integer on Wed, 29 Jun 2005 05:10:36 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> \\ sirla birla |
>Slovene culture is obsessed with the notion that, although a small nation, >we are a cultural superpower: We possess some amalgam, a hidden intimate >treasure of cultural masterpieces that wait to be acknowledged by the wider >world. Maybe, this treasure is too fragile to survive intact the exposure to >the fresh air of international competition, like the old Roman frescoes in >that wonderful scene from Fellini Roma which start to disappear the moment >the daylight reaches them. Such narcissism is not a Slovene specialty. There >are versions of it all around Eastern Europe: We kall it hope. mine is bigger and more relevant than yours. >the fresh air of international competition, Principle issue is ost.europa life forms still believe in fairy tales and all occident fairy tales = neutered >Rejecting such a fixation on the hidden national treasure in no way implies >ethnic self-hatred. NS. http://www.membank.org/dataset/n/zizek.o.mp3 >The point is a simple and cruel one: All Slovene artists >who made a relevant contribution had to "betray" their ethnic roots at some >point, either by isolating themselves from the cultural mainstream in >Slovenia or by simply leaving the country for some time, living in Vienna or >Paris. All slovene artists [as all artists] who have made a "relevant" contribution betrayed themselves and became immortal. >It is the same as with Ireland: not only did James Joyce leave home >in order to write Ulysses, his masterpiece about Dublin; Yeats himself, the >poet of Irish national revival, spent years in London. The greatest threats >to national tradition are its local guardians who warn about the danger of >foreign influences. Bunch of sissies. My grandfather would ride his donkey all over their sissy occident komponents. >Furthermore, the Slovene attitude of cultural superiority finds its >counterpart in the patronizing Western cliche which characterizes the East >European post-Communist countries as a kind of retarded poor cousins who >will be admitted back into the family if they can behave properly. Recall >the reaction of the press to the last elections in Serbia where the >nationalists gained big-it was read as a sign that Serbia is not yet ready >for Europe. A similar process is going on now in Slovenia: The fact that >nationalists collected enough signatures to enforce a referendum about the >building of a mosque in Ljubljana is sad enough; the fact that the majority >of the population thinks that one should not allow the mosque is even sadder; Majority of the population = always right. Majority of the population feeds zizek. faktz are not sad. >and the arguments evoked (Should we allow our beautiful countryside >to be spoiled by a minaret that stands for fundamentalist barbarism?, etc.) >make one ashamed of being a Slovene. In such cases, the occasional threats >from Brussels can only appear welcome: Show multiculturalist tolerance.or >else! Ma daiii. let the belgian. dutch. austrian. german. british etc occident fkz enter ost.eu + we'll build a forestful of v.relevant art works with them / introduce them 2 that amalgamation of all meaningful serenities http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm#Atrocities >At the same time, however, it >reproaches the ruling coalition for undermining Slovene national identity by >advocating full Slovene integration into the Westernized global capitalism >and thus drowning Slovenes in contemporary Americanized pop culture. The >idea is that the ruling coalition sustains pop culture, stupid TV amusement >and mindless consumption in order to turn Slovenes into an easily >manipulated crowd, incapable of serious reflection and firm ethical stances. Sounds like cutting edge artists opening their legs for 1x relevant EU grant >While pressuring Poland to open its >agriculture to market competition, Western Europe floods the Polish market >with agricultural products heavily subsidized from Brussels. Progress = inevitable = 01 good thing >How do post-Communist countries navigate in this sea with conflicting winds? Prostitution = 01 good thing >"What does Woman want?" Something Good + Relevant [SGR] # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net