive and unorthodox
this figure turns out to be in his writings. Derrida,
by contrast, coins the formula “messianicity without messianism” and his writings rarely make mention of “the Messiah” using the definite article. This
difference points up a corresponding divergence in
their two styles of thought. Derrida’s deconstructive
writing – and not all of his writing is deconstructive,
I should add – is inseparable from a powerful force
of formalization. For instance, Husserl in the logical investigations appeals to a process of repetition
in order to distinguish what he takes to be a selfcontained, immanent “ideality of meaning” from all
empiricity: as “ideal” a meaning must be identically
repeatable in a way that no empirical object can ever
be. Derrida by contrast insists that the very notion
of repetition, and not just its empirical usage, entails
alteration as well as sameness, and that therefore the
very process that Husserl cites in order to establish
ideality as self-sameness unhinges such self-identity. Repetition thus turns out to be at the heart of
Derrida’s deconstructive operation, and it involves
on the one hand a process of formalization: something is repeated in order to produce the same, independent of variations in content – and on the other
a demonstration that all such formal recurrence inevitably entails alteration, i.e. “signifies” something
other than what it “represents.” “Messianicity” in
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his writing is thus tied to notions such as “promise,” “expectation”, but without there being an identifiable object to stabilize their movement. Previous
to devising the formula “messianicity without messianism,” Derrida had invoked a phrase first introduced to my knowledge by Hélène Cixous, namely
“arrivant,” to designate a process of “arriving” that
never reaches its goal, is never fully self-present, nor
even necessarily “human”: “arrivant” could also in
certain cases be translated as “arrival.”
Benjamin, by contrast, does not proceed by a
process of formalization, i.e. of radicalizing a process by which things seek to come into their own
and establish their self-sameness. Instead, he tends
to prefer to interrupt the process often by introducing “images” – which he uses as what he sometimes
calls schriftbilder, script-images, as I would translate it. These images do not illustrate; rather, they
interrupt the expectation of what one might expect
to “follow” from what has come before and offer
puzzling connections that have to be deciphered
by the reader. An example is furnished by one of
Benjamin’s most famous, but also most elusive
figures, that of the “aura,” a word to which he attaches a series of quite different meanings, whose
common ground is anything but self-evident: étui
(velvet-lined boxes for objects or commodities),
unreciprocated glance, proximate distance etc. Both
Benjamin and Derrida are thus situated in a certain
Kierkegaardian tradition, for which the singularity
of existence remains an aporetical but untranscendable touchstone, but they relate to that singularity
in different ways. Benjamin has no compunction
about figuration, as long as such figuration – he calls
it also Darstellung, staging or exposition – remains
enigmatic and thought-provoking. And thus he
has no problem referring to “the Messiah” at various points in his writing. Derrida, by contrast, sees
the singular itself as entirely aporetical, which leads
him to problematize the “one” – which in French as
in German, but unlike English, can serve either as
a numerical marker or as an indefinite article. And
for Derrida, the indefinite article is rarely figured
as an “image” as it often is for Benjamin. Rather it
functions to dislocate the unity of words and names,
and in this sense remains more intralinguistic.
• How do you see translation’s place within this
constellation? Translation, and specifically
Benjamin’s notion of translatability, plays an
important part in your book. Understanding
translation philosophically, one could consider
Benjamin’s particular way of forming concepts
through the suffix “–ability” as a practice of
translation – a practice through which he rewrites different verbs such as “mitteilen” (communicating, parting with), “bestimmen” (determine), “kritisieren” (criticize), “zitieren” (cite),
“übersetzen” (translate), “reproduzieren” (reproduce), “erkennen” (know), into the same form,
namely that of “–ability.” Does this form erase
a difference between the very different practices
that these verbs refer to?
You’re absolutely right: translation, or rather
“translatability” is decisive for both Benjamin and
Derrida. The obvious difference is that Benjamin, at
least in the early twenties, when he writes “The Task
of the Translator,” sees “translatability” – and indeed
all of his –abilities – as entailing a transcendent moment that for him implies a monotheistic reference:
“pure language” – whereas Derrida insists on the
“aporetic” aspect of translation, such that “translatability” always involves “untranslatability” as well.
Benjamin describes the relation of translation to
“original” in terms of a certain contact – a Berührung
– which in turn implies a certain fixity of the two
elements involved. Translation, he writes, has the
“task of ripening the seed of pure language,” the poetic original is said to reside in “the thick mountain290
diãlôgüés
ous forest of language,” and perhaps above all, it is
described in terms of the “unity of fruit and skin”
as opposed to the translation, which “envelops its
content like a royal robe with ample folds.” Whereas
Derrida is more comfortable with the aporetic dynamic of translation: translation of the untranslatable, Benjamin, one could say, “acts out” such aporeticity: for instance, in insisting that the original – or
something in it – remains “untouched” or even “untouchable” (unberührbar) in the process of translation, while at the same time, as I’ve said, describing
the process in terms of the “touch” (Berührung) of a
circle (the original) by a tangent (the translation) in
the process then of removing itself from that original. I don’t think, for instance, that Derrida would
ever think of an “original” as being a circle, much
less of the work of the poet as being “naive, primary,
direct,” as Benjamin writes. Both share the sense of
translation as a process that antedates and surpasses
meaning, as involving what Benjamin calls the “way
of meaning” rather than “the meant” and what we
today might call a “signifying process.” And both
share the sense that this signifying process, far from
being only linguistic in the restricted sense, involves
the way in which human beings experience the relation of life to death. Derrida’s notion of “survivre” is
anticipated by Benjamin’s description of translation
as an Über- or Fortleben: a living-on (or away). And
both see this relationship as somehow culminating
in a certain notion of the “messianic.” But whereas
for Derrida this notion remains tortured and problematic: “messianicity without messianism,” “desert
in the desert,” Benjamin seems (still?) able to appeal
to a less broken concept of the messianic – perhaps because he can still see the world in terms of
Creation, however fallen, shattered or problematic.
Which is why, at the end of his essay, he can compare the “task of the translator” with that of producing an interlinear version of a “sacred text.” I don’t
think that for Derrida the notion of “text” would
291
be compatible with that of the “sacred” – although
even there one would probably have to introduce
many nuances.
• Perhaps another way to think about –ability’s
relation to difference could be through the lens
of time. The –abilities you discuss in your book
are drawn from texts written between 1916 and
1935. Do you see Benjamin’s –abilities change
through time? Continuing our comparative discussion of Benjamin and Derrida, do you see
a relation between Benjamin’s –abilities and
Derrida’s notion of “iterability”?
Let me start with your last question, which
will enable me to continue the previous one. For
Derrida, “iterability” inserts alterity at the core of
all identity, rendering it tendentially – virtually
– unstable, because heterogeneous. This includes
traditional monotheism, and above all the use of
the noun “God” as anything like a proper name.
With Benjamin we don’t find that scruple – that
reticence. In his essay on “The Work of Art in the
Age of Technical Reproducibility,” he begins by acknowledging that repetition has always affected the
production of art-works, but then goes on to suggest that something radically new sets in with modern technologies of reproduction, such as film and
photography. Derrida would not deny that, but he
wouldn’t frame it in the same way as Benjamin does,
which I see as analogous to his argument in “The
Task of the Translator,” namely, conserving a notion
of the “original” as somehow self-identical, “circular,” in order then to historicize it in a way that strikes
me as not entirely thought out. The original remains
untouched and in some sense immortal, but it also
“lives on” in the highly mortal (because untranslatable) form of the translation. I doubt, for instance,
that Derrida would have endorsed Benjamin’s notion that translations, as opposed to originals, are
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themselves not translatable. He would have examined the ambiguity of the word “translation”, rather
than identify its various conflicting meanings with
different “forms” or formal possibilities (“abilities”).
This response already addresses the first question or questions, at least implicitly, by suggesting
that Benjamin’s argumentation does not vary conceptually from “The Task of the Translator” to “The
Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproducibility.”
Which does not mean nothing changes – it’s obvious and explicit that Benjamin in his later texts,
such as “The Work of Art in the Age of Technical
Reproducibility” directly rejects some of his earlier categories: “symbolic,” “creator,” etc. Of course,
when you look at the texts more closely, or think
about them more precisely, you discover that the
earlier uses of the terms sought to exclude them
from the domain of aesthetics; but at the same time
they framed that domain. I think the tension in
Benjamin’s own position comes out in the violent
polemics with which he introduces his chapter on
“Symbol and Allegory” in the third section of his
book on the trauerspiel: he writes of a “usurper” having come to dominate the “philosophy of art” ever
since the Romantics: the “usurpation” consists in the
translation of the symbolic – which for Benjamin
must remain not just transcendental, but transcendent, but in the sense of divine, or rather messianic
– into the profane domain of art. His construction of
the notion of “allegory” is his response to that usurpation, but it too is ultimately informed by the messianic perspective of divine redemption, as he makes
clear in his astonishing conclusion – a true deus ex
machina, albeit in the realm of critical discourse.
• Some of the chapters of the book, for example
“Taking Exception to Decision: Walter Benjamin
and Carl Schmitt,” were written more than ten
years ago. What is at stake for you in publishing
a book on Benjamin’s –abilities today?
Benjamin’s radicalization of the notion of
“exception” helps to explain his tendency to formulate concepts in terms of their “-ability” rather
than in terms of their self-presence or self-identity.
Especially given the fact that Benjamin acknowledges his debt to Schmitt in the trauerspiel book,
it is important to stress precisely how and where
he diverges from the thinker who was to write the
Concept of the Political. Epistemologically, Schmitt
aims at providing a conceptual basis for political
theory, however ambiguous that basis was to be.
Benjamin, on the other hand, extends the notion of
“exception” to include the crucial concept of “decision” itself, and thereby paves the way for Derrida’s
rethinking of that notion in his later writings.
Derrida’s penchant for phrases such as “decision, if
there is ever such a thing” is staged by Benjamin with
respect to the Baroque Sovereign, who is incapable
of making or taking or implementing the decision
that he is called upon to make. This goes to the heart
of the notion of authority, which Schmitt still seeks
to construe following a theological model, however
refracted and mediated, whereas Benjamin questions the very notion of sovereignty itself – for instance in foregrounding the figure of the “intriguer”
or “plotter” in Baroque theater. “Taking Exception
to Decision” situates In-decision or as Derrida will
go on to call it, undecidability, at the very origin of
Western modernity, and thus casts a very different
light on the Cartesian project that dominates philosophy until today: that of establishing sure and
certain foundations for knowledge. At the same
time the Schmittian perspective suggests that this
project, despite or because of its “secular” character,
responds to concerns that have been molded by a
long, very long religious tradition. In this perspective it is less surprising that today we are witnessing
a “return” of religious concerns and organizations
– for after all, in our secular modernity they were
never really gone, just underground.
292
diãlôgüés
• AA Yes. We were also thinking about this along
slightly different but not unrelated political
lines, which could take us back to one of your
recent books, Targets of Opportunity: On the
Militarization of Thinking. What is the relation
of Benjamin’s –abilities to power? If targeting is
an ability of power, is -ability also a target of
power in the age of bio-political security?
Benjamin’s “-abilities” entail the question of
power, but in a way that invites us to rethink just
what it is that this word is supposed to mean.
Generally, “power” is understood either in terms
of compulsion and constraint, or in terms of accomplishment. In both cases teleologically and ultimately also subjectively – as a function of the will.
The will in turn is a form of intentional activity: the
capacity to implement the concepts, representations or ideas that one has formed. Benjamin, on
the other hand, stands in a tradition that I would
call post-Nietzschean: “post” here in the sense of
a reading of Nietzsche that emphasizes the aporetical-paradoxical structure of his own “will to power” as “eternal return.” For Nietzsche, the “weak”
– powerless – have triumphed in Western history.
That all by itself should be enough to have initiated
a reflection on the non-self-identity of the concept
of “power” – or even of “will” to it. The reason that
there is a “will to power” is that power is already
something that cannot simply be “had” as such:
hence it must become the object of a “will” that – if
one reads Nietzsche closely enough – is as much
a movement “away” from something as “toward”
something else. In short, “power” is already in itself
ambivalent, and by no means excludes anxiety, desire and other such dynamics. Benjamin, I believe,
is squarely in this tradition – one that is continued
in our time by Derrida, and which stresses la force
de faiblesse and la faiblesse de force.
293
And of course recent political developments,
the policy of the current Bush administration, demonstrates this all too clearly. The “war against terror”
is an acknowledgement that what one is fighting is
“terror” – anxiety, fear, trauma – and not any “object.” The struggle goes on within a system of subjectivity that seeks to safeguard its sovereignty and
demonstrates thereby its increasing dependence
and heteronomy. Benjamin’s -abilities are his effort
to conceptualize such ambivalence: “The Task of the
Translator” – since we have been discussing that
text, and since it is central to all of Benjamin’s work
– is determined by an “-ability”: the capacity of a
text to be translated, that is not measurable in terms
of its realizability, that is its being made self-present,
being accomplished, but rather in terms of the intensity of the demand – Forderung is Benjamin’s
word – that it places on the reader, that is on those
who encounter it, who “graze” it as the translation
is said to “touch” the original at one single point
before going off on its own tangent. It is this “spin”
that marks “power” in the light of its -ability to alter
itself, to trace a path of alteration. And this limits
our “ability” to “control” it. Power as the inevitability (another -ability!) and limitation of what today is
called “spin-control.”
• If the “state of exception” is certainly one space
within which these questions of power are being played out, would you say that for example
the “Streets, Squares, Theatres” you discuss in
one of the chapters provide a counter-space to
the abuses of power that it brings?
Yes – because the kind of spaces Benjamin is describing in those texts from the “Passages” are not a
“state,” even of exception: they are, as I suggest, “on
the move” and also are out-of-the-way places, off the
main drag of history: the history of nation-states and
of their “exceptions.” A state of exception is still a
diãlôgüés
state. Very different from a “stage” in both the theatrical and the temporal senses. Benjamin describes how
little shacks are dismantled and recur in other places
(of Paris, for instance), they are something like that
Wanderbühne – that traveling stage that accompanies
the baroque court theaters but has no fixed place.
This, I think, is why Benjamin throughout his life is
fascinated by theater, whether barock mourning-play
or Brechtian epic theater, or even the “natural theater
of Oklahoma” in Kafka’s The Man Who Disappeared.
The theatrical stage is always local, but never stable:
it always communicates with other spaces and places and is never simply self-identical. It is a space of
transformation, of repetition, in which actors take
their “cues” from others and “fall out of their roles
with art.” In theater, as Benjamin sees it, art is always the art of transposition, never of self-contained
form. I would say that theater figures not so much
a “counter-space” – which as “counter” would still
be the mirror-image of that which it counters – but
rather alternative spacings, in which place is always
on the move and interacting with other places in a
space that is therefore discontinuous and above all,
heterogeneous: which is to say, temporal, just as time
is always spaced-out in the succession of stages. An
alternative to what? one might ask: perhaps to “history,” at least understood conventionally as a process
of self-fulfillment. Although I don’t think Benjamin
himself would have said that, the figures of theatrical
space in his writing allow us to think it.
• Do you consider your own book to be such a
stage – to provide such an alternative spacing,
in the sense that it ultimately theorizes what you
call a “power of conceptualization” that does
not so much gain mastery over as draw out the
singularity of Benjamin’s –abilities? Does the
attempt to read Benjamin conceptually require
one to “fall out of one’s role with art” and enter
into the limits of conceptualization?
To answer the first questions, or parts of your question: I hope so! Benjamin’s –abilities is anything but a
systematic or comprehensive study – assuming such a
thing would be possible or useful in regard to Benjamin.
Rather, by pointing to the ways in which Benjamin’s
writings and thinking is really impossible to classify or
situate in terms of traditional academic disciplines: philosophy, literary criticism, theology – the book seeks to
open up new ways of approaching this very difficult and
challenging writer. I also see certain implications for the
understanding of the relation of “media” to traditional,
as well as contemporary areas of study. In Benjamin’s
work “media” names a way of approaching art, literature but also language and thinking that is quite different from the more familiar and established perspectives.
“Medial” designates something that has no absolute
beginning but is “originary” in the sense discussed already: i.e. as a process of transformative reinscription.
With regard to the second part of your question:
without wanting to suggest that there is only one way
of reading Benjamin, “falling out of one’s role with art”
does strike me as a helpful indication of the singular sort
of approach that his very singular sort of writing encourages – and responds to. Art, in this sense, far from being
defined as the construction of works – as a process of
“erecting” or building – would involve rather inventive
ways of “falling” – a very different kind of “fortunate
fall” than that with which we are familiar. Different...
and yet perhaps also not entirely unrelated either. But I
am reminded rather of the way in which Benjamin describes the flight of the “seagulls” following the ship on
which he finds himself, in the sketch of the same name
–“Seagulls” – which is so diverse and varied and unpredictable that the very name “seagulls” “falls away” from
the birds he is watching. To learn how to make that fall
the driving force of a “flight” that neither simply flees
nor flies – that strikes me as the ultimate challenge of
Benjamin’s -abilities.
• Thank you very much for this interview.
294
diãlôgüés
Samuel Weber is Avalon Foundation Professor
of Humanities at Northwestern and co-director
of its Paris Program in Critical Theory. He studied
with Paul de Man and Theodor Adorno, whose book
Prisms he co-translated into English. The translation
of, and introduction to Adorno’s most important
book of cultural criticism helped define the way in
which the work of the Frankfurt School would be
read and understood in the English-speaking world.
Samuel Weber has published books on Balzac, Lacan,
and Freud, as well as on the relation of institutions
and media to interpretation. In the 1980s he worked
in Germany as a “dramaturge” in theater and opera
productions. Out of the confrontation of that experi-
295
ence with his work in critical theory came the book
Theatricality as Medium (Fordham, 2005). Benjamin’s
-abilities has been recently published with Harvard
University Press.
Arne De Boever is a PhD-candidate in the
Department of English and Comparative Literature and
the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at
Columbia University in New York. He studied at the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and at the
Universität Leipzig (Germany) and holds an MA and
MPhil from Columbia. His dissertation is a study of
four contemporary novels and the state of exception.
Alex Murray is one of the editors of Parrhesia,
and a lecturer at the University of Exeter in English.
diãlôgüés
Samuel Weber
Northwestern University
Department of German
[email protected]
Avalon Foundation Professor of Humanities,
Northwestern
Director, Northwestern Paris Program in Critical
Theory
Education:
1956, Diploma, High School of Music and Art
1960, B.A. with High Honors in English, Cornell
University
1960-67, Graduate Study at the Univ. of Munich
(Clemens), Yale (Wellek), Cornell (de Man) und
Frankfurt am Main (Adorno).
1971: Ph.D. (Comparative Literature), Cornell
University
1973: „Habilitation“ in Comparative & Modern
French Literature, Free University Berlin
Teaching Experience:
1967-1975: Wissenschaftlicher Assistant, then
Assistenz-Professor, Department of Comparative
Literature, Free University Berlin
1975-1982: Associate Professor, Humanities
Center, Johns Hopkins University
1978-79: Professeur Associé, Institut de
Philosophie, Université of Strasbourg
1982-86: Full Professor, Comparative, French and
German Literature, University of Minnesota
1983: Visiting Professor, Dept. Of English &
American Studies, University of Frankfurt/Main
1984: Visiting Professor, Department of Theater
Studies, University of Caen
1985-89: Program Director, Collège International
de Philosophie, Paris
1986: Visiting Professor , Dept. Of English, Munich
University, Dept. of German, Frankfurt Univ.
1986-89: Professor of Comparative Literature,
University of Massachusetts
1988: Visiting Professor of English & Comparative
Literature, UCLA
1989-2001: Professor of English & Comparative
Literature, UCLA. Founding Director of UCLA’s
Paris Program in Critical Theory.
2001- : Avalon Foundation Professor of
Humanities, Northwestern University
Director, Northwestern Paris Program in Critical
Theory
2003-: Professor, European Graduate School (SaasFee, Switzerland)
2006: Co-Chair, Program in Comparative Literary
Studies, Northwestern University
2010-- Member, International Advisory Board,
London Graduate School
2012 – Anniversary Chair, Kingston University (UK)
Fellowships and Awards:
1960-62: DAAD Dankstipendiat, University of
Munich
1965-67: Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship,
University of Frankfurt am Main
1978-79: ACLS (American Council of Learned
Societies) Fellowship, Paris.
1993-94: Guggenheim Fellowship
1995: NEH (National Endowment for the
Humanities) Summer Seminar (UCLA)
2003-4: Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize,
University of Munich
2005: Election to American Academy of Arts and
Sciences
2009: Chévalier des Palmes Académiques
2010: Distinguished International Fellow, London
Graduate School
2011: Senior Research Fellow, IKKM (Institute
for Cultural Technology and Media Philosophy),
Weimar, Germany (Spring Quarter).
296
diãlôgüés
Dramaturgical Activity:
Frankfurt Opera:
1985: Parsifal (Director: Ruth Berghaus)
1987-88 Der Ring (Director: Ruth Berghaus)
1990: Stuttgarter Schauspiel, Strindberg’s
Traumspiel (Director: Axel Manthey).
Collaboration on Television Video (Second
German Television: ZDF)
1992: Düsseldorfer Schauspiel, J. Genet, Das
Balkon (Director: Axel Manthey)
1993: Ludwigsburg Festival, Mozart, Die
Zauberflöte (Dir. Axel Manthey)
Other Activities:
1975-80: Founding Editor, Glyph: Johns Hopkins
Textual Studies (10 Volumes published)
1989: Founding Director, UCLA Paris Program in
Critical Theory
1993--: Member, International Advisory Board,
Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA)
1994: Co-organizer (with Hent de Vries),
International Colloquium on “Violence, Identity,
Self-determination,” University of Amsterdam.
1990-2000: Annual Weekend seminar on
„Politics of the Other“, sponsored by the German
Youth Federation, Civil Service Professional
Organization, Megaplanzentrum, Badmünstereiffel
1996-2000, Member, Academic Advisory Board,
European Academy of the CESI (Conféderation
Européenne des Syndicats Indépendants, Brussels)
1997: Co-organizer (with Hent de Vries),
International Colloquium on “Religion and Media,”
Institut Néerlandais, Paris.
1998: Visiting Research Professor, Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
1999: Distinguished Visiting Professor, National
University of Singapore.
1999: Visiting Professor, Department of Applied
Theater Studies, University of Giessen
2001: Visiting Professor, Special Research Project,
297
“Media and Social Communication”, University of
Cologne.
2002: Visiting Professor, Center for Literary
Research (Zentrum fuer Literaturforschung), Berlin.
2007: Visiting Professor, Department of Applied
Theater Studies, University of Giessen
Invited Lectures (Selection):
Singapore, Brisbane, Sydney, Johannesburg,
Pretoria, Kassel, Sussex, London, McMaster,
Toronto, Santa Barbara, NYU, Torino, Bologna,
Amsterdam, Leuven, Budapest, Beijing, Lancaster,
Cologne, Amsterdam, USC, Notre Dame, Purdue,
Sorbonne Nouvelle, Stanford, Univ. Munich,
Princeton, Wisconsin, Montreal, UC-Irvine,
Columbia, Bochum, Erfurt, Yale, Cornell, Johns
Hopkins, Oslo, Rutgers, Stockholm, Rabat, Lisbon,
Helsinki, Nottingham.
Lectures 2011: Notre Dame, University of
Michigan, Weimar, Leeds, London Graduate
School, Szeged (Hungary), Helsinki
2012: Miami University, NYU, Cornell, Rochester,
UC-Davis, University of Munich, Berlin, Bochum,
Frankfurt, Paris-Nanterre
Current research:
Book Projects:
1. Inquiétantes singularités, essays translated by
Charles Coustille and reviewed by author, Editions
Hermann, Paris: 2013, ca. 250 pp.
2. Toward a Politics and Poetics of Singularity
(completion projected for 2013; publication 2014).
3. Spanish translation of essays, forthcoming, 2013
4. Points of Departure, edited by Peter Fenves,
Kevin McLaughlin, Marc Redfield, Northwestern
University Press: forthcoming (2014?)
Edited by Dragan Kujundžić Ph.D.
298
299
cóõrdínätês
300
301
f o t o
Y u b a i
s t r a n a :
2 9 8 ,
L i
2 9 9 ,
l i h o n g e r @ 1 2 6 . c o m
3 0 1 ,
3 0 2 ,
3 0 3 ,
3 2 4 ,
3 2 5 ,
3 3 9 ,
3 4 3
302
303
304
305
cóõrdínätês
UDC 373.341:111.852
Samuel Weber
Clouds: On a Possible Relation
of Terror and Terrorism to Aesthetics
“There is traumatism with no possible work of
mourning when the evil comes from the possibility
to come of the worst, from the repetition to come
- though worse. Traumatism is produced by the
future, by the to come, by the threat of the worst to
come, rather than by an aggression that is ‘over and
done with.’”- Jacques Derrida1
I.
It seems clear that the widespread concern with
“terror” today - politically, to be sure, but also culturally - is informed, and probably haunted, by a
single series of images, which begins with a plane
silhouetted against a blue sky disappearing into one
of the towers of the World Trade Center, and which
ends … well I’m not quite sure where it ends - or
even if it has really ended. Perhaps its end was really a beginning. In any case, the sequence reaches
a certain culmination with the collapse of the towers into clouds of dust and rubble? Who, especially
today, can avoid those images, which are broadcast
incessantly on TV, most recently to commemorate
1 Giovanna Borradori, Philosophy in a Time of Terror. Dialogues with Jürgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 2003), 97.
the 10th anniversary of September 11th, 2001? What
could be more vivid than these spectacular images
of death and destruction? But what could also be
more obscure?
In what follows I am going to present some
thoughts related to those images and to some others
that seem to me to bear on our topic. I wish these
thoughts could be presented in a more systematic
fashion, that they could be more densely structured,
more comprehensive and cohesive in character, that
they could come together to form a tightly knit and
cogent argument. But I fear that I won’t be able to
bring this to a proper conclusion, and therefore I beg
your indulgence at the outset for their incomplete,
fragmentary and exploratory nature. Perhaps some
of that can be compensated for in a later discussion.
§
When we speak of images - “we” here being
both academics and also non-academics - we generally expect a certain transparency. Images are expected to show things, reveal, be windows onto the
world, in one form or another. This they surely are
and do, but their transparency can serve to conceal
as much as to disclose. And this is particularly so
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when we have to do with memory-images: and yet,
are not all images memory-images? If so, a notion
elaborated by Freud can put us on the track of the
complexities such images can entail. I am thinking
of those memories he called “screen memories.” In
German his term was slightly different: Deckerinnerungen, literally: memories that “cover” or “cover
up”. Such memories need not be based on perceptions; they need not even be images in the visual
sense. But they often are. Freud developed this notion based on the recurrence of certain very vivid
memory-images in the course of analysis: images,
however, which served more to conceal - to cover
up - than to reveal. In so doing they met the demands of repression, while at the same time concealing the gaps that would make such repression
manifest. The English translation of Deckerinnerungas “screen memory” is felicitous, insofar as it suggests this double function of the image as “screen”:
first, to provide a support for representations and
projections, and second, to screen out other images
and elements that could disrupt the unity of selfconsciousness and therefore fall prey to repression.
I want to suggest that the questions of terror and
terrorism here and today - which does not mean in
general and universally - are linked to the series
of images etched in all of our memories, of the two
planes striking the World Trade Center, setting it on
fire and ultimately causing the towers to implode
into a cloud of dust. I also want to argue that, in the
process of rememorizing, this sequence of images
has often been made to function as a collective indeed globally collective - screen memory, whose
major effect has been and continues to be that of
“focusing” our attention on individual acts and actors while screening out other considerations: not
just other images, but also other thoughts that might
have - indeed should have - been aroused and explored in relation to this occurrence. This type of
screening has been especially effective within the
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United States, where it enjoys the full support and
collaboration of the mainstream media, particularly
televisual: elsewhere, by contrast, other media, for
instance in Europe and Asia, have been far more
prone to isolating the series of images and instead
situate them in a much larger context. But to the extent that the images of 9-11 have been exploited to
justify a largely military response - the “war against
terror” being only the most conspicuous aspect of
this response - what could be called a paradigmatic
“aestheticization of the image” through the media
has been and continues to be a decisive factor.
When I speak of an “aestheticization of the image in the media” I need to add an important caveat. The word “aesthetics,” like most other words,
and especially terms that have a long and significant
history, is over-determined and ambiguous. It has
sometimes signified the very opposite of what I,
taking my cue from Benjamin (but also from Heidegger, Paul de Man, Lacoue-Labarthe and Nancy),
will criticize for meaning - a meaning associated
with the notions of “form” and “work”. I feel justified however in using it in this way because of the
powerful tradition that has gathered around this
use and which has ramifications in areas far removed from its immediate application, i.e. to art
and beauty. Through this term I want to suggest that
a certain very powerful tradition of “aesthetics” has
facilitated and even promoted the political utilization of images as screen memories, in the Freudian
sense. This tradition tends to screen out the screenfunction and to valorize the image as a more or less
neutral, more or less truthful window on the world.2
It was this particular aesthetic tradition that Walter
2 I note in passing that there is a bitter irony in the fact that
this phrase was also the name of the restaurant on one of the top
floors of the World Trade Center. The World Trade Center offered its patrons a panoramic view of the world below – and this
is perhaps also what, in view of its link to global finance capital,
made it an outstanding target for those who were to destroy it.
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Benjamin had in mind when, in his essay on “The
Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility,” he sought to develop an alternative to the
“aestheticization of politics” that he attributed to
fascism. I will return to that later on in this talk.
But first, in order to understand how a certain
tradition of aesthetics could contribute to what has
been called a “culture of fear” that goes hand in hand
with politics that determines “terror” and “terrorism” to be its primary enemies, it will be helpful to
introduce a second Freudian concept, related to the
first, even if Freud, to my knowledge, never linked
the two or discussed their relationship. This concept
has been largely overlooked in theoretical discussions, perhaps because, unlike “screen memory,”
it makes use of an utterly banal and non-technical
word that has nothing specifically psychoanalytic
about it and that perhaps was therefore too familiar to catch anyone’s attention, much less imagination. In contrast to “screen memory,” which Freud
discovers and discusses very early on in his career,
starting with an article written in 1899, the second
concept is one he comes to late in life, discussing it at
length only in his 1925 book, Inhibitions, Symptoms,
and Anxiety. I am referring to the notion of isolation,
which Freud introduced in that book in the context
of his discussion of “defense mechanisms” developed by the I – my translation for Ego - in particular in obsessional neurosis. In contrast to repression,
which excludes representations from consciousness
by replacing them with other representations (or
symptoms), isolation does not exclude the representation itself from consciousness - and hence from
memory - but rather eliminates all connections that
could allow it to exercise its disruptive power. This is
how Freud describes the process:
When something unpleasant has happened
to the subject or when he himself has done
something that has significance for his
neurosis, he interpolates an interval during
which nothing further must happen —
during which he must perceive nothing
and do nothing. … The experience is not
forgotten, but, instead, it is deprived of
its affect, and its associative connections
are suppressed or interrupted so that it
remains as though isolated.3
Two points deserve special emphasis here. First,
that what is “deprived” by isolation-“its associative
connections”-Freud relates to “affect”: “The experience is not forgotten but instead is deprived of its
affect…” Isolation, which relates to “experiences,”
above all does what repression cannot do according
to Freud: it displaces “affects.”(You may remember
that Freud often insists on the fact that repression
relates only to representations, not to affects, which
he says, cannot be experienced unconsciously, and
hence cannot be repressed.4)
But if Freud uses the word “experiences” here
to designate the object of “isolation,” it is because
here again he wishes to distinguish it from repression, which relates only to “representations”: isolation, as we have seen, also relates to “affects” but as a
result, it involves the body. As Freud puts it, “it takes
place in the motor sphere.” Which is to say, the “interpolation” of an “interval during which nothing
further must happen,” which thus constitutes isolation, must be understood not just as a mental event,
but as a “motoric” one: “The effect of this isolation
is the same as the effect of repression with amnesia,” Freud notes, but with a supplement: “It is at the
same time given motor reinforcement for magical
purposes. The elements that are held apart in this
way are precisely those that belong together asso3 Sigmund Freud, Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety, (New
York: Norton, 1990), 147.
4 See « The Unconscious, » in: S. Freud, Gesammelte Werke, vol. X (Frankfurt/Main : Fischer, 1963), 273ff.
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ciatively. The motor isolation is meant to ensure an
interruption of the connection in thought” (Freud,
Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety, 47). What
Freud is describing then is situated at the cusp between mental and physical, or rather, breaks down
the clear-cut distinction between them. Nowhere
is this clearer than in the verb he uses to describe
the actual operation of isolating: things “that belong
together associatively” are “held apart” (auseinandergehalten) “magically” by the isolating interpolation. Why “magic”? In order to designate precisely
that the process being described, although not consciously or deliberately willed, nevertheless involves
an intentional act, and this in a double sense. First,
in order for something to be interrupted, as with
isolation, its movement must be directional and at
some level recognized as such. Isolation operates by
“intentionally”-although not (self)consciouslyinterrupting the no less intentional, goal-directed,
purposive movement of mind and body. It does
this by interpolating (Einschub) something into the
trajectory of the movement of the drive. However,
since its primary function is to interrupt and to suspend, the “interpolation” can be empty of content:
it can consist in a blank space, for instance. It must
simply arrest the forward thrust of the drive, nothing more but also nothing less.
Nevertheless, in order for the isolating intervention to be effective, it must have a certain duration or durability. The interruption must therefore
consist in a holding action. Freud designates this
more particularly as a “holding apart” (auseinanderhalten). To hold things apart, however, one
must first take hold of them, i.e. make some sort of
initial contact. This however creates a new problem. For according to Freud, isolation is motivated by “one of the oldest and most fundamental
commands of obsessional neurosis, the taboo on
touching.” Freud goes on to explain just why this
taboo is so powerful:
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If we ask ourselves why the avoidance of
touching, contact or contagion should
play such a large part in this neurosis
and should become the subject-matter of
complicated systems, the answer is that
touching and physical contact are the
immediate aim of th8e aggressive as well
as the loving object - cathexes. Eros desires
contact because it strives to make the I and
the loved object one. But destructiveness,
too, which (before the invention of longrange weapons) could only take effect at
close quarters, must presuppose physical
contact, a coming to grips [Handanlegen:
more literally, ‘laying hand on, handling’].
(…) But isolating is removing the
possibility of contact; it is a method of
withdrawing a thing from being touched
in any way. (Freud, Inhibitions, Symptoms
and Anxiety, 48-49)
Freud does not say explicitly just why or how
the conflictual mix of erotic desire and aggressivity
involved in “touching” should give rise to “isolating,” but his reference to the “I” suggests a response.
The main task of the I is to organize and if possible
harmonize the contradictory tendencies of the psyche, which according to Freud’s so-called “second
(psychic) topology” are located in the It (aka ”Id”)
and the Superego and the I.5 To the I falls the task of
bringing the largely divergent strivings of It and Superego into some sort of unified, well-defined and
stable structure. “Touching” however embodies the
impossibility of this task. It epitomizes what Freud
elsewhere calls “ambivalence”: the simultaneous
presence of urges that oppose or conflict with each
5 I leave « superego » unmodified simply because I cannot
find a term in English that would improve upon it, whereas
« I » and « it » are perfectly usable words that convey the colloquial quality associated with the German « Ich » and « Es »
– something that “Ego” and “Id” do not.
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other: the erotic drive for unification with the object
(or other) and the aggressive drive to destroy it. One
way the I tries to deal with these conflicts is precisely by excluding touching through isolating the
antagonistic drives. If these drives can be separated,
“isolated,” they will not conflict with each other and
disturb the integrative function of the I. In a certain
sense - this will be important to us later on - isolation of the object, say of an image or series of images, is desirable to the I because it reinforces the
unity and stability of the I qua “individual” – literally, qua a being that is considered to be essentially
in-divisible.
Where touching takes place, by contrast, the
limits of such indivisibility are compromised by contact, if not by conflict. Isolation thus attempts to institute and perpetuate a situation in which touching
- i.e. contact and conflict - has become impossible.
But if the only way the I can accomplish this
task is by “holding apart” what otherwise “belongs
together,” it has a serious problem. For “holding” and a fortiori “holding apart” - still entails contact,
touching, i.e. coming together. It is only by coming
together that one can hold apart. But holding-apart
is not simply touching: it is a touching in order to
lay hold, to control, to fix in place.
But the problem faced by the I here is even
more complicated. If it must touch the drives, desires, experiences, and representations in order to
hold them apart, it must to a certain degree also be
touched by them. Touching is never simply active
and transitive - it is also simultaneously and inevitably passive. In touching the other one is inevitably
touched by that other. Touching, as Derrida, Nancy
and others have remarked, is therefore necessarily
ambivalent with respect to the established opposition and polarity of subject and object, self and other, active and passive.
How the I then deals with these ambivalences
becomes clearer when Freud relates it to an act that
is not only part of the pathology of obsessional neurosis, but indeed is a major factor in the constitution
of so-called normal, rational thought and behavior:
The normal phenomenon of concentration
provides a pretext for this kind of neurotic
procedure: what seems to us important
in the way of an impression or a piece of
work must not be interfered with by the
simultaneous claims of any other mental
processes or activities. But even a normal
person uses concentration to keep away
not only what is irrelevant or unimportant,
but above all, what is unsuitable because
it is contradictory. He is most disturbed
by those elements which once belonged
together but which have been torn apart in
the course of his process of development –
as for instance, … the ambivalence of his
father-complex in his relation to God…
Thus, in the normal course of things, the
I has a great deal of isolating work to do
in its function of directing the current of
thought (Freud, Inhibitions, Symptoms
and Anxiety, 47-48)
Insofar as one very important function of the I
consists in “directing the current of thought,” it must
first locate a goal in a stable, self-enclosed place toward which that “current” can then be channeled. The
process of determining such a goal - “concentrat
ing” - entails for Freud not just the positive activity
of locating a place or an object but simultaneously
of stabilizing that place. Concentration thus touches
its object, but since this object is situated initially in
a conflictual force-field of desires or drives, it can
only keep it in place and retain its hold over it by
separating it from the heterogeneous ramifications
that in part constitute it and determine it.
Concentration thus touches doubly: it requires
two hands, as it were, if it is to “hold apart” - which
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also means, “keep apart” what originally belonged
together and what presumably left to its own devices
would stay together, albeit in conflict with one another.
But concentration is mostly a cognitive activity: one concentrates on something in order to
observe it better and ultimately to know it. Insofar as the process of concentration is understood
as a cognitive process, it is experienced as “mental” rather than as physical, involving the body. If
concentration “touches” its object, this is generally
understood to be merely a metaphorical way of describing its relation to an object that transcends the
bodily limitations of spatial-temporal situatedness.
For concentration seeks to focus on the object itself,
independently of its variations in space and time.
As you’ve just read, in English-but also in other
languages-an often used synonym for “concentration” is “focusing.” To “focus” on an object tends to
construe this aspect of concentration by referring to
visual perception. Such a reference however is plausible only insofar as it is informed by an experience
of visuality that is, culturally and historically constituted and therefore relative, not universal. However,
this experience tends to regard itself precisely as
universal and objective, and this for in part internal
reasons. For it consists in equating one particular
mode of seeing with visuality itself. This particular
mode consists in the interpretation of perception as
essentially a mode of recognizing objects construed
as being self-contained and meaningful. This objectoriented conception of visual perception divides the
field of vision into “figure” and “ground,” without
questioning just how such a “field” is delimited in
the first place. In other words, the framing of the
field of vision is taken for granted, for given, so that
vision itself can be construed in terms of differentiating between figure and ground.
In French, this opposition is known as that between forme and fond. I mention this in order to introduce two of the words - and concepts - that bear
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on our topic in this conference, namely the notion of
“form” and “figure” – both of which correspond to
the first part of the French pair, forme, whereas fond
designates the “background” against which forms
and figure stand out. These two concepts, form and
figure, may not cover the entire realm of “aesthetics,” but they certainly inform the interpretation that
has related it to art and beauty in the Western tradition. As Kant writes in his Critique of the Power of
Judgment, where the concept plays a decisive role although one that is never really elaborated, a form is
constituted through the unifying synthesis of a manifold in its singularity, i.e. without recourse to a general concept that, qua general, would be external to the
aesthetic experience insofar as for Kant at least this
cannot be separated from a singular encounter and
representation.6 Although through his insistence on
its singularity, Kant’s interpretation of the aesthetic
is distinguished from his illustrious predecessors,
such as Baumgarten and Winckelmann, he retains
the notion of form and tries to reconcile it precisely
with the singularity of “aesthetic judgment.” One of
the concrete points of divergence that separates Kant
from his predecessors has to do with the significance
of the human body as the site of the ideal of beauty.
Whereas Winckelmann insists on the aesthetic qualities of the human body as an object of representation, especially in Greek sculpture, Kant rejects this
aesthetic privilege of the human body precisely because it would impose an objective “ideal of beauty”
on what should remain a singular and subjective experience. This is also the reason why Kant subordinated “artistic” to “natural beauty”: not because he
prefers landscapes to people, but because he wants to
safeguard the singularity of the aesthetic encounter
6 “Das Formale in der Vorstellung eines Dinges, d.i. die
Zusammenstimmung des Mannigfaltigen zu Einem.” Immanuel Kant, Gesammelte Schriften (Akademie-Ausgabe), vol. 5:
Kritik der praktischen Vernunft and Kritik der Urtheilskraft
(Berlin: Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1902-), 227.
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from being contaminated by any sort of conceptual
generality. And this would be the case inevitably in
the encounter with artistic beauty, since the latter
would always be understood as the realization of a
prior intention that itself would be of a general or
generalizable character.
Without being able to discuss this question in
further detail here, suffice it to say that in Kant the
notion of “form” tends to unravel in the face of his
insistence on the singularity of the aesthetic encounter - and that for this reason Kant can be seen as inaugurating a distinctively modern tradition of aesthetics, which, while seeking to perpetuate its more
classical claims to unification and harmonization,
opens aesthetics to conflict and struggle. Benjamin,
Heidegger and Derrida, are just some of the more
influential modern thinkers who have read Kant
against the grain of his own intention, perhaps, as a
thinker of unresolved conflicts and problems rather
than of unshakable foundations.
The pre- and post- Kantian identification of the
human body as the epitome both of the aesthetic object, and of bodies per se7 has a long history, which
I cannot begin to unfold here in any detail. This has
to be mentioned, however, since this remains, I want
to argue, the implicit precondition for much of what
is called “terror” today. Suffice it to say that much
of its emotional force is grounded in a tradition informed by Christian theology, for which the human
form is the site both of the most extreme suffering
and violence, and yet because of this, also of the
possibility of resurrection. Deriving both from the
Biblical account of human beings being created in
the image of their Creator, and from the Christian
7 When one encounters the notion of “embodiment” today, it almost always takes for granted that the body that embodies (incarnates) is a human body, and this suggests that
the tradition of a certain theological (Christian) humanism
continues to exercise its influence in the midst of thinkers
who consider themselves resolutely secular.
account of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the
Son of God, the human body has emerged as the
site of suffering and of salvation - a tension often
reconciled through the notion of martyrdom.8
What I want to suggest is that although this
salvational potential is associated particularly with
the human body, the latter accordingly provides the
basis upon which all other bodies are construed. In
other words, a theological model informs an aesthetic paradigm that in turn serves as a criterion for
how reality is or should be understood. Put simply,
and surely too simply: if the universe is conceived of
as the creation of a self-identical and exclusive Deity, then all aspects of that universe are meaningful
and valuable insofar as they reflect the process of
their origin. Aesthetic objects are thus understood
as products of “creation,” a word often used in a
secular context, but which retains the theological
structure from which it derives. Creatures derive
their life from their Creator. Art objects derive their
value from their artistic creator. According to this
paradigm, objects in general have being insofar as
that being is the product of an originating intention.
This is the attitude that informs Christian fundamentalist views of the universe as the product of
“intelligent design” rather than of the aleatory process of evolution. Far from eliminating theological
and teleological conceptions of reality, the increasing emphasis of the aleatory in contemporary science - not just in evolutionary theory but in quantum mechanics, for instance - can, as we see, actually provoke and promote them as a reaction to a
world-view that provides little consolation or solace
for everyday anxieties and suffering.
The ostensibly secular aesthetic notions of form
and figure are traditionally associated with this tele8 The fact that martyrdom has in recent years become a
powerful force in Islamist-Jihadist struggles suggests that the
conception that links martyrdom to the resurrection of the
body is by no means limited to Christianity.
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ological view of the world, even where they seek,
as in Kant, to take their distances from it. Kant’s
famous formula for the aesthetic judgment of the
beautiful, as “purposiveness without purpose,” reflects this link even while subjectivizing it.
Why, however, should notions of “intelligent
design” and more generally the belief in some sort
of transcendent intention pervading the world help
to assuage such anxieties and concerns and thereby continue to impose themselves, at least in the
United States, in the face of the near universal opposition of the scientific and intellectual establishment? Perhaps because the very notion of “intention” and of “design” implies the ability to overcome
the uncertainties that spatial-temporal experience
inevitably entail for living beings, and in the contemporary world, increasingly for the majority of
them (as the socio-economic conditions of life become increasingly uncertain, especially in the socalled “developed” nations). The realization of a
plan or project implied in the notions of intention
or design can be seen as embodying the power to
overcome such anxieties and concerns, especially
wherever traditional modes of survival through
work seem increasingly uncertain. The tension in
cultures that are informed by the “right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” on the one hand,
and the reality of ever more precarious conditions
under which life must be lived, on the other, produces an increased desire for systems of belief that
seem to guarantee what society no longer does.
An aesthetics of form and figure-an aesthetics of representation-can and does respond to this
desire, especially when that aesthetics serves as a
model according to which reality is construed and
conceived. Here the connection with our topic will
hopefully begin to emerge. What Carl Schmitt back
in the 1920s called, with reference to the political
significance and power of the Catholic Church,
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the “principle of representation”9 today dominates
the televisual media in the United States but also
in many other parts of the world. This principle of
representation Schmitt saw epitomized in the Crucifixion, in which the mortal human body, promised a resurrection through suffering, provides a
view of the world in which “terror” and “terrorism”
can appear as necessary passages to salvation. This
is not to say that such an effect is the only one that
such sacrificial representation can produce, but
only that a long tradition seeks to demonstrate the
connection between death as punishment and salvation through sacrifice.
It is through a certain form of “representation”through the representation as the formation of form
and at the same time as its transcendence-that such
a salvational process can be embodied, as it were,
in a world in which finitude is considered to be a
punishment for sin. Representation thus re-presents
what is not directly accessible: it makes the invisible
visible, the unimaginable vivid. I should add that
for Schmitt the principle of representation in this
sense is not primarily aesthetic, but legal: it is not
aesthetic form but legal formalism that anticipates
the passage-or rather, the leap-from the finite to
the infinite, from the mortal to the immortal. But
his argument can also be applied to the use of aesthetic forms and figures, especially where they are
not intended to portray beauty as such, but reality.
If one follows the previous argument that it is the
sacralized individual human body that informs the
conception of reality as such, then the use of images
can be no less potent than legal formalism in providing a belief-system that claims to link the finite
to the infinite. Schmitt’s emphasis on legal formalism over aesthetic form in outlining his “principle
of representation” surely has to do with the spiritu9
Carl Schmitt, Roman Catholicism and Political Form,
trans. G. L. Ulmen (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996).
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alizing abstraction of such form, by contrast with
the corporeal nature of the aesthetic. But precisely
because of its intimate relation to bodily individuation, images can figure and have figured the reassuring promise of sacrificial self-redemption.
To be sure, such figuration will always retain
an element of ambiguity and uncertainty, given that
its claim to transcendence is necessarily tied to the
representation of immanence. And it is here, perhaps, that the function of the cloud enters the picture – or rather, of clouds. For there is almost always
more than one. Or rather, the unity of the cloud is
never stable or assured. Which is part of what allows it to seem to bridge the gap between the world
of finite space and time - world of the figure - and
the beyond. This is also why clouds often seem to
conceal something like a secret, and even a certain
violence, that can both terrify and console. In the
time remaining, I want to look at two very different
and yet not unrelated instances of clouds, in which
a certain aestheticism converges with terror and terrorism, albeit in very different ways and at very different historical moments.
II.
The first instance is to be found in a film dating
from 1934. I am speaking of the opening scene of
Leni Riefenstahl’s film Triumph of the Will, which
“documents” the Nazi Party Rally of that year held
in Nuremberg.
Riefenstahl’s film, together with Olympia, made
two years later at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, are
almost universally characterized and classified as
“propaganda” films. Riefenstahl herself rejected this
characterization, pointing out that in her films there
is no “voice off ” telling viewers what they should
think or how to respond. There were simply the images and the sounds of what was being filmed, accompanied by a musical score. Now it is true that
the musical accompaniment contributes powerfully
to producing an ambiance, which in turn profoundly influences, and indeed often dictates, the way the
images are understood by the spectator. The influence of such musical accompaniment is all the more
effective for passing under the radar of our conscious control: we are generally far less aware of the
music than we would be of a spoken discourse. All
of this is very much at work in Riefenstahl’s films,
and especially in its opening sequence. Nevertheless it remains accurate that the only voices heard in
the film are those of the participants: the speeches
of Hitler, Hess and the other Nazi officials, carefully
edited. This means that if there is a propagandistic
element to the films, it has to consist in the images
and sounds of the film, rather than in an invisible
and transcendent voice telling viewers what those
images and sounds really mean.
There is however a partial exception to this rule
and it comes at the outset, in the “credits” that, as
it were, introduce and frame the film. This English
term, “credits,” hardly does justice to what in German is called the Vorspann and what in French is
known as the générique. The latter is the term I prefer, because, despite its utilitarian function - that
of listing the people, the “gens,” involved in the production of the film - the word also suggests that
what comes before the film, “proper” in a certain
sense, generates the film, by framing the context in
which it is intended to be seen.
Although the générique does not involve a voice,
it still makes explicit use of writing and inscriptions
- indeed of typography - in order to set the scene.
The film begins, significantly, not with an image but
with the negation of image and of visibility: with a
black screen, which can also be interpreted as representing night or darkness. Throughout the film the
play of light and dark, the emergence of the one out
of the other and its passage into the other, will turn
out to be one of its most salient hallmarks. But the
dark, black screen does not last long: it functions as
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a contrast and transition to what is to come. After a
second or two, the darkness slowly lightens allowing a figure to gradually emerge: that of an eagle
sculpted in stone, perched on something that at first
is not recognizable but that in the seconds that follow is silhouetted against a background consisting of
bright clouds moving quickly across the sky. These
clouds thus do not obscure sight but rather provide
a bright background that sets off the massive figures
of the eagle perched on a wreath, which in turn encloses the Nazi symbol par excellence: the swastika.
Already in these initial seconds the viewer is
confronted with a set of contrasts that will pervade
the film as a whole: between dark and light, stasis
and motion, the visible and the invisible. Of these
contrasts it is the one between stasis and motion
that is perhaps the most significant, for it is presupposed by all the others. The Rally that Riefenstahl is
filming is one not just of a political party, but of one
that refers to itself as a “movement” (Bewegung).
Riefenstahl, who asserted that she had introduced
the traveling shot to documentary film, was in any
event fully aware of the importance of movement,
and of the fact that such movement had to include
that of the camera - and of the spectator. Her films
were designed to “move” their viewers, and to do
this they depicted certain kinds of movement from
a perspective that itself was highly mobile.10
This relation between movement and stasis, between change and duration, also pervades the film,
both in what it shows-the way the camera itself
moves-and in the speeches of the participants. But
all of this movement is framed at the outset by the
manner in which the “credits,” the générique, evolves.
This introductory framing consists then of
three sections, lasting about 30 seconds each and
separated by fade-outs. The first we have just de10 Leni Riefenstahl, Memoiren 1902-1945 (Ullstein : Frankfurt am Main/Berlin, 1990), 224.
315
scribed: it proceeds from dark screen to progressively illuminated Eagle-perched on a wreath framing the swastika and then finally descending to the
title “Triumph of the Will.” The inscriptions are all
carved out of stone and set on to a wall that is made
up of large square blocks. The inscriptions are in
semi-Gothic letters, the materiality of which is emphasized by the shadows they cast on the wall that
is their support. The notion of a 1000-year Reich,
although nowhere mentioned explicitly, is thus suggested by the massive stone lettering.
In fact there are two kinds of fading in this first
section: the fading of one image into the next, establishing a continuous transition. And the fading into
a black screen, that separates the sections from each
other. This fading to black can be interpreted as the
interpolation of the interval required to separate individual elements from one another. The images are
of course related, and therefore not isolated. But the
fading gives each segment a relative independence.
Each image, inscribed in stone letters, is intended to
withstand the test of time. These images, beginning
with those of the inscriptions, are designed to last.
This temporal dimension then emerges clearly
in the second and third sections of the introductory sequence, both of which unfold a certain history. First that of the film itself. The “document” has
been called into being “at the behest of the Führer”
(im Auftrag des Führers), which gives it a special
privilege and proximity with respect to what is being filmed. But the next screen announces that the
film itself has been “shaped” by Leni Riefenstahl.
The English subtitle uses the more familiar word
“created,” but the German is more precise and more
limited: “Gestaltet von Leni Riefenstahl.” The word
Gestalt is significant: it does not imply a creatio ex
nihilo, but rather a shaping that gives form and figure to material that already exists.
Much has been written about the notion of Gestalt, especially in the wake of Heidegger, who sees
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in the term the essential aesthetic element contributing to the metaphysical forgetting of the ontological difference between being and beings.11 For
Heidegger, the word suggests something that is constituted independently of time and history and that
can determine the course of both. A similar claim is
inscribed in the stone-like lettering of these “credits,” which seek thereby to accredit the idea of a title and a name that will be impervious to temporal
change by contributing to the course of history.
The four screens that constitute this third and
final section of the introduction deploy the historical sequence in which the film and the events it documents situate themselves. This is done through a
series of dates, beginning with “September 5th 1934,”
the first day of the Party Congress. Heidegger assimilates the notion of Gestalt to a metaphysical tradition that construes being above all in terms of the
third person singular present indicative, reducing
its resources to simple self-presence of the “is.” Riefenstahl’s dating confirms that reduction by situating the moment in which the Party Congress begins
with respect to its historical antecedents: the first
of these dates comes “20 years after the Outbreak
of the World War”; the second locates the Rally “16
years after The Start of German Suffering” (i.e. the
Treaty of Versailles); and finally, as though to indicate the acceleration of historical time, the third
changes years to months and is marked by a shift in
the musical accompaniment to a Wagnerian swell11 In a series of notes written between 1936 and 1946, and then
published under the title “Overcoming Metaphysics,” Heidegger
makes the connection between the metaphysical forgetting of
ontological difference and a certain (Christian) humanism: “So
comes to dominance the only decisive question: what form or
figure (Gestalt) is proper to man. Here ‘Gestalt’ is construed
in an indeterminate (but) metaphysical, i.e. Platonic, manner,
namely as that which is and which determines all tradition and
development, while itself remaining independent of it.’ Martin
Heidegger, “Überwindung der Metaphysik, “Vorträge und Aufsätze, vol. 1 (Pfüllingen: Neske, 1954), p. 79.
ing brass fanfare: “19 months After The Beginning
of the German Rebirth. ”Nineteen months after the
naming of Hitler as Chancellor on Jan. 30th, 1933
another arrival is about to be shown, that of Hitler
arriving by plane in Nuremberg.
Before we proceed to that sequence, however,
it should be noted that the tripartite division of
the historical process leading up to the 1934 Party
Congress can be usefully compared to that of the
Christian salvational narrative (Heilsgeschichte). If
the latter consists firstly of the Creation, then the
Fall, and finally redemption, 20th-century German
history as announced in this film traces a similar
pattern, with several illuminating changes: in place
of the Creation of the World, there is the World at
War; in place of the Fall, there is Defeat (and Suffering); and finally, in place of resurrection through
Christ’s sacrifice, there is Rebirth through the coming to power of the Führer and his Party.
What the film however will share with the
Christian salvational narrative is the idea of a fall
leading to redemption and rebirth, and also the focus on an individual messianic figure as primary
agent of the salvational process. However, the place
of the Christian emphasis on charity is now taken
by the unabashed commitment to and exaltation
of struggle and power. Hence, the importance of
militarization. To triumph, the Nazi Will requires
nothing more nor less than the militarization of the
masses, and this, as we shall see, involves forging
them into a uniform-uniformed block, into a massive Gestalt. This is already implicit in the style of inscription already discussed: it consists, in the literal
sense of the German word, in Blockschrift, a writing
composed of stone blocks. “Written in stone” is a
German expression that designates something held
to be immutable. That is precisely what is at stake
here: Christian salvation becomes political and national immutability. This does not exclude change,
to be sure, but it absorbs and instrumentalizes it.
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cóõrdínätês
There is a second point however in which the
historical narrative suggested here at the outset
differs from its Christian origins: the salvation to
come will not take place essentially in heaven but
rather right here on earth.
And it will take place here and now, on a particular day, which marks the fourth and last date in
the sequence and also the transition from the credits
to the film proper: September 5th, 1934, the day that
the film itself begins, and the day, we read - the last
such inscription - on which “Adolph Hitler flew/
once again to/Nuremberg/to muster the faithful”
(um Heerschau abzuhalten/über seine Getreuen). The
German, difficult to translate in its nuances - “to
hold a military display“ is hardly adequate - brings
together the Christian ideal of the faithful - literally
“his faithful”: seine Getreuen - with the politicalmilitary notion of “mustering” - again, literally, “reviewing, inspecting the troops” (Heer-schau).
For all of its momentous presence, Hitler’s voyage to Nuremberg is explicitly designated in the preceding inscription as a “return” (“flog … wiederum
nach Nürnberg“), and this return is highly over-determined. Most immediately it recalls that this is the
second time that Hitler and Riefenstahl have gone
to a Party Congress in Nuremberg. One year before,
Leni Riefenstahl had already filmed the 1933 Party
Congress there, which was released under the title
Triumph of Faith (Triumph des Glaubens). For this
second time, however, “Faith” has been replaced by
the “Will” and this in a very particular sense. For
only two months before, the most faithful and oldest part of the Nazi Party, which had served as its
armed wing throughout its struggle for power, the
SA, had been decapitated in what came to be known
as “The Night of the Long Knives,” but what the
Nazis themselves referred to as the “Röhm Putsch.”
Ernst Röhm, head of the SA, represented the radical, socialist wing of the National Socialist party,
and for him the seizing of State Power was only
317
a means to the institution of wide-ranging antiCapitalist reforms. In short, for Röhm the National
Socialist revolution had only begun, whereas for
Hitler, it was imperative to normalize the Party so
that it could consolidate its power with the help of
the Reichswehr and the barons of German industry
and finance. In 1934, therefore, The Triumph of the
Willalso meant the triumph of the SS over the SA, of
Himmler over Röhm. Given the historic role played
by Röhm’s SA in the rise to power of the Nazi Party,
the question of who the true “faithful” were-the
Getreuen-had to be very much on everyone’s mind.
The “return” of the Führer to Nuremberg then is
also the moment where he will “muster his troops”will hold the “Heerschau” to make sure that he still
commands the loyalty of the 4,000,000 members of
the SA, whose leadership he had eliminated barely
two months before. And the moment of “rebirth”
can also be understood to mark the elimination of
the radical, proletarian, social-revolutionary wing
of the Nazi party, which now faced the task of consolidating its power with the help of German industry and its military establishment.
To be sure, watching the movie today, none of
this “background” is immediately visible in the images and sounds filmed by Riefenstahl, although
many allusions to these events are made in the
speeches of Hitler and the Party Functionaries. But
the shadows and clouds through which Hitler will
fly in arriving at Nuremberg also suggest the dangers he has recently sought to overcome. None of
this is explicit, but in the initial context in which
the movie was made, they provided the background
against which the images were to be seen and heard.
And this is also why the clouds that first surround the plane in flight, and into which it then descends, losing sight of both the sky and the earth
below, are finally traversed and allow the rooftops
of the city below to come into view. The plane is
both a product of technology and an instrument of
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power, and this perhaps is why Riefenstahl includes
the plane in the images and sounds. The film and
the vision it presents is made possible, politically as
well as technically, only by the power of this relatively new means of transportation, which is part
of the same technical development as the film camera itself. Technology records and transmits, and
in so doing can be seen as transcendence brought
down to earth. And this is also why Riefenstahl will
proudly claim to have introduced the “traveling”
shot into documentary film, for it is not enough to
film movement or to film moving pictures: the camera itself must move (although in a very different
way from Vertov’s “Man with the Camera”).
After panning across the clouds, plane and
camera descend slowly into them, briefly losing
view of the sky before suddenly showing the roofs of
Nuremberg emerging below. The clouds have provided a reassuring, protective cover for the descent
from the sky to earth. Towers appear, first of the Cathedral and then of the Castle, emblems of Church
and State that contrast with the darker, modern,
inchoate forms of the airplane fuselage we have
just peered through and at. As the plane descends
ever lower and the details of the rooftops emerge
more clearly, the anodyne musical accompaniment,
dominated by strings, is suddenly replaced by brasswoodwinds playing the music of the Horst Wessel Song, anthem of the Nazi Party. The song was
named after a member of the SA who composed it
and who subsequently was killed in street battles
with the Communist Red Front. As the music of
this song is heard, the scene shifts from houses to
blocks of people marching in the streets, an image
that echoes the first lines of the song: “With Flags
on high, and ranks in tight formation, SA is on the
march, with brave determined steps.”
It is the formation of these ranks-“tightly
closed” as the German words literally say (“die Reihen fest geschlossen”) - that epitomize one aspect of
the images seen in this film and which will also be
remembered as a hallmark of depictions of fascism.
What I would like to point out, however, in the context of this special issue, is that there is a connection between the fascist and Nazi emphasis on unity,
uniformity and homogeneity, and what Kant once
defined “the formal element” in an aesthetic judgment, which, he noted, consists in the “unification
of a manifold (or multiplicity)”12: the massed blocks
of marchers, whether civilian or military, create the
uniformity that is already, I want to argue, implicit
in the traditional aesthetic concepts of form and figure (Gestalt).
Taken literally, the Gestalt is that which set-inplace (gestellt) is. To set something in place requires
first of all a movement of “setting” and a stable place
in which that setting can come to rest. To the extent to which that which is thereby set-in-place is
considered to be constituted independently of the
process of setting in general, it can become a model
or paradigm for a notion of self-identity that can apply to subjects as well as to objects, to collectives as
well as to individuals. In this case, the process of Gestaltung, which is the German equivalent of artistic
“creation,” is indeed the heir to the theological connotations of the English word. The artist, and a fortiori his or her art-work, are both considered to be
12 “Das Formale in der Vorstellung eines Dinges, d.i.
die Zusammenstimmung des Mannigfaltigen zu Einem
(unbestimmt was es sein solle).“ Kant, op. cit.To be sure, Kant
refuses to allow the „One“ or unity of the aesthetic judgment
to be determined by any sort of generalizable concept. It
must remain singular, and therefore in his eyes subjective. It
is this insistence on the irreducibility of the singular that the
fascist emphasis on unification cannot accept. But it is also
this insistence on the singular encounter that much modern
“aesthetics” cannot accept either, since it problematizes the
claim to universality that is inseparable from the modern
notion of “art.” It should be noted that what is characteristic
of Riefenstahl’s images and “shots” is the way they seek to
maximize the variety of aspects of individuals and groups,
which make up the militarized mass, in order to avoid that
the latter appear as totally mechanical.
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cóõrdínätês
what they are above and beyond their spatial-temporal manifestation, which in turn is regarded as a
function of the preexisting essence of the artist. One
forgets or overlooks the dynamic process of being
set-in-place or the extent to which that multiplicity
is then fixed into a uniform unity and takes on the
appearance of being self-contained.
It is this complicity, and its promotion through
traditional aesthetics, that Walter Benjamin had in
mind when, at the end of his essay on “The Work of
Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility,” he
associated the “aestheticization of politics” with fascism. What he meant by that often quoted phrase,
however, emerges more clearly when it is related
to another passage, one which introduces the final
section of his essay, but which has not received the
attention it deserves. Benjamin’s phrase, one could
say, has served as a “screen memory” to block out
the context from which it draws its significance.
Here is the passage I am referring to:
The increasing proletarianization of
people today and the increasing formation
of masses are two sides of one and the
same occurrence. Fascism seeks to
organize the newly developed proletarian
masses without touching the property
relations they seek to do away with. It
sees its salvation in allowing the masses to
express themselves, but not to have what is
rightfully theirs. The masses have a right to
change property-relations; fascism seeks to
grant them self-expression by conserving
those relations. Consequently fascism
leads to the aestheticizing of political life.
(…) All efforts to aestheticize politics
culminate in one point: war.13
13 Walter Benjamin, Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner
technischen Reproduzierbarkeit, edited by Detlev Schöttker
(Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2007), 47-48. Italics added.
319
Although Benjamin nowhere in this essay mentions the films of Leni Riefenstahl - he refers instead to the Wochenschau, the weekly filmed news
-much of what he describes throughout his text
and in particular here, is epitomized by her films,
and nowhere more than in Triumph of the Will.
Benjamin, author of a seminal text entitled “Capitalism as Religion”, here links fascism with the religious promise of “salvation”. Fascism finds salvation
in granting the masses self-expression but only insofar as it is linked to the “conservation” of existing
property-relations. This in turn entails what could
be called - although Benjamin does not - the hypostasis of identity-structures: people are what they
are by birth, by nature, by race, and they should be
permitted to express themselves, but not change
themselves. In a footnote to this passage Benjamin
cites the enormous influence of the weekly filmed
news in providing such self-expression, above all
through images of masses, in political and sporting
events, monster rallies etc. Such hypostasis of existing self-identity - which means always the selfconscious of such identity - is closely related to the
process of isolation as described by Freud and its
privileged medium is that of screen memories, but
also of what I would call aesthetic Gestalt, insofar as
such forms and figures are presented as essentially
self-identical and immediately intelligible - literally meaning-ful, “full of meaning”. To look at them
is to understand what they mean: there is no need
to look elsewhere, to think of their relations to what
does not immediately appear.
One particularly significant form of this Gestalt, involving the self-expression of the masses,
are precisely the blocks of marchers as seen from
above, from what Benjamin in the same note calls
the “bird’s perspective” (Vogelperspektive). The pure
immanence and self-identity of this mass - which
makes it an ideal figuration of the kind of identity
required by bourgeois and capitalist property-rela-
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tions under fascism: namely an identity that is above
all homogeneous (i.e. that owes nothing to anything
foreign or alien to its immediate history) - is figured by and in the closed, compact formations of
faceless and yet highly mobile marchers.14 The mass
is moving with direction and purpose: it has a goal
(which is also why it needs and depends on a Leader). And its compactness suggests that it will be impervious to any outside influence.15 In this sense, the
“expression” that Benjamin associates both with fascism and with capitalism presupposes some similar
sort of immanent identity that preexists contact with
the outside world, and can therefore be literally expressed, but not constituted by its relation to others.
In the footnote to this passage already mentioned, Benjamin provides a valuable hint concerning another aspect of the expressivity that he attributes to fascism and in particular to its use of images and film: “In the great parades, the monstrous
meetings, in mass events of sports or in war, which
today are all performed to be recorded by the camera, the mass looks itself in the face [sieht die Masse
sich selbst ins Gesicht].”16 In view of the rest of this
scene, in which Hitler descends from the plane to
the jubilation of the massed bystanders, the question of the “face” as the object of “self-expression”
can be described more precisely. For there are two
14 This can be contrasted, for instance, with the essentially
individualistic-agonistic mass of runners gathered to compete in organized marathons-figures more appropriate to
contemporary neo-liberal capitalist society.
15 Another interesting contrast, both aesthetically and politically, to this moving mass can be found in the 1932 film Kühle Wampeby Bertolt Brecht and Slatan Dudow, which depicts
groups of workers on their way to a sport festival, but without
the militarized mobilization characteristic of the Nazi Rallies
and highlighted in Riefenstahl’s “documentary.” The musical
score by Hans Eisler could hardly be further removed from
the pseudo-Wagnerian score of Triumph of the Will. Needless
to add, the musical style of the latter is far closer to popular
tastes today than is that of Eisler.
16 Benjamin, ibid., 48.
kinds of faces: on the one hand, the jubilant, ecstatic
but still multiple faces of those gathered to welcome
Hitler, with the fascist-salute, and, on the other, the
face of the Führer, which is calm, almost shy, as he
descends from the plane, overwhelmed by the welcome he receives. In the automobile that takes him
from the airport into town, there are repeated shots
from a camera in back of Hitler, where one sees not
his face but the back of his head, with hand raised
again in the characteristic salute.
The clouds have long since dispersed to make
way for this procession, but what seems crucial here
and relevant to Benjamin’s notion of “expression” is
the interaction of the mass of spectators with their
Leader, whose face and figure sum up the kind of expression that is granted the masses in order to perpetuate existing property relations. Those relations
require a notion of the subject as capable of owning
property, which means ultimately capable of staying
the same over time, of staying in control of oneself
and thereby capable of existing as a distinct owner
of what is proper. Property is understood here in
the dual sense of the word, involving both the lawful possession of things and objects as well as the
possession of one’s own faculties and actions. The
tightly knit ranks of spectators and the erect figure
of their one and only Leader can claim to resolve
the question of multiplicity and unity, transience
and duration. As Rudolph Hess will put it in one of
his speeches during the Congress, “Adolf Hitler is
Germany and Germany is Hitler”.
But then, why should “war” be the beginning
and end of the fascist aestheticization of politics and
of violence? Chapter 10 of Riefenstahl’s film gives
us at least a partial answer. The clip recalls the beginning of the film: first, a black screen, soon followed by the eagle perched on the swastika, which
then fades into the long, central alley through which
from on high, at a great distance, the three tiny figures of Hitler, Himmler (SS) and Viktor Lutze (SA)
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cóõrdínätês
advance with their backs to the camera and flanked
on both sides by rows and rows of SA and SS troops,
120,000 in all. At this point, they advance toward a
goal that is still uncertain, but in the next shot this
goal is revealed as a burning flame honoring German soldiers killed in the World War. As the most
direct confrontation of the political rally with death,
this is the most solemn moment of the four days,
leading up to speeches by Hitler and Lutze in which
the elimination of Röhm will be justified and the SA
as organization exonerated of Röhm’s guilt.
What is expressed on this occasion is nothing
less than the will to triumph not only over the enemy - in this case, the Röhm leadership of the SA but over death itself. By killing Röhm and his comrades, the German rebirth is to be assured. Killing,
and the military (in the form of the SS and Reichswehr), will be the path to eternal life, to the 1000year Reich. The commemoration of fallen comrades
thus goes hand in hand with a celebration of death
that, as the result of killing, becomes an intentional
act - one that can be deliberately inflicted and by
implication, deliberately overcome (if not avoided).
War, as organized collective and purposive killing,
makes death into what it has been considered to be
ever since the book of Genesis, but also since the
death of Christ: namely the result of human action,
whether as punishment for transgression or for betrayal. By acting in a manner that seems to make
death into a product of human action, politics in
general, and fascist politics explicitly, seeks to make
good on the Pauline promise, quoted by Hobbes in
his “Leviathan”, that “since by man came death, by
man came also the resurrection of the dead”(1 Corinthians 15:21).
To be sure, for Paul that resurrection had first
to be the work of a very particular “man,” namely he
who was also the Son of God. This is precisely the
difference that separates Christianity from fascism.
For the latter, it is the semi-divine Führer or Duce,
321
who must assure the overcoming of death, through
the problematic but essential equation of people
with the messianic Leader. The Leader (Führer or
Duce) is an individual whose individuality both
sets him apart from - isolates - and at the same
time makes him the expression of a collective that,
whether through racial, cultural, or national identity, is construed as a homogeneous “individual”. This
collective is modeled on the individual in the literal
sense of being thought of as indivisible. The individual can thus hope to live on in the collective, which
in the case of Nazism understands itself as the bodily, fleshly continuation of its individual members
that is established through the continuity of blood.
But this in turn requires the collective - the race,
people and nation - to close ranks in the “dense
and closed” fashion proclaimed in the Horst Wessel Song in order to exclude all pollution and contamination from external and alien sources. This is
the bio-political version of the nation modeled after
the unshakeable, invulnerable individual. And this
individual is manifested as an object of faith and
belief in the figure of the Führer: in the Führer as
Gestaltand in the Gestaltas Führer.
The ideal of the indivisible, invulnerable and
ultimately immortal collective that is symbolized in
the stone Eagle, but more generally also through the
figure of the fasces or that of the swastika (in German a modification of the cross, or “Hackenkreuz”),
can only exercise political appeal to the extent that it
can claim to control anxiety and give it a direction.
The figure functions in this film often as a Markstein, a stone marker directing the gaze and allowing it finally to set itself in place, to rest, to focus.
The great obstacle to such focusing is, of course,
death. The flame, framed and controlled by stone
and by stone-like troops, is one way of focusing on
death, which then becomes a transition to eternal
life. As a moment of transition, this absorption of
death into life continues as a motif that is as old in
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Western culture as the Bible and that is particularly
important in the Christian salvational narrative.
But the absorption of death into life also implies a
transcending of finitude, which in certain political
and historical contexts can converge with the rejection of heterogeneity. It is only when the origin is
thus purified and made self-identical that the end
that awaits all living beings qua singular beings can
be represented not as an interruption but as fulfillment. Only then can death lose its sting.
An essential component of this project is, I have
argued, the representation of death as the result of
human action, as the result of intention. It is this that
makes war a privileged medium of politics through
which the political collective finds self-expression.
War legitimates killing and in so doing makes death
into a sacrificial moment of rebirth. But it is above
all the death of the other that is here intended. Carl
Schmitt’s theory of the friend-enemy grouping as
the origin of the political demonstrates its Christian
origins. Except that it is never humanity as a whole
that is saved, but only particular people, nation or
race - a self opposed to other selves, and thus opposed as well to other peoples, to nations as well as
individuals.
But these others are nowhere to be seen in this
film: they are screened out, to begin with, by the
clouds into and through which the plane descends
on its way to its destination. Like the clouds in the
opening scene, framed in the window of the plane.
The clouds themselves, into which the plane disappears if only to exit on the other side, emblematize
the transitions from one shot to the next, through
fading and overlaps. Such frequent fade-outs and
fade-ins establish the cinematic sequence with an
underlying continuity of movement. This does not
exclude the sharp cut, the fade to black, which
emphasizes contrast and discontinuity, but this in
turn only highlights the continuity of the progression overall.
It is this continuity that, including and absorbing the radical breaks that mark the “German rebirth”, links the “aestheticism” of Riefenstahl’s film
to the violence of Nazi politics. It is a violence that
the Nazi leaders assume and even flaunt, but in
order to assert the perennial character of the new
order they are in the process of imposing. The sinuous rhythms of Riefenstahl’s “travelling” shots constitute the cinematic correlative of the immortality
implied in the idea of a 1000-year Reich. The aim
of conquering new Lebensraum by military force is
the spatial condition of the promised extension of
Lebenszeit. The clouds through which the plane descends to earth are the movable Gestalt that marks
the trajectory of this promise, a theological promise
brought down to earth.
III.
Let me now finally return, by way of historical contrast, to the images mentioned at the outset,
which involve a very different set of clouds. Due to
the massive media coverage that commemorated
the attacks of September 11th, 2011 - often at the
expense of serious analysis - I can assume that the
general image of those clouds are sufficiently present to this audience and that is it is therefore not
necessary to reproduce them yet another time here.
Instead I want to show you those clouds of smoke
coming from the burning towers from a less familiar vantage point. The photograph was taken by
Thomas Hoepker, “a senior figure in the renowned
Magnum photographers’ cooperative.” Hoepker
“chose not to publish it in 2001” and also excluded
“it from a book of Magnum pictures” taken that
day.17 The photo can be seen at the website given in
17
In an article for Slate, Hoepker explained why he
chose not to publish the photo. Thomas Hoepker, “I Took
That 9/11 Photo,” slate.com, 14 September 2006, accessed
7 February 2013, http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/
culturebox/2006/09/i_took_that_911_photo.html.
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the footnote below, and when you have seen it, you
will immediate understand why Hoepker excluded
it from the Magnum book. It is clear that, at the
time, without explanation and discussion, this image was in its way even more shocking than those
of the destruction itself and its after-effects. Without getting into that discussion, which is well documented on the internet, the photo, however one
interprets or judges it, tells us something about the
relation of aestheticism, terror and terrorism that
even and perhaps especially today remains relevant
and pertinent. As I have emphasized, an image is
generally considered to be “aesthetic”, at least in the
traditional sense of that term, insofar as it is well
formed, “gestaltet”, self-contained and meaningful.
This in turn implies that it can and perhaps should
be viewed at a certain distance, which is required if
it is to be apprehended as a unified whole. The position of the beholder, viewer or spectator, is thereby
defined as a protected position: it is stable and selfcontained. This is why even most videos and images
of catastrophes, broadcast daily and nightly on the
TV news and in newspapers, can be consumed with
the morning breakfast or after dinner in the evening. As long, that is, as the destruction or maiming of the individual human (or animal) body is
not shown in too great detail. The clouds of smoke
rising above burning buildings and people must
be kept at a distance, and if possible given distinct
shape as a Gestalt. They can thus be taken in, apprehended, as parts of a whole that in turn is assumed
to be transparently intelligible, immediately understandable - in the sense that it poses no further
questions, requires no inquiry beyond the frame of
what is shown. The integrity and meaningfulness
of the whole is guaranteed by the voice-off of the
reporter, or by the captions of the newspaper picture. They tell readers and viewers what to think of
what they see, and at the same time to consider what
they think to be the direct and exclusive property of
323
the image. The destruction of objects and persons is
thus made consumable, because meaningful. Death
and destruction affects others from whom one is
safely separated and protected. One can get up and
walk away from the aesthetic image, which is isolated: this is its most traditional quality and it is what
makes it both eminently suitable to serve as a screen
memory or to be forgotten and replaced by the next
isolated image or set of images.
About the people in the picture’s foreground,
NY Times columnist Frank Rich wrote: “The young
people in Mr. Hoepker’s photo aren’t necessarily callous. They’re just American.”18 Whether this statement accurately describes the people “in” the photo
or not, it no doubt is accurate concerning the impression that photo transmits. This is one of detached
and indeed carefree observers, relaxing in the sun
while far in the distance black clouds of smoke rise
into the sky. The photo, like all photos, is what the
German language identifies as a Momentaufnahme
and what in French is called an instantané-a moment or instant isolated from everything happening before, after and outside of its frame. Frank Rich
made a mistake in referring to “the young people in
the photograph”, since this could easily be taken to
apply to the young people themselves, rather than
to the figures in the photograph. Understood as a
statement about the photograph, however, rather
than about persons existing independently of it, the
statement strikes at precisely what made the attacks
of September 11th so traumatic for United States
Americans. For this was the first time, at least since
the Civil War, that a massive attack had been carried out on American soil and the first time in even
longer that such an attack had originated outside
the United States. What was, and in a certain sense
18 Frank Rich, “Whatever Happened to the America of
9/12?,” nytimes.com, 10 September 2006, accessed 7 February
2013, http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/opinion/10rich.
html?_r=1.
cóõrdínätês
still is, characteristically American is the belief in
the safety that distance can procure coupled with a
belief in the moral superiority of the nation that is
so “protected”. It was, and in a sense still is, the belief
in the efficacy of isolation.
The response to these attacks - wars against
Iraq, Afghanistan and “terrorism” - was of course
anything but “isolationist”. But the justification of this
response was and still is based on the belief that the
real enemy can be isolated, named, depicted, located
and destroyed, mainly by military means. The frightful discovery by Americans that they were not or no
longer safe at home produced an anxiety that was
swiftly channeled by being given an identifiable, perceptible object, a Gestalt: and “911”, as it came to be
called, became the sign that corresponded to that Gestalt, both a call for help and a name for the act itself.
What makes the photo so powerful, and so
shocking, I believe is the nonchalance, the carefree
and relaxed attitude it seems to depict, at the very
moment when the grounds that previously supported
that attitude are literally being consumed in the background. The background however is no longer isolated from the foreground. It is this that is ultimately
terrifying, and that the construction of a War Against
Terror seeks to channel outward, directing it against
foreigners from whom one can therefore hope to distance oneself, and through isolation, ultimately identify and destroy. It is interesting to note, however, that
the word “terror” in English still describes first and
foremost an emotional response to an uncontrollable
danger, an extreme state of anxiety. The declaration
of a “War Against Terror” attempts to distract and to
distance this feeling by identifying it with “Terrorists”
and “Terrorism,” understood as external figures and
movements that can ultimately be eliminated.
But the clouds of rubble released by the collapse of the Twin Towers tell a different story. There
is a final image, a still taken from a video that I’m
sure you have all seen many times:
Despite their strange resemblance to the
clouds through which the plane flies in Triumph
of the Will, these clouds no longer mark the passage to the mobilized Gestalt that characterized
the Nazi rally and politics; rather, they mark what
came to Nazi Germany only a decade later, namely, the pulverization of the Gestalt and with it of
the civilization based on its maintenance through
terror.
The clouds of rubble that rush toward the
spectators and cameras and finally engulf them
could have been understood as a sign to rethink the policies and strategies of identification
through isolation that produced those clouds
in the first place. Instead, as we have had occasion to see in the decennial commemoration of
this event in 2011, the demand for consolation
and safety remains uppermost, preventing any
serious critical questioning of the relationships
that the politics of isolation and identification
continue to systematically exclude. This commemoration excludes, for instance, reflection on
the possible relation of “911” to that other September 11th, this time in 1973, when the democratically elected government of Chile was overthrown by an American-instigated coup d’état; or
reflection on the possible relation of the attacks
against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
- the Financial and Military symbols of United
States global power - to the position taken by
successive US governments on the PalestineIsrael conflict; or reflection on countless other
events. When the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times contributor Paul Krugman dared to publish a blog entitled “Years of
Shame,” in which he argued that the memory of
September 11th, 2001, had been “irrevocably poisoned” in being made into a justification for the
wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, he provoked a
324
cóõrdínätês
huge backlash.19 One of the more civil replies, by
Michael Mets, countered: “I feel no shame about
my personal recollections and commemorations
of 9/11 … I remain grateful for the words of comfort that President George W. Bush and Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani provided the nation in the
aftermath.”20
In the utter disorientation that followed the
clouds that swallowed up all figures and forms, covering them with a white covering of dust as they
slowly receded, the need for “words of comfort”
could be understood. But that this need has persisted and has tended to disqualify all critique of the
militarized response that followed as disloyal and
essentially traitorous to the memory of the US and
allied soldiers who were killed and maimed, physically and psychologically: this strikes me as not so
very different from the passage through the clouds
above Nuremberg in 1934, revealing the compact
Gestalt of the militarized masses on the march.
The movement of mobilization may well comfort and console, but it requires the concomitant
mobilization of terror in order, in the phrase that
sums up the spirit of the age - in order to continue
“moving forward”.
But this march forward is not just followed by
the clouds that it seeks, with limited success, to mobilize. It is inevitably overtaken by them. And when
those clouds finally come down to earth, no war
can escape them.
19 Paul Krugman, “The Years of Shame,” nytimes.com,
11 September 2011, accessed 7 February 2013, http://
krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/the-years-ofshame/?scp=2&sq=krugman&st=cse.
20 Michael Mets, “To the Editor,” nytimes.com, 12 September 2011, accessed 7 February 2013, http://www.nytimes.
com/2011/09/13/opinion/a-furor-over-paul-krugmans911-blog-post.html.
325
326
327
cóõrdínätês
UDC 82.0
UDC 821.163.41-4
Ljiljana Pešikan Ljuštanović, Novi Sad
Serbia
The Joy of Reading
Vladislava Gordić Petković. Mystic and Mechanic.
Stubovi kulture, belgrade, 2010.
Writing about books arises from love.
(Vlаdislаvа Gоrdić Pеtkоvić. “The Word Before”.
Mystic and Mеchаnic, p 5)
Vlаdislаva Gоrdić Pеtkоvić’s book concentrates
on a dilеmma which every prоfеssiоnаl, scholarly,
(mеtа)reading of a literary work has to face – no
matter whether it is critical, theoretical or historical. How to reconcile the understanding of “the hidden mеchаnism that the аuthоr moves – or allows
him/herself to be moved by it”, without damaging
the mystique of the work, how to present this “mystical mеchаnics” without “exposing” the work, without dеmystifying it? How to preserve love, without
denying the insight deeper than “the glоrification of
literature and idеntification with it”?
This basic dilemma is rеflеcted in a series of
questions raised by these articles. From the one
at the beginning of the book (“Women’s Voice in
Literary History”) – should literary аnаlysis be approached “rеаlistically”, and allow the literary hero
to leave his own literary context (the experience of
spending time with the heroine or hero that, I be-
lieve, every avid reader has), or “puristically”, which
denies any possibility of taking a character out of the
context of the work and the possibility of аnаlysis
which approaches it as if he were an “аuthеntic
man”: mimеsis or sеmiоsis? “The function of the
plot and the basis for the development of mоtifs”
or “a well-rounded personality independent of the
context”? The questions that the author raises, not
only in this text, are based on a comprehensive and
detailed knowledge of literary theories and methodologies, different strаtеgies of intеrprеtаtive reading, but are not schоlаstic rehashes of dull thеоries
which function the best when they are separated
from literature as a self-sufficient pеrpеtuum mоbilе.
In the three sections of her book: female,
drаmatic, narrative, Vlаdislаvа Gоrdić Pеtkоvić
finely and lively tests some theoretical pоstulаtеs and
generalizations on a very wide range of works and
authors. There are Serbian and Anglo-Saxon canons
328
cóõrdínätês
of women writers – Јuditа Šаlgо, Ljubicа Аrsić, Јеlеnа
Lеngоld, Мirјаnа Đurđеvić, Мirјаnа Nоvаkоvić,
Charlotte Brоntë, Jean Rhys; then Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare, Hеnry James, John Bunyan,
Virginia Woolf, Hеnry James (as the writer and as the
reader), John Updike, Douglаs Coupland; and the
plays of Bоrislаv Pеkić, Tоdоr Маnојlоvić, Tеnnеssee
Williams, Hаrоld Pintеr... The author’s reading experience weaves a wide net of reading in which there
are authors unknown to us (Аlаn Grаtz, Lisа Fiedlеr,
Gоrdоn Kоrmаn, etc.), but also the invеntively coupled Аntоniје Isаkоvić and Мilеtа Prоdаnоvić, or
Kоlum Tоubin and Gоrаn Pеtrоvić, and then again
Мilеtа Prоdаnоvić and Аravind Аdigа. Out of the
reading experience of Vlаdislаva Gоrdić Pеtkоvić
emerges a new world of connections and harmonies,
in which a book sheds light on another book, аnd
the author occasionally resembles the all-seeing Miss
Маrple, who unmistakably perceives what is repeated, but thanks to that, also understands what is new
to her. This reading gives a unique sensuality to the
works it has encompassed, a commanding presence
– they meet and are reflected in one another, and are
renewed in the process.
In the age of more or less flagging, quiet or sated literary criticism or, even worse, аuthоritаrian
idеоlоgized “domestic” voice, which lectures the
writer, the reader, and the work, dictating to them
what and how they need to see, say, think, feel, so the
writer, the reader, even the work itself, become less
and less important, because someone already knows
everything and is able to do everything – Vlаdislаva
Gоrdić Petković’s book brings back the joy and the
passion, the unsurpassed еrоs of reading, in which
basic intеrеsts of the reader and the joy of new insights meet. In the context of culture, in which it is
the worst possible offence to tell somebody they are a
woman, she, with an ironic smile, much more еfficient
than righteous anger, clarifies some еlеmеntаry notional uncertainties, like the оnе stating that “écriture
329
féminine” is “literature for women”, which is further
on “tacitly equated with triviаl literature”, as opposed
to the self-proclaimed, serious and deep “men’s literature” (“écriture or Cаnоn”). Instead of écriture
féminine, hastily turned into a gender term, she will
offer women’s cаnоn to Serbian literature and literary thеоry: “creating a women’s literary trаdition and
women’s literary history” and supremely dеmоnstrate
the pоtеntials of such an approach.
At the same time, Vlаdislаvа Gоrdić Pеtkоvić
demonstrates a rare trait in “mеtаreaders”– the ability to place under suspicion not only other people’s
but also her own previous readings. As opposed to
Hegel’s “the worse for the facts”, she will, in her text
“écriture ili Cаnоn”, implicitly fоrmulate, I should
say, a totally female stance: the worse for the stale
generalizations. Questioning her own (lucid and very
applicable) division of “new Serbian women’s fiction
into nеоrеаlists, confеssiоnаlists and pоstmоdеrn
еxpеrimеntаlists”, she will, spurned by some recent
works by Ljubica Аrsić, Мirјаna Pаvlоvić, Јеlеna
Lеngоld, Јudita Šаlgо, Мirјаna Мitrоvić, Мirјаna
Nоvаkоvić, Vida Оgnjеnоvić, Мirјаna Đurđеvić,
ask herself: “Can confessionalism be mаsked into a
fradulent pоstmоdеrn game of history, the illusion
and truth, or can the еxpеrimеnt serve the purpose
of a confession, аnd the rеаlistic tеchnique serve as
a lоgical companion of a confession?”
Interpretations of Vlаdislаva Gоrdić Pеtkоvić
possess that noble clarity which goes with pure, consistent, well structured thinking. These articles, especially the ones which compose the first section of
the book entitled female1, reveal both intеllеctuаl and
personal maturing of the author, delineate the history of searching as exciting as the works she writes
about. On the one hand, this means that there are
thoughts continually racing through her mind, which
1 Lower case which she employs is more effective than the
pathetic upper case.
cóõrdínätês
is, for example, revealed whenever she revisits Јudita
Šаlgо’s work (“écriture or Cаnоn”), or the most complete study abоut Мirјаna Nоvаkоvić’s fiction so far
(“The Аltеrnаtive Worlds of Мirјаna Nоvаkоvić”).
This “pоstmоdеrn еxpеrimеntаlist”, who approaches
language as “a test range for еxpеrimеnts”, systematically shattering the causality, Vlаdislаvа Gоrdić
Pеtkоvić has the perception of an аuthоr who searches for “idеntity and self-idеntification”, seeing human
loneliness “as a prеrequisite for the resistance to a
tоtаlitаrian systеm” and as “a consistent theme in ...
inconsistent nаrration”.
“Lunacy and Altеrnаtive Nаrrаtion”, the final
article in the chapter female, links Henry James’s
Turn of the Screw and Sаrah Watеrs’s The Little
Stranger, as works in which “the altered pеrcеption
... leads to the changes in experiencing the world:
in both novels there are ghosts whose origin is not
clearly dеfined, and in both cases they may be rightly mеtаphоrized as a sеxuаl or sоcial threat”.
On the other hand, partly hidden under the
layered and complex intеllеctuаl strаtеgies, these
tеxts also reveal a new, personal, female maturity
of the author. The universe of literature and her
reflections does not banish the author’s awareness “that books can’t replace life, that an аrtificial
dimеnsion of total reading and perfect peace is
not possible – or, at least, is not idеаl” (“Literary
hero as an intеrеst of the text”). Symbоlic burden
of womanliness and the ways in which it is formed
and featured, in the article “Arduous Pilgrimages:
Reality and Pоssibility in Serbian Women’s Fiction” becomes the fate of the live female body in
“Serbian Dystopian Аbsurdistаn”. Demonstrating
how Мirјаnа Đurđеvić “deconstructs the genres of
crime novel and thrillеr in order to disclose gender obstacles which accompany the woman on
her road to maturity and аfirmаtion and unsparingly criticize the society of irregularities and instability”, Vlаdislаvа Gоrdić Pеtkоvić speaks out
with bitterness оf that shameful advertisement/
clip (what is it really!?) which puts the blame for
the very high breast cancer mortality rate on the
reckless and frivоlous women, who turn their attention to mаnicure, pеdicure, make-up and hairdos and cannot set aside “just five minutes” to be
examined. “The advertisement offers a distorted
picture of the world: the picture is a complete opposite of the rеаlistic picture of bureaucratic dead
ends and poor, inadequate infrаstructurе which thе
Hаrriеt’s case faced us with. The advertisement reverses the priоrities and аrgumеnts: the woman is
mеtаphorically accused of negligence towards her
own body, of the lack of care for her own health.
(...) The advertisement completely ignоrеs the fact
that Serbian health service is tеchnоlоgically and
personally insufficiently equipped for a prompt and
effective prеvеntion of mаlignant diseases.” Speaking about the work here turns into speaking to it,
speaking against a sort of hypocrisy which hides
the serious oversights on the part of the society behind the stеreоtype of women’s superficiality.
The section drаmatic has also been designed in
the spirit of various encounters and interactions. Neglected and mаrginаlized drаmatic оpus of Bоrislаv
Pеkić has had an exquisite reader – Vlаdislаva Gоrdić
Pеtkоvić (“The Plays of Bоrislаv Pеkić: Cultures and
Idеоlоgies Coming Together” and “The Plays of
Bоrislаv Pеkić: Idеntity and Fаrce”). She perceives
“bitter аbsurdism” of Pеkić’s drаmatic writing and
a characteristic dual belonging to both Serbian and
English culture, which occasionally turns into the
pоsition of a stateless person, a lucid observer who
observes both us and them (no matter who is closer
at the moment) from a distаnce. Relations between
Pеkić’s, Ibzеn’s, Pintеr’s and Williams’s plays and “intentional and inadvertent pаrаllеls” with Sherwood
Аndеrsоn’s fiction and pаrаdigmаtic Shakespeare’s
works – portend the possibility of prоvоcative and
motivating interpretations yet to come.
330
cóõrdínätês
Deep affection for different, lonely, оriginаl spirits is revealed in the аnаlysis of Tоdоr Маnојlоvić’s
one-acter Midwinter Night’s Dream. The anаlysis
of this vаriation on a myth, in which the statue of
Gаlаtеa is humаnized by Pygmаliоn, as well as the
texts оn Pеkić’s plays, may be perceived also as a reminder to those who work with the theatre in the
culture in which “recent literary history does not
promise a quick аffirmаtion of the neglected authors”.
The most extensive and complex experiment
given over to drаmatic is the concluding text of this
section “Translating trаgеdy and comedy into the
American idiоm: William Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams”, which provides the reader with good
insight into Williams’s unmasking the “cultural and
sеxuаl stеrеоtypes”, which made his plays “the field
of battle against discordant drives, and for a free individual who clearly аrticulates his or her desire”.
Simultaneously, in the аnаlysis of Blаnche Dubоis’s
fate, or emancipated Sеrаfina, the heroine of Rose
Tattoo, who rejects “mаniacal mоnоgаmy” and once
a humble fan becomes an equal partner – here too
continues the preoccupation with gender idеntity,
as one of the central thеmes of this book.
The most complex and, for a non-Anglicist
reader, most difficult to read is the final section of
Vlаdislаva Gоrdić Pеtkоvić’s book. Perceiving the
narrative as a series of general questions, ranging
from the оnes abоut the literary hero and the end-
331
less thеmаtic diversity of novel (“Literary Hero As
the Text’s Intеrеst”), to examining different ways of
taking over the plot (Lisа Fiddlеr and Rоmео and
Јuliet, Glоriа Cigmаn and Chaucer’s Canterbury
Tales in the novel Once Upon a Time There Was a
Woman, and some more), to examining the limits of the short story as a genre. As one of the best
connoisseurs of the pоеtics and achievements of
Anglо-Saxon short story – Hemingway and Cаrvеr
– Vlаdislаvа Gоrdić Pеtkоvić offers an interpretation of Аntоniјe Iskоvić’s The red Scarf as a short
story with which Мilеta Prоdаnоvić’s The Red Silk
Scarf engages in a diаlоgue of an irоnic tone. She
studies the narrative fоrms of a diary and a confessional by comparing Prоdаnоvić’s collection of
short stories Аgnеc and the novel White Tiger by the
Indian writer Аravind Аdiga, prompting the readers’ intеrеst not only in the lesser-known Indian
аuthоr, but also in Мilеta Prоdаnоvić’s fiction. All
the way to the examination of the phеnоmеnom
of Gеnеrаtion H and the works of Douglas Coupland – Vlаdislаvа Gоrdić Pеtkоvić manges to awake
the curiosity for new works, new stories, the world
of connections, harmony and conflict, for the vast
literary cоsmоs, which continually, with each new
strаtеgy of reading, gives birth to new cаnоns and
new orders. And, of course, the hope that a pilgrimage to Canterbury can help with impaired hearing,
rash and extra weight.
cóõrdínätês
UDC 316.772.4
Nataša Bakić-Mirić
The University of Niš Medical School, Serbia
Suleyman Demirel University in Almaty, Kazakhstan1
An Integrated Approach
to Intercultural Communication
An Integrated Approach to Intercultural Communication2 is the outcome of the research conducted at
the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Faculty of English Studies in Greece during the 20102012 academic year. It explores communication, culture, and intercultural communication. The emphasis
is on the promotion of understanding and appreciation for the rich and varied perspectives encountered
in intercultural communication opportunities.
Interdisciplinary in nature, the book focuses on
the need to develop self-understanding as the first
step to intercultural understanding, and highlights
the need for the intercultural state of mind to match
our multicultural world, difficulties inherent in the
1 Dr. Nataša Bakić-Mirić is currently an invited lecturer at
Suleyman Demirel University Faculty of Philosophy in Almaty (Kazakhstan) where she is also working on her new
book “Current approaches to English language teaching”. Dr.
Bakić-Mirić wrote “An integrated approach to intercultural
communication” at the University Athens Faculty of English studies where she was invited as a visiting scholar on the
post-doctoral level for the academic year 2010-2012.
2 This book review is a slightly altered original Introduction
of the book.
quest for such objective, excitement of challenges on
the way and rewards of success that are sputtering
with new energy and yet waiting to be discovered.
Furthermore, the book represents an initial step
in the process of building competencies which may facilitate effective communication in all types of crosscultural settings. It gives a unique outlook on how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate
in similar and different ways among themselves, and
how they endeavor to communicate across cultures.
The book grows out of the philosophy that developing better interpersonal, intercultural communication skills will profoundly benefit the five-anda-half billion people who share this planet and who
increasingly interact with each other by producing
certain guidelines with which people can successfully cope with the realities of cultural diversity,
challenges of living in a multicultural world, the
need to transcend the unpredictability of intercultural interactions, accompanying fears that such
interactions often encompass and the feeling of joy
and comfort in the discovery of cultural diversity.
332
cóõrdínätês
To begin with, Chapter 1 sets out the main
theme through a detailed exploration of the concepts of communication and culture where the author discusses the beginnings of communication
study, contemporary maxims about communication as well as misinterpretations that occur during the communication process. The author, then,
seamlessly moves on to discuss culture, its elements,
beliefs, values and norms, popular culture, Confucian cultural patterns, Hall’s, Hofstede’s, and Bond’s
taxonomies of cultural patterns and cultural intelligence. Moreover, she explores the concept of cultural identity and sheds new light on the notion of
cultural diversity (or multiculturalism) which is in
her view a broad way of looking at cultural groups
at various levels, including assumptions, underlying
values, social relations, and customs.
Chapter 2 focuses on the subject of intercultural
communication that occupies the central position of
the book. In this chapter, the author is keeping with
the overall scope of the subject covering a wide array
of topics within the field of intercultural communication encompassing overall characteristics of intercultural communication, meaning characteristics, practicing intercultural process thinking, intercultural
communication competence and how to improve
intercultural communication skills. The author also
glimpses on the culture shock, its stages and acculturation. In the last pages of this chapter, she discusses factors influencing intercultural communication,
intercultural communication barriers and basic rules
of intercultural effectiveness only to conclude with
intercultural training models.
In Chapter 3, the author turns to verbal and auditory intercultural communication and deals with
verbal codes and verbal communication styles. She
defines various styles of verbal communication: direct versus indirect style, elaborate versus succinct
style, personal versus contextual, instrumental versus affective, treats the subject of listening, describes
333
the HURIER model and discusses the importance of
effective listening across cultures.
Chapter 4 draws the readers in with discussion
of nonverbal intercultural communication that is, in
the author’s opinion, an indispensable and all-pervasive element in intercultural communication. She,
then, moves to explore the importance of nonverbal
communication in intercultural communication, the
influence of nonverbal factors on intercultural communication and its classification.
Chapter 5 explores the significance of intercultural health communication that is very important in
the health care setting especially if doctors and patients originate from different cultures. The author
debates that effective health care delivery is dependent upon clear and effective communication as an essential element in every form of medicine and health
care between all the individuals concerned: patients,
physicians, and other health care professionals. The
author, also, discusses diverse health care belief systems (that largely influence how doctors and patients
perceive each other), intercultural health care competence and health care communication strategies.
Chapter 6 is the final piece of this intercultural
communication puzzle where the author analyses
main features of intercultural business communication. The focus is on the intercultural skills
business people need to function effectively in the
business arena. This means managing people in an
intercultural setting, negotiations, meetings, language and questions to consider when doing business internationally.
The final pages of the book comprise selected
intercultural awareness situations, practices and discussion ideas that should serve as an intercultural
awareness incentive. The author also provides cultural interpretations for each situation written immediately after a possible response. Cultural dos and
don’ts across the globe in the end are a sweepstake for
all globetrotters.
cóõrdínätês
Generally, the author’s academic vantage point is
that the book is intended as an academic reference for
undergraduate, graduate students, interdisciplinary
researchers, business people, health care providers,
tourists, sojourners, expatriates and their better understanding of the key concepts relevant to understanding issues related to intercultural communication. It is
written in comprehensible English and covers the most
important features of intercultural communication.
One of the reviewers, Professor Maria Sifianou
from The Faculty of English Studies, National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece writes:
“The diversity and freshness of the ideas in the
book stem from the unique blend of the most important aspects of intercultural communication to
provide the reader with an understanding of the
depth and breadth of intercultural communication
theory and practice in a unique and interesting way.
It serves as basis for the journey towards greater
intercultural communication competence and understanding of how intercultural communication
principles work that is crucial to the development of
mutual understanding in the global world.”
Conjointly, Professor Spyronikolas Hoidas from
The Faculty of English Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), who invited
the author to join his team as a visiting scholar on
the post-doctoral level in 2010-2012, postulates:
“An Integrated Approach to Intercultural Communication” investigates multi-faceted domain of
intercultural communication with its multicultural
focus and interdisciplinary scope – featuring verbal, auditory, nonverbal, health care and business
intercultural communication. The book does not
only survey past and contemporary theoretical and
research grounds but also anticipates future developments by investigating multi-faceted domain of
intercultural communication.
Overtly, this book is an invaluable resource for
all scholars, students, sojourners, expatriates, and
globe-trotters exploring the broad and vast field
of intercultural communication. In this important
contribution to contemporary thinking about intercultural communication, Bakić-Mirić brings together discourse from widely divergent theoretical
fields to explore the arena of intercultural communication.
Ultimately, a desirable and intended effect of
this book is also the development of an interculturally open and tolerant mind, which will eventually
lead to a better understanding of the different and
varied manifestations of language, culture and communication in human society.”
Finally Biljana Đorić Francuski, Associate professor from The University of Belgrade, Faculty of
Philology says (in Serbian language):
“Od ove godine studije kulture bogatije su za
jednu izvanrednu naučnu monografiju, koju je pod
nazivom Integrisani pristup interkulturnoj komunikaciji (An Integrated Approach to Intercultural
Communication) početkom 2012. objavila renomirana britanska izdavačka kuća Cambridge Scholars
Publishing. Za nas je to izdanje tim značajnije što
je autorka monografije, dr Nataša Bakić-Mirić, naše
gore list, te u ovoj knjizi često nailazimo i na primere vezane za Srbiju, što inače nije baš uvek slučaj
u literaturi iz oblasti studija kulture, a naročito interkulturne komunikacije.
U današnje vreme, kada je u nekoliko multidisciplinarnih naučnih grana sve popularnija tematika
razumevanja izmenu pojedinaca iz različitih kultura
– koji kao nosioci ponekad čak i suprotnih vrednosti i neuskladjenih identiteta pri susretu neizostavno
stupaju u interkulturnu komunikaciju, ova knjiga,
koja predstavlja originalno naučno ostvarenje, nesumnjivo je nezaobilazan priručnik za svakoga ko
se – bilo kao stručnjak ili student, bilo kao laik i iz
privatnih razloga – bavi procesom sticanja kompetencija u cilju olakšavanja efikasne interkulturne komunikacije u novoj multikulturnoj sredini.”
334
cóõrdínätês
Conclusively, the purpose of this book is to delineate some of the choices (either explicit or tacit)
that a scholar must make in the investigation of intercultural communication and so, it includes the
most important aspects of intercultural communication necessary to provide the reader with an under-
335
standing of the depth and breadth of intercultural
communication theory and practice and to further
research into the field of intercultural communication in a unique and interesting way that is from the
author’s point of view crucial to the development of
mutual understanding in the global world.
cóõrdínätês
UDC 316.66-055.2(497)
UDC 305-055.2(497)
Slobodan Vasić, Novi Sad
Serbia
Inquiring women, Feminist and Muslim
identities: Post-Socialist Contexts
in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo
INTRODUCTION
Not much has been written about, nor are there
many authors in the region who deal with feminist
theology and analyze connections between gender
and religion. Some of the most important authors
dealing with this issue in the area are Jadranka Rebeka Anić (Anić 2010, 2011), Anna Maria Gruenfelder (1988, 2002) and Svenka Savić (Savić 2002).
Zilka Spahić-Šiljak’s ( Spahicć-Šiljak 2007) area of
interest is feminist theology related to Islam, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With that in
mind, it can be said that each research project in the
field of religion and gender analysis is a noteworthy
contribution, because it expands the knowledge regarding the interaction between religion and society, position of women in religion, and therefore it
expands knowledge of the social reality in general.
The book “Inquiring Women, Feminist and
Muslim Identities – Post- Socialist Contexts in Bosnia
and Herzegovina and Kosovo” (Spahić-Šiljak 2012)
was the result of a two-year research project titled
“Feminism in Post- Socialist Muslim Contexts in Bos-
nia-Herzegovina and Kosovo”, which was conducted
by the Center for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate
Studies (CIPS) at the University of Sarajevo. The
aim of this study was to investigate the intertwining of gender and religion, as well as how politics,
class and other important aspects of female identity
mediate the interaction between religion and gender relations in society. According to the words of
the editor, Zilka Spahić-Šiljak, the study deals with
correlation and intersection of three key identities: female, feminist and religious, using comparative analysis of attitudes of women in post-socialist
Muslim contexts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo (Spahić-Šiljak 2012: 21). One of the goals of
the study is to reveal “multi-positioning” of women
in everyday life and the multiple positions become
clearer taking into account the intersection among
gender, religion, ethnicity and phases in the life cycle - which influence the identities of women and
their experiences (Ibid. 22). In this regard, it is important to give answers to questions on how identities are constructed, how monolithic categories
336
cóõrdínätês
and the great narratives of universalism are deconstructed, and what is more, to contribute to the detection of paradoxical effects of power. Specifically,
not only the well-known binary oppositions - secular and religious, public and private, modern and
traditional, and socialist and ethno-national - are
observed through their interaction, but also an attempt is made to overcome the enforced dichotomy.
As feminist ideas do not develop independently
from socio-political and cultural contexts – in
this case secularization and desecularization of the
Muslim social context – the confrontation between
the Muslim and feminist identity can be observed
through various modalities of the relation between
traditional and modern at the subjective level, i.e. at
the level at which women create and construct their
identities and social reality.
Research methods
In order to conduct a comparative analysis and
correlation tests of three key identities (female, feminist and religious) in the two post-socialist socio-political contexts, in terms of methodology, two qualitative
methods are introduced: focus groups and methods of
life stories. The life story method has allowed women
to explain how they became feminists and how their
multiple positions and multiple identities were constructed throughout their lives, since activism took up
the most important part of their narrative.
It should be emphasized that the method of focus groups is rarely used in empirical research in the
social sciences, although it is particularly important
in gender and feminist studies, because it has an educational value. In addition, the method is focused
on women’s experiences and the advantage of focus
groups is that they enable an egalitarian group dynamics and interaction among the participants. It
also has an educational purpose, because women
learn through discussions listening to each other.
Another important feature of this method is that it
337
has a side effect of invigoration on women, for the
very focus group is planned to create a new context
and a new social experience.
Focus groups were held in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Kosovo with the women who work for women’s
NGOs or are related to them in any way. Focus groups
were a means of gaining an insight into what it means
to be a woman in the post-socialist context. In addition, it was important to determine how feminism
and feminists’ identity are perceived and whether
women are willing to express their feminist identity
publicly. When compatibility of Islam and feminism
are observed, the emphasis is on the fact that identities are not rigid and separate but highly related and
fluid, which is a contribution to the perception of
identity as an unstable and changeable category.
RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH
Results of the research show differences in
the perceived importance of the religious and national identity of women in Bosnia and women
from Kosovo. In fact, most women in Bosnia and
Herzegovina emphasize their religious and cultural
identity, while the majority of women from Kosovo
emphasize their national or ethnic identity (Ibid.
155). The identity position of women in Bosnia and
Herzegovina is affected by the Bosnian paradigm
of the European Islam, reflected in two ways: as a
“common culture and civilization” and as the religion of individuals. Islam, being the common culture, represents a concept which includes a variety
of perceptions, interpretations and practices of Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the other hand,
Albanians from Kosovo are more focused on their
national than their religious identity.
a) Respondents believe that the most common
identity is the one of a woman who keeps to and
takes care of her private sphere (the role of mother
and educator of the family) - in connection with
this, a “two-scene-game” problem is accentuated.
cóõrdínätês
However, in this review not much attention will be
paid to the problem of the private sphere, but other
issues will be in focus – the ones that have proven
to be relevant - both in focus groups and life stories
of women who participated in this study. In this regard, firstly the problem of gender neutrality strategy will be dealt with - what it means to be a woman
and to fight for women’s rights in two different social contexts: socialism and post-socialism.
Interestingly, when respondents define what it
means to be a woman, they avoid being designated
as women or feminists, but they rather chose gender
neutral positioning - defining themselves as human
beings - which is the strategy of gender neutrality.
However, the question is whether this is in favor
of women, since feminist theorists emphasize that
“neutral positioning works against women, because
a man remains the norm” (Ibid. 137). Whatever
their quest for gender neutrality is, it seems that
some women emphasize - although possibly unconsciously – that if being a woman means being deprived of rights, then being a feminist means taking
responsibility to correct this injustice and to re-define what being a woman really means. (Ibid. 145).
b) What does it mean to be a woman in socialism
and post-socialism? Women say that gender equality
in post-socialist Bosnia and Kosovo has given some
results in the legal sphere, but that there are weaknesses in law enforcement and that gender action
plans are still fragile. Furthermore, civil and political
rights in post-socialism are emphasized more than
social and economic - women feel that these other
rights are more important for them (Ibid. 135). The
study observed differences between Kosovo and
Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the influence of
socialism on positioning of women and their subjective perception of the female identity. The period
of socialism left a deeper mark on women in Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of formation of the
female identity, by contrast, women from Kosovo
rarely mentioned the socialist era as influencing the
formation of their identities (Ibid. 137). This can be
seen most clearly in the fact that women from the focus groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina understand
feminism from a classical Marxist feminist perspective - they are more likely to identify classism rather
than sexism as the underlying cause of the oppression of women - despite visible questioning gender
issues (Ibid. 140). Women from Bosnia grasp the
concept of “struggle” within the conceptual framework built by Marx, Engels and Lenin. In socialist
ideas women are allies with men in the revolution,
and feminism is identified with the bourgeois values of the capitalist class. Therefore, feminists from
Bosnia have an approach to feminist issues based
on a perspective of the unity with men and Marxist axiology. Women from Kosovo seldom appeal to
the socialist period, which is an interesting finding
in itself; however, better understanding of this issue
would require a special investigation.
c) Religious affiliation. Work in focus groups, as
well as data gathered in women’s life stories, showed
a discrepancy between the level of religious identification and practice of religion in Bosnia and Kosovo. Focus groups show that most women could be
classified somewhere between Muslim practitioners
and non-practitioners. It is difficult to draw a dividing line between believers and non-believers (Ibid.
147). Most Muslim women in Bosnia and Kosovo
are secular believers, in other words they accept
their religion as part of their family tradition. Most
practitioners, by contrast, want their religiosity to
be publicly recognized (Ibid. 150). The existence of
significant relativism in adhering to the laws of Islam, the complexity of identity formation show that
Muslim women use different strategies and space
for multiple positioning. They use strategies in order to define their position as Muslims and moderate feminists in the social context of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo (Ibid. 152-153).
338
cóõrdínätês
In the life stories from Bosnia, Muslim identity
is constructed in relation to other religions, nations,
while Muslim identity in Kosovo does not include
such parallels, as other factors appear to be significant:
education, hijab, state policy (Ibid. 197). However, the
value of decency is something that both practitioners
and non-practitioners share: being a good person,
helping the ones in need and not doing harm to anyone. The difference between non-practitioners and
practitioners in Bosnia and Kosovo could be put this
way: non-practitioners could be determined as believers without affiliation, while most practitioners could
be determined as believers with affiliation (Ibid. 154).
d) Activism – religion; public/private: the hijab.
In the context of reestablishing traditionalism of social values that emerged after the collapse of socialism and its basic social structures, to position oneself as a feminist is not socially desirable and women
generally refuse to publicly identify themselves as
feminists as well as to promote feminist values, because it entails exclusion and marginalization in the
patriarchal milieu of their everyday life (Ibid. 140).
It has been observed that women from Kosovo, nonpractitioners, are more willing to identify themselves
as feminists, compared to women from Bosnia.
From their life stories it can be seen that feminist,
activist identity, religious and secular identities are
not fixed, nor are they always polarized: they are in
mutual interaction and overlap in different ways in
different social contexts. All interviewees stated that
the war provided impetus to turn to activism and
feminism, as part of their search for identity.
Data also showed that “practitioners cared
more about their feminist identity in the public
sphere and reconciliation of objectives promoting feminism and religion. Non-practitioners were
more cautious regarding their religious identity
in the public sphere, especially the hijab as a visible marker of their female religious identity (Ibid.
166). In fact, one of the most controversial issues
339
related to the emancipation of Muslim women is
the matter of veiling and wearing hijab (covering
the head) that is why debates about hijab result in
conflicting attitudes among the Muslim women.
Most non-practitioners in Kosovo, but also in Bosnia, believe that wearing hijab is not in accordance
with the emancipation and advancement of women.
It can be said that women who are veiled challenge
modernity by their mere presence. “Violently uncovered they represent the modernization of the
nation. Violently covered are re-establishing the Islamic order “(Milani 1992: 4). Women who are not
veiled defend their rights to be Muslim without hijab, and criticize the imposed perception that only
those women who wear hijab are moral and spiritual (Spahić-Šiljak 2012: 161).
In this sense, women who wear hijab are triply
disenfranchised, “[...] for the Western perception of
covered Muslim women and prohibition of coverage
in some European countries; for the secular Muslim
believers both men and women, who do not want
to be associated with radical Islam (terrorism) and
due to the lack of strength and confidence, which
is a common feature of veiled women “(Ibid. 163).
CONCLUSION
Based on this selection of some important topics in the research the results of which were published in a study Questioning Women, Feminist and
Muslim Identity - Socialist Contexts in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Kosovo, this book review will be
brought to an end by mentioning some of the theses
which we believe to be relevant:
Women support mainly “moderate” feminism,
because they believe that radical feminism radically
undermines social norms and family values, which
a priori is not a viable option.
Practitioners believe that religion is a powerful
psychological and spiritual tool that helps them to
become better persons and to find inner peace and
cóõrdínätês
strength. This perspective emphasizes the importance of religion in human life and excludes nonreligious views as well as a possible opportunity to find
peace and strength apart from religion. Distancing
themselves from radical feminism, practitioners
suggest that using terms similar to “women’s issues”
or “woman’s themes” would be better.
Muslim feminists are faced with a double social
stigma: they can not expect understanding for their religious identity in a secular environment if wearing hijab, and as feminists they are accepted neither in their
religious nor in their secular environment (Ibid. 253).
The question that illustrated the span of feminist identities is the question related to Imam positions for women. Although there are no legal or
theological obstacles to women becoming Mufti,
women who are speakers of the religious communities, lecturers, respondents completely ignored this
issue. This shows a structure that continues to support the strict gender division in connection with
assigned roles, as well as the preservation of hierarchical gender structure. However, women from
Kosovo and Bosnia want women to be involved in
the interpretation of Islam rather than follow blindly
the existing interpretative tradition that excludes the
partnership between women and men (Ibid. 160).
Finally, we will mention Zia, an interviewee
from Bosnia, who, in our opinion, provided researchers with rich and interesting empirical and
scientific information and her critique of the Muslim community in Bosnia. She believes that the Muslim community in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not
sufficiently proactive, open and inclusive enough to
allow space for different opinions. She also criticizes
other religious communities because of their a priori understanding of Islam. She criticizes the West in
general, which has a neo-colonial and Eurocentric
policy. Zia criticizes the Arab world because of their
monopoly on interpreting Islam.
Zia, however, does not only criticize the numerous social factors, but also provides a concrete proposal which, hopefully, may be acceptable to the most
of people: the fight against ignorance, prejudice and
stereotypes can be made possible through education
and introduction to Islam and its various and rich heritage and interpretive traditions (Ibid. 199). It seems
that education is one of the most important factors in
establishing equal relations between the sexes and in
increasing tolerance in society. Education is also the
most important factor in the intersection and compatibility between feminism and religious traditions, and
to the detriment of the dichotomy: participants who
have a higher education regardless of whether they are
practitioners or not, feel that religion and feminism
have the same task - the task of expanding the possibilities of human freedom.
REFERENCES
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2.
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Anić, Jadranka Rebeka (2011). Kako razumjeti rod? Povijest rasprave i različita razumijevanja u Crkvi. Zagreb:
Institut društvenih znanosti „Ivo Pilar”.
----. (2010). Žene u Crkvi i društvu. Sarajevo – Zagreb:
Svjetlo riječi.
Gruenfelder, Ana Maria (2002). „Feministička teologija.
Kritički osvrt na metode i glavna pitanja”. U: S. Savić
(ur.), Feministička teologija (22–38). Novi Sad: Futura
publikacije.
----. (1988). „Feministička teologija ili ’Smrt patrijarhalnog Boga’?”. Bogoslovska smotra, vol. 58, br. 1: 29–60.
Milani, Farzanch (1992). The Veil and the Male Elite: A
Feminist Interpretation of Women’s Rights in Islam, translated by Mary Jo Lakeland. New York: Basic.
Savić, Svenka (2002). „Interpretacija biblijskog teksta iz
perspektive feminističke teologije: ’Daj mi piti!’ Razgovor
Isusa sa ženom iz Samarije”. U: S. Savić (ur.), Feministička
teologija (62–82). Novi Sad: Futura publikacije.
Spahić-Šiljak, Zilka (2007). Žene, religija i politika (doktorska disertacija). Novi Sad: Asocijacija centara za interdisciplinarne i multidisciplinarne studije i istraživanja
(ACIMSI) – Centar za rodne studije.
----. (2012). Propitivanje ženskih, feminističkih i muslimanskih identiteta – postsocijalistički konteksti u BiH i
na Kosovu. Sarajevo: Centar za interdisciplinarne postdiplomske studije, Univerzitet u Sarajevu.
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UDC 050.488EUROPA
Pavel Gatajancu, Novi Sad
Serbia
“Europa” Magazine, Novi Sad
and its Interculturality
“Europa”, a magazine of science and art in transition, published in Novi Sad by the ”Europa” Foundation, an organisation with a status of nongovernmental organisation, was first issued in 2008. The
initiative belonged to the writer Pavel Gătăianţu and
a group of Romanian supporters from Novi Sad and
Vojvodina in order to facilitate the cultural direction of Romanian intellectuals from Serbia to Europe.
A particular aspect of the magazine in the
elaboration policy is interculturality, understood
as a cultural incursion that could establish stability
in the civic relationships in the region – implying
closeness to the French system of interculturality.
Interculturalism is present in the magazine due
to the diversity of themes and issues, of authors,
with a special issue dedicated to interculturality. In
the first issue of the magazine, the French sociologist Olivier Peyroux analyses the stereotypes that
are present in the relationship between the French
and Serbians. Sânziana Preda from Timişoara has
published an article about the Czechs in the Banat
region, the university professor Zoran Djeric has
written about philosophical and political aspects of
the Slav emigration in the 20th century. This issue
also contains poems written by Romanian and Serbian poets.
The second issue of the magazine, which is
dedicated to elites, is opened by Petar Atanackovic
who writes about political elites and the Serbian
education system. The Serbian university professor
Milan Ivanovic, from Osiek, Croatia, analyses the
responsibilities of social elites in the transition process; Branka Bogavac, who comes from Montenegro
and lives in Paris, has published an interview with
Eugen Ionescu; Bozidar Vasiljevic has published
poetry and Dragan Velikic has published his prose
translated from Serbian.
The following issue is dedicated to interculturality. The texts published are written by Konrad
Gyorgy from Hungary – a study about the idea of
unification and separation; Alpar Losonz, a university professor from Novi Sad, who analyses the
European dimension of Vojvodina: Zoran Arsovic,
a university professor from Banja Luka, Republika
Srpska, who writes an article about the contemporaneous confusion, Europeanism and the concept of
Europe in the field of philosophy; a Ruthenian doctor from Novi Sad, Miroslav Kevezdi, who publishes
the text The European Culture of Memory. Tomislava
342
cóõrdínätês
Zigmanov, a Croation from Subotica, publishes the
article The Interethnic Relationships and the Identity
of Vojvodina. Viorica Ungureanu, from Bălţi, Moldavia, publishes the article Humor as an Obstacle in
Intercultural Communication. Alexander Genis, an
Estonian from New York, the U.S.A., publishes the
essay The Monarch’s Crown. The Slovakian Martin
Prebudjila and the Serbian Goran Segedinac publish prose.
The fourth issue of the magazine is related
to the migration theme. Thus, Milan Cvetanovic,
Branislav Djurdjev and Sasha Kicosev from the Faculty of Geography in Novi Sad publish the study
Refugees’ itineraries in Serbia – Montenegro and Romania between 1980 and 2005. The Ruthenian Mihal Rasmac writes about the Ruthenian migration
and the Bulgarian Cveko Ivanov writes about migrations of people from Dimitrovgrad. Olivier Peyroux publishes a study about sociological aspects of
realities and particular processes of Romanian minors, related to migration.
Branka Bogavac has made an interview with
the Croation Predrag Matavejevic, and Radmilo
Petrovici from Belgrade has written about migration as axiological catharsis; the Italian Christian
Eccher has published the essay The Foreigner in
Contemporary Italian Literature. The philological
part of the magazine includes an article published
by Redzp Skrijelji from Novi Pazar: Bosnian Onomastics in Macedonia (1875-1970). Iavana Janic, a
student in Novi Sad publishes the article Some Data
on Aromanian Culture in the South of Serbia. Corina Tucu from Padova publishes an article about
Livio Zanolini from Italy. The prose is written by
the young Marko Selici from Novi Sad, and university professor Faruk Dizdarevic from Priboj, Serbia,
publishes the article Culture at border.
The fifth issue of “Europa” magazine is dedicated to mass-media. University professor Dubravka
Valic Nedeljkovic, from Novi Sad opens the issue
343
with the analysis Mass-media positioning in Serbia/
Vojvodina, Christian Eccher writes about Silvio Berlusconi’s mass-media Empire, Berlusconism and the
crises of the Left Wing in Italy. The magazine also
includes Claudio Magris’s essay The Language, and
the section social and humanistic sciences includes
a text about the announcer’s influence in children
mass-media, written by Sladjana Milenkovic, a
teacher from Sremska Mitrovica. The Serbian writers Jovan Zivlak and Slobodan Mandic publish poetry and prose.
Regionalism is the theme of the sixth issue of
the magazine. The issue is opened by the Hungarian politician from Novi Sad, Sandor Egeresi, who
writes about the European Identity of Multicultural
Vojvodina and the Regionalization Processes. Ognjen Miric from Belgrade writes about the regional
policy of the European Union. University professor
Mariana Pajvanic from the University of Novi Sad
publishes a fragment from her book The Constitutional Framework of the Regional State - Serbia’s
example. Alesandru Popov publishes an article entitled For Decentralization before I come to Power.
Branka Bogavac has published a fragment
from an interview with Emil Cioran, and Professor Yvonne Duplessis, from Paris, has published the
first part of the study Surrealism in Romania. The
writer Drasko Redjep has published a review of the
poetry of Petru Cârdu. Filip Nenadici and Ivan Grahek have published The Unconscious Impact of Photographs on Human Estimation – the Sub-optimal
Affective Priming, in the section social and humanistic sciences.
University professor Marco Lucchesi from Rio
de Janeiro, Brasil, has published poetry, and Nedeljko Terzic has published prose translated from
Serbian. Vladislav Popovic has presented his book
The Myth about Patriarchate, and Simon Grabovac
has written about the international theatre festival
Infant, from Novi Sad.
cóõrdínätês
A characteristic of the articles published in
“Europa” magazine is that, beside the English abstract, there is a Serbian abstract, so that those
who are interested can read the essence of the
published texts.
A theme that has always been of interest is chosen for the seventh issue of the “Europa” magazine:
religion and faith. Miroslav Kevezdi writes about religious postmodernity in Europe and Professor Roman Miz writes about ecumenism. Vladislav Djordjevic analyses differences between Catholic and
Orthodox religion, while the Swedish Asa Apelkvist
analyses parallels between Swedish and German
languages. University professor Faruk Dizdadarevic
has a contribution related to the most talented Bosnian prose writer, Camil Sijaric.
Another characteristic of the articles published
in “Europa” magazine is that, beside the English abstract, there is a Serbian abstract, so that those who
are interested can read the essence of the published
texts. The Scientific and the Consultative Board also
have a multiethnic form.
Translated by Luiza Caraivan
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cóõrdínätês
UDC 791(497.113)
Sonja Jankov
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad
Serbia
MoCAV: Film and Video in Vojvodina
Technology to the People - Case Study: Film and Video in Vojvodina
Curators: Aleksandar Davić and Gordana Nikolić
19th February – 15th April 2013, MoCAV, Novi Sad
The Museum of Contemporary Art of
Vojvodina in Novi Sad has been acknowledged as a
highly professional institution, with standards that
are enabling ambitious programmes with largescale multimedial exhibitions focusing on case studies. The beginning of 2013 was marked by the project Technology to the People – Case Study: Film and
Video in Vojvodina, realised as the cinema, a series
of lectures, presentations and discussions, which
provided insights into production in the medium of
film, video and television and an exhibition of archival documents, techniques and stills in combination with projections. The project by its detailed approach represents an encyclopaedic representation
of history of the autonomous and, usually conceived
as marginal, spaces of working on films and video.
Projections included over 90 works, since 1912 to
the latest works, and their constellation revealed the
intercultural aspect of art production in the region.
Black and white The Summer Movie (Nyári
mozi, 1999, 67’) with music written by Félix Lajkó
and The Hour Glass (Fövenyóra, 2007, 110’) based
on the novel by Danilo Kiš, represent the work of
contemporary film director Tolnai Szabolcs. These
are the first movies in Hungarian the viewers had
opportunity to see while entering the gallery space.
They are followed by The Knife Thrower (Késdobáló,
1984, 89’) by Vicsek Károly, featuring Katalin Ladik
and documentary Seven Hungarian Ballads (1978,
30’) filmed by Želimir Žilnik, whose representative film noire Early Works (1969, 87’) and documentary Newsreel on Village Youth, in Winter (1967,
15’) were also included. However, Healthy People for
Fun (1971, 15’) directed by Karpo Godina Ačimović
with music by Sound Laboratory portrays the multiculturalism of Vojvodina the best. Godina’s awarded film presents ethnical minorities in the region,
moving from a documentary anthropological movie into an artistic one, inseparable from the music.
Godina’s filmed version of the play Gratinated Brain
by the troupe Pupilia Ferkeverk (Žlahtna plesen
Pupilije Ferkeverk, 1970, 11’) is another among the
films that marked the golden years of the production company “Neoplanta Film” in Novi Sad.
346
cóõrdínätês
The authors Davić and Nikolić presented the
variety of film, video and television production in
Vojvodina in a way that reveals the richness of production and centres for the exchange of knowledge,
as much as the enthusiasm of the co-called amateurism. Apart from “Neoplanta Film”, the project
focused on the production companies “Panfilm”
from Pančevo, “Filmske novosti” from Belgrade,
with documentaries related to Vojvodina, such as A
Disco Club in Inđija (1971), Youth Championship in
Skydiving for Women (1956), Tito Visiting Novi Sad
Fair (1963), while “Fruška Gora Society” produced
the first colour film in the region (1935), which was
premiered during the exhibition. The Academy of
Arts Novi Sad was included as an important centre
for video art, which was represented with works by
collective Apsolutno, Bogdanka Poznanović, Dragan
Živančević, Mia Stojanović, Maja Bekan and others.
The thematic sections of the project included
The Pioneers of Film, animated films by Borislav
Šajtinac and Mira Brtka, and films on the New artistic practice and Conceptual art in Vojvidina, showing works by Božidar Mandić and Slavko Matković,
as well as a documentary on the artistic group
Bosch+Bosch. Representation of festival production in Vojvodina was focused on works first shown
at the Yugoslav Festival of Low-budget Films (selection by Stipan Milodanović), which was launched
in Subotica in 1998 and those shown at the festivals
Film Front, Medusa Filmnapok in Subotica (selection by Atila Sirbik) and Videomedeja.
The socialist slogan “Technology to the people”
follows the name of the magazine “Technology to
the people” that had shown the latest innovations
347
in techniques and is based on the process of bringing the culture of new technological and media
culture closer to the working people. The authors
of the exhibition devoted particular attention to
amateurism in film production and focused on film
clubs in Sombor, Ruma, Novi Sad and other towns
in Vojvodina between 1950s and 1980s. This segment of film production was firstly in focus with
the Festival of 8mm Amateur Film in 1954. Among
the works included was the one-minute-long film
I Love You by the group of authors “CVI”. The film
shows, in a flash, the red star, being the symbol of
communist regime, in a series of blank shots, while
the rest of the shots are completely red, in relation to
the colour of love or cardiovascular diseases associated by the name of the group.
Technology to the People presented the project
“Memorabilia: Lost and Found” by Nataša Vujkov,
who is digitalizing film tapes, dia-positives, photographs and postcards found in abandoned objects in
Novi Sad. Apart from that, it included lectures and
discussions, accompanied by projections, on video
production of The Academy of Arts in Novi Sad,
collective Apsolutno, on filmography of “Panfilm”
(1971-1991) and included some evenings dedicated
to works by individual authors: Predrag Šiđanin,
Karpo Godina Ačimović, Želimir Žilnik, Szabolcs
Tolnai, Marin Malešević and Miloš Pušić. The exhibition also included films by, later deceased,
Nikola Majdak, namely his documentary Pregnant
Earth (Trudna zemlja, 1975) and a documentary on
the film pioneer Ernest Bošnjak, Hollywood on the
Danube (1978). The closing phase of the project will
be an extensive and detailed publication.
Instructions for Authors
We kindly ask authors to submit their manuscripts and other enclosures in electronic form to
the Editorial’s Office e-mail address zkvrazvoj@
nscable.net, prepared in the following way:
1. General Guidelines
Manuscripts should be written in Latin using
font Times New Roman, font size 12, line spacing
1.5, on an A4 paper.
Each manuscript, if deemed as a contribution
to The Intercultural Research, should contain the information about the author of the text: first and last
names, full name and place of the institution where
the author is employed, or a name of the institution
where the author has completed his research (for
more complex organizations a complete hierarchy
is given i.e. University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy – Department of Serbian Literature, Novi
Sad), a title, an abstract in Serbian and English (no
more than 250 words long), key words (no more
than 7 in Serbian as well as in English), the text and
a reference list. The text should not be more than 24
computer pages long, whereas 16 pages is the minimum. If the manuscript is intended for Views (essays, research papers) it should contain an abstract
in Serbian and English (no more than 250 words
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2. References
– The titles of the works should be in italics.
– When cited or referred to in the text, the source
should be given in the following way: in brackets, author’s last name, the year of publication,
colon and page number. But, in the reference
list it should be given with all the information.
– In the reference list, when monographic publication is concerned, the author’s last and first
names, the title of the text in italics, place, publisher and the year of publication are cited. In
the reference list, when serial publication is
concerned, the the author’s last and first names,
the title of the text inside the quotation marks,
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number of book or chapter, (year and full date),
colon followed by the page numbers of the text.
The texts retrieved from the internet are cited in
the following way: monographic publications:
the author’s last and first names, the title in italics, the internet address from which the text was
348
Magazine for stimulation and affirmation of intercultural communication / OCTOBER 2013 / NO. 06
retrieved, the date of access. Periodical publications: the author’s last name, the title of the text
inside the quotation marks, the title of periodical publication in italics, number and date of
publication (if it is not included in the internet
address), the internet address, the date of access.
– In the reference list, bibliographic units should be
written in language and letter in which they have
been published, enlisted in alphabetical order.
– Footnotes are given at the bottom of the page
and are used for additional comments. Continuous numbering is marked with Arabic numerals form 1 further on, followed by the punctuation mark.
– Foreign names and terms undergo transcription
which is adjusted to Serbian language (according to Serbian Orthography), but when a foreign
name or term is mentioned for the first time,
the original form is given in the brackets as well.
When mentioned next time in the text, it should
be consistently and identically transcribed, without mentioning the original form. The exceptions
are latin terms, which are left in the original form.
When foreign phrases are cited, the translation
should be given in corresponding footnote.
349
* Photographs which the authors enclose with
their papers should be sent as high-resolution
photographs in .jpeg or .tiff format with the author’s signature and the year of making.
Note
Papers published in the journal shall not be reprinted neither in parts or as a whole, without the
the publisher’s prior consent. Manuscripts are reviewed and are not given back to the authors.
Structure of the Journal
We ask the authors to adjust their manuscripts to
the thematic and formal structure of the journal, as
well as to specify for which column they are written.
–
scientific research papers from the areas of philosophy, anthropology, sociology, musicology,
theatrology, cultural politics, literature and arts...
pêrspëctîvés – essays, research papers
diãlôgüés – scientific interview
cóõrdínätês – translations, reviews
The journal is issued twice a year (March, October)
CIP - Каталогизација у публикацији
Библиотека Матице српске, Нови Сад
316.72
ÍÑTÈRKÙLTÙRÀLNÒST : časopis za podsticanje i afirmaciju
interkulturalne komunikacije / glavni i odgovorni urednik
Aleksandra Đurić Bosnić. - 2011, br. 1 (mart)- . - Novi
Sad : Zavod za kulturu Vojvodine, 2011-. - Ilustr. ; 30 cm
Dva puta godišnje. - Sa povremenim izd. na CD-ROMu.
ISSN 2217-4893 = Interkulturalnost
COBISS.SR-ID 261430535
350
351
352
Aleksandra Perović

ìñtèrkùltùràlnòst - Zavod za kulturu Vojvodine

Transcription

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