Culture has the potential to keep the idea of Europe alive. Democratic societies need to spend more on this culture and protect it with the same vehemence as when artists and journalists are attacked by dictators.
We are emerging from a phase in which creative artists wanted to retreat – after all, who wanted to take on the role of Günter Grass? Art and culture should be cleanly depoliticised, consist only of narrative, offer an alternative world, not be too concerned with the nitty-gritty of everyday life or even the grubbiness of politics. It mustn’t take sides; otherwise it’s not good art. But the last few years have shown that culture can indeed be an alternative world, but only in this world. Or to quote Woody Allen: ‘I hate reality but it’s still the best place to get a good steak.’
Creative artists are back to defend their place in society. Because there is one thing that dictators make clear: culture and art, as they understand it and create it, is not possible without freedom and the universal rights of the individual. Culture is not a conservation area where creative artists are protected from the world around them. When writers, artists and journalists all over the world have to pay for their work with their freedom, then it becomes clear that an unfree society will not tolerate free theatre. It will not tolerate ‘immoral’ novels.
The intellect is not there to batter people with worst-case scenarios.
An unfree society will not tolerate the freedom to express an opinion. And this restriction of freedom will not only be about expressing opinions, but about freedom of expression as a whole.
The events of recent years, the idea that this Europe is fragile, have reminded many creative artists that they do not live in a bubble, but that they are connected to the society around them, and their lives are not bound by a concert hall or house of literature. Creative artists are once again citizens. You write a sentence differently when you know that in another country, not far away, an author such as Asli Erdogan is paying with her freedom for doing precisely that.
Liberal Values Under Fire
Liberal values are under fire all over the world and today's creative artists are reminded that there have been times when books were burned, films banned, and artists were forced to go into exile if they wanted to survive.
Culture holds Europe together. By defending freedom as a value, we are defending Europe. But the fact that we are living in difficult times means we must ensure that culture does not become a hostage, that it is not detained in order to do what political debate should do, simply using artistic methods. Art must have the freedom to be more than an assignment. It must have this freedom in order to be a child of hope. Freedom – this can also be the breath triggered by a poem, because it offers our vulnerability a home in a single verse. A home for words that goes beyond citizenship. Freedom of expression, such as the freedom to express oneself artistically, is a fundamental pillar of the basic democratic order.
Creative artists are also citizens. They may think they are also global citizens, but this great concept is a utopia, perhaps an opportunity for tomorrow. But today we see that someone who holds the wrong passport might have it in their head that they are global citizens, but they will be put in prison with this head on their shoulders – as was the case for German/ Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel.
'The right to say and print what we think is every free man’s right, which could not be taken away from him without exercising the most repulsive tyranny', illustration: CDD20 via pixabay.
The idea of ‘global citizen’ must not be a euphemism for restricting the many in favour of the privileges of the few. Even today, anyone who calls themselves a global citizen cannot gloss over their privileges. Anyone who has experienced freedom as such will feel a responsibility to defend it. Nowadays many people are experiencing the dilemma that this freedom is being used to defend anti-democratic arguments.
A fight against minorities rather than a fight for the rights of minorities, as contained in German Basic Law. These opinions are also being aired by citizens. To quote Voltaire: ‘The right to say and print what we think is every free man’s right, which could not be taken away from him without exercising the most repulsive tyranny. This prerogative comes from the ground up; and it would be disgusting if those with sovereignty were not allowed to express their views in writing.’
This also applies to those whose opinion is currently seen as anti-European or nationalistic. It is up to us to listen to this opinion, to give it its place, but to fight for that Europe of unity in diversity. It is up to us to create the conditions for co-existence that make our arguments convincing. Walled-off elitism is no more of an answer to these questions than the anti-elitism that is becoming so widespread.
The hope that Europe can provide is its history. That precious store of historical knowledge, failures and successes – that is what European history has to offer. It is this history that binds us together. It needs to be a narrative that is accessible to all, a narrative that tells us about this European identity and that makes this knowledge available to every single person. At this point I would like to recommend a significant book: Europe – The Struggle for Supremacy by Irish historian Brendan Simms, a professor at Cambridge University. It is a book that tells the story of Europe from 1453 to the present day.
Culture is not a conservation area where creative artists are protected from the world around them. When writers, artists and journalists all over the world have to pay for their work with their freedom, then it becomes clear that an unfree society will not tolerate free theatre.
It is a tale of centuries of power struggles. A tale of countless naval battles, kingdoms, religious wars, principalities, a tale of pacts and alliances. All these centuries make up our collective past – but unfortunately not always our collective knowledge. If there is anything that creative artists can do, then surely it is to breathe new life into this knowledge: What was it like to live in times of conflict? How many wars were there and how were they waged? If politicians now believe that a new generation is growing up who are more interested in free mobile roaming than in the European peace project, then free roaming cannot be touted as the answer, it has to start with education.
Dominance and Arrogance
In Europe, the concept of a world order was defined, decided on and implemented after 1500. It was a world order that made it possible for Europeans to conquer and exploit the rest of the world. It is also part of Europe's culture to be aware of the pride that we Europeans have flaunted for centuries. It is part of Europe’s identity to know which cultures, ethnic groups and regions were the rulers and which the servants. Europe dominated the world from the 15th century onwards. Europe was the gravitational focus of colonisation. Even then, Europe was creative enough to buy itself free in terms of morality.
In 1550-1551 Charles V convened theologians in Valladolid for the Valladolid debate. Even then, it was about who were the barbarians and who the superior peoples. They made theological arguments for slavery and the exploitation of native Americans. Historical responsibility is a value that Europe has to capitalise on – long before the last two world.
Education and democracy are also European values. In 2017, when we talk about Europe and culture, then we mustn’t forget the invention of mobile printing. The fact that access to education was democratised is part of European culture. Stepping out of the Middle Ages was linked to stepping out of an elitist circle of clerics and rulers who kept knowledge for themselves. The invention of printing meant that the discoveries of explorers were made accessible to more and more people. They rediscovered antiquity, their own roots, and suddenly created more space for reason and questioned the established institutions.
New Ways of Thinking
Martin Luther not only nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Schlosskirche Wittenberg, but he also opened the door to new ways of thinking for the whole of Europe. This new way of thinking gave the individual a new place in the world order – now man could talk directly to God. Individuals were elevated above institutions, and the individual conscience was suddenly the key focus.
This is also the task of creative artists – to open up new ways of thinking. But Luther’s theses led to wars. That is also Europe’s culture. New world orders are linked to wars. It is only by remembering these developments and the recurring phenomena of history that we can truly appreciate the European Union’s value as a peace project.
The history of Europe is a battle for progress – the brilliance with which it has been pursued and the downside. Conveying these experiences, passing them on to the next generations of Europeans, as content that has been thought through critically and not as myths, is an opportunity for creative artists and their institutions.
With his 95 theses, Martin Luther opened the door to new ways of thinking for the whole of Europe that gave the individual a new place in the world order, illustration: CDD20 via pixabay.
European Mosaic
This Europe is a mosaic, a puzzle made up of autonomous provinces, independence movements and constantly changing alliances. Only those who understand this diversity can understand Europe. This diversity has always been a challenge, but it is also the reason for the rapid development of this continent. Europe is a string of extraordinary attempts to seek political balance; a string of failed empires, including the Second World War and the consequences of the Third Reich, which had a critical effect on creating today’s social order.
Europe is a mosaic, a puzzle made up of autonomous provinces, independence movements and constantly changing alliances. Only those who understand this diversity can understand Europe, illustration: CDD20 via pixabay.
The social foundation, Article 1 of Germany’s Basic Law, came out of the fact that we could no longer be sure that human dignity is inviolable. Our lives are based on this written principle because we are aware of the fact that humanity can be lost. And that it must be fought for.
When we listen to historians and diplomats, it soon becomes clear that Europe has always had to bring together many different princes, leaders and provinces under one roof, and that every era has seen extraordinary attempts to seek agreement and majorities. Europe's discursive character is old. While the Chinese emperors, for example, were absolute rulers over their territories, European emperors always had to pursue a more balanced way of ruling. They were indeed the rulers, but individual provinces had to be brought on board, to coin a modern phrase. We also tend to forget that this Europe of ours has always been a Europe of negotiation, with whatever more or less brutal means it has at its disposal. The last time that Europe did not follow this path, a totalitarian ruler dragged it into a war that destroyed the continent. After the Second World War, partly as a result of the horror of the Holocaust, a peace project was launched that sought diplomatic and bureaucratic channels for this negotiation.
Within the framework of the European Union, this peace project was to provide Europe with a format for this negotiation – initially at an economic level. Unfortunately this format has become distorted. Instead of promoting more cultural cohesion over the years, it has continued to rely on closer economic cooperation. Citizens and experts see a democratic deficit in this European Union, and a sense of mistrust has arisen, particularly with regard to who are actually the beneficiaries of this project. It is this European Union as it is currently operating that is viewed as one of the reasons why European unity and mutual understanding is at risk.
The history of Europe is a battle for progress – the brilliance with which it has been pursued and the downside. Conveying these experiences, passing them on to the next generations of Europeans, as content that has been thought through critically and not as myths, is an opportunity for creative artists and their institutions.
It is the responsibility of the citizens of Europe to remember that the European Union must serve peace on this continent and not the interests of the few. The European Union must not give the impression that it is a self-service shop for bureaucratic and neo-liberal forces; it must not be the springboard for right-wing populists, nor is it the defender of Europe’s fortress who rides roughshod over the rights of minorities for the nation states. On the contrary, it should be a platform that enables individual countries to jointly implement and defend Europe's values.
An existential value for Europe is also the power of ideas, the power of words, the power of enlightenment. An exemplary value for Europe is remembering and dealing with past mistakes. Europe's values are the sum of the lessons learned from the historical mistakes that this Europe has made. Those who do not want to learn these lessons will take Europe backwards rather than forwards. It is up to us whether we repeat history or learn from it.
Power of Ideas
Freedom, equality, fraternity – these are ideas that creative artists have brought to society. These are ideas that have given people a new place in the world order and turned citizens into sovereigns. We have returned to a time when culture cannot hide away, because it will be found and will wake up in a bad mood if allowed to sleep too long.
There is a great deal of debate about what politics can do, and what the media can do. But what about what creative artists can do? I would like to expand on this question by asking who creative artists are. Creative artists are citizens – and citizens are creative artists. We all create culture. There is no-one who is not also a creative artist through their everyday, private activities or work in the public sphere. Parents create culture when they exemplify or introduce values to their children.
Politicians shape political culture with their words and agendas. The media creates a culture of debate through its reporting. However, the media also shapes a culture of attention, meaning that they play a major role in what grabs people’s attention, what they consider important and what not. I would even go so far as to say that the media is part of shaping people’s view of the world – but they always show an extract of it. Media culture is also always about selecting and presenting reality – so it is a culture of responsibility.
If culture can do anything, then it is to make the idea of Europe tangible, to keep the ideas alive, illustration: CDD20 via pixabay.
The Risks of An Attention Economy
Responsibility is a value that has difficulties in times of quotas and figures, which are supposed to bring profits. In a world of economic superlatives, where supposedly only the maximum wins. When media and politics are cumulative and make polarisation the object of their culture, this polarisation spills over to the public. The media are not only representatives, but are themselves players. It was Donald Trump who said he would never have won the election without the US media because of all the free advertising he received for his agenda – which he would never have been able to pay for. He won in spite of his derogatory comments about women and his disdain for human dignity, because attention has become a value in itself.
Anyone who can attract so much attention, so many clicks, will win. The emperor’s new clothes is a fairy tale that would no longer work these days. If the emperor rode naked through the streets and the child cried ‘But the emperor is naked!’ – people would say: So what, he’s the emperor, and look away. Culture and cultural education can oppose this cheap attention economy. This brash machinery of attention is also the tool of the right. The rapid rise of the AfD can only be explained by the excessive attention it received. Culture has also produced the appropriate phrase here: ‘Wrong I was in calling spirits, I avow, for I find them galling!’
New Trojan Horse
If culture in the classical sense, i.e. creative artists, can bring something valuable, then it is the memory of a society in which the struggle for attention and the determination of profits were not the focus of the community. If culture can do anything, then it is to make the idea of Europe tangible, to keep the ideas alive. But culture would not be culture if it were only about conserving. Culture is also an adventure, the search for the unknown, taking risks.
After the darkness of the 20th century, this continent has been seeking new ways of doing politics. We wanted to leave war and conflict behind us. Nevertheless, the myth of the struggle for civil rights and democracy is a central part of the history of Europe. Many people have left this myth to the right – but European history cannot be left to those who, in a Trojan horse that pretends to be democratic, are seeking to enter parliaments and tear down the pillars of this democracy from within.
If culture in the classical sense, i.e. creative artists, can bring something valuable, then it is the memory of a society in which the struggle for attention and the determination of profits were not the focus of the community.
Europe is the cradle of democracy and democracy protects individuals and their freedoms. A democracy is only as strong as its ability to protect its weakest. This applies to dealing with individuals, dealing with European nations and how Europe presents itself to the world. Democracy is strongest when this sense of justice has been transferred to the feelings of democrats, when it is internalised by as many people as possible and not just quoted. It is internalised by the cultural experience of living together. Enlightened humanism is the cultural heritage of Europe, enlightened about its own shadows in order to learn how to bring the world from darkness into the light.
About the Author
Jagoda Marinić
Author, Playwright and Journalist
Jagoda Marinić is a German/Croatian author, playwright and journalist. In Germany she is a regular contributor to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, taz, and Deutsche Welle, and internationally to the New York Times. She is the founding director of the Intercultural Centre Heidelberg. Together with other activists, she launched the Democracy Plus initiative in 2015. It works to combat citizens’ growing mistrust of political parties and seeks to encourage people to get involved.
Culture Report Progress Europe
Culture has a strategic role to play in the process of European unification. What about cultural relations within Europe? How can cultural policy contribute to a European identity? In the Culture Report Progress Europe, international authors seek answers to these questions. Since 2021, the Culture Report is published exclusively online.
