Eh… nothing to do. If there is a call that the Italian intellectual cannot resist, especially without having been called, it is the call to sign appeals and manifestos. The history of the country’s intelligentsia – with names, surnames and responsibilities – is signed at the bottom of the long list of accusations that dot political protest, yesterday and today. The names change – often not even those – but the meaning is the same: they want to save the whole of society from what only they don’t like. They never succeed, they usually cause damage (see the poster against Commissioner Calabresi) but they always get their fifteen minutes of success. Yesterday around forty writers among the over one hundred invited to represent Italy at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, enticed by Paolo Giordano, who isn’t even going (didn’t he have judo?), wrote a letter to the director of the Buchmesse and to the president of the Italian Publishers Association, saying they are worried about how Italy is managing the event and denouncing the “suffocating interference of politics” – naturally it is the right-wing government – on culture. And to think that one of the most important German publishers – Susanne Schüssler, head of Wagenbach – was surprised that more than half of the writers included in the Italian delegation at the Frankfurt Fair were left-wing and that therefore «the selection does not at all reflect a country that has voted above all for the right.” And this would be enough to end the controversy and make the “rioters” blush. Among which prevails the desire to be accredited, the herd instinct, wanting to be part of the community of writers and perhaps even (it has happened) first begging to be invited and then signing the appeal. But – here’s the question – what will the signatories of the open letter do now? Hypothesis number one: they accept the Italian government’s invitation to go to Frankfurt – with flights, hotels, taxis and meals paid for – and participate in the scheduled events; but in the meantime they also claim a space for discussion with their German colleagues to reflect, in a sort of counter-program, on how disgusting the Italian government is that brought them there. Hypothesis number two: they decline the invitation and go to Frankfurt on their own to say how illiberal the Italian government is, and that’s fine; but who pays? The Italian publishers association that works with the government? Or the Buchmesse (which is also difficult), creating an institutional incident? But then, beyond everything, another question remains.
Why must a writer always feel part of a faction, be aligned with the government out of convenience or be against it out of principle? Can’t he simply accept an invitation and attend the event for himself, proud to represent his country and not necessarily the government (hats off to Marina Valensise) or a party? There’s no need to even call ourselves “patriots”, for goodness sake. But simply “Italians”.
2024-06-25 06:55:02
#biased #intellectuals #Italians
