Bookaholic

Ce s-a întâmplat în redacția revistei Charlie Hebdo din Paris este îngrozitor, nedrept, revoltător și pune o oglindă deloc măgulitoare asupra lumii în care trăim. 12 oameni au murit pentru că “au îndrăznit” să glumească pe teme religioase. 12 oameni au murit pentru niște caricaturi. Sună ironic? Nu. Repet – 12 oameni au murit. Pentru niște caricaturi. Ne plac, nu ne plac, asta e cu totul altă discuție și nu intră sub nici o formă într-o argumentare de genul: “și-au căutat-o”. În condițiile în care libertatea de exprimare nu este sau nu ar trebui să fie ceva de negociat. Este sau nu este. Iar literatura are o lungă istorie de “încălcare” a tabu-urilor, au fost enorm de multe cărți cenzurate de-a lungul timpului, acuzate de blasfemie, erezii care au generat discuții, amenințări, pedepse. Tocmai de aceea, am vrut să vedem cum reacționează scriitorii la tragedia de la Paris.

Salman Rushdie

Începem cu Rushdie, firește, mai în măsură ca oricine să vorbească despre blasfemie, ținând cont că Versetele Satanice au generat un scandal imens în lumea musulmană și i-au adus o condamnare din partea ayatolahului Khomeini, lucru ce l-a fpcut pe scriitor să stea ascuns, sub amenințare, o perioadă foarte lungă de timp. Rushdie zice:

“Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.

I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity.

‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion’. Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.”

Ian McEwan

“Murderous and self-sanctifying, radical Islam has become a global attractor for psychopaths. It has never been embarrassed to proclaim its list of hatreds: education, tolerance, plurality, pleasure and, above all, freedom of expression — the freedom that underpins all others. Even more important than the abstractions are the people that jihadists hate and have killed: children, schoolgirls, gays, women, atheists, non-Muslims, and many, many Muslims. To that list we must now add the brave and lively staff of Charlie Hebdo, who hoped to face down hatred with laughter. The slaughter in Paris is a tragedy for the open society. On a dark night for mental freedom, a few fragile points of light: the calm, determined crowds gathered in cities across France; the hope that the general revulsion at these murders might have a unifying effect; the fact that a cult rooted in hate is a frail thing and cannot last; the fact that the psychopaths are vastly outnumbered.” – de aici

Will Self

“Well, when the issue came up of the Danish cartoons [of Muhammad] I observed that the test I apply to something to see whether it truly is satire derives from H. L. Mencken’s definition of good journalism: It should ‘afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.’ The trouble with a lot of so-called ‘satire’ directed against religiously motivated extremists is that it’s not clear who it’s afflicting, or who it’s comforting. This is in no way to condone the shooting of the journalists, which is evil, pure and simple, but our society makes a fetish of ‘the right to free speech’ without ever questioning what sort of responsibilities are implied by this right.” –  de aici

Update: Will Self a scris pe larg aici despre tragedia de la Charlie Hebdo

“Let me be clear: the people responsible for murdering the journalists at the offices of Charlie Hebdoon January 7th were the men who pulled the triggers of the Kalashnikovs aimed at them. Moreover, we’ve no need to reach into our grab-bag of ethical epithets in order to find one that fits these men’s characters; we don’t need to speak of “barbarism”, or a “complete lack of civilised values”, or agonise about how they became radicalised – because we know the answer already – but what we can unequivocally assert is that these men, in those rattling, coughing, cordite-stinking moments, were evil. If by evil is understood this: an egotism that grew like a cancer – a lust for status and power and “significance” which metastasised through these murderers’ brains. The problem for the staunch defenders of Western values is that each and every one of us possesses this capacity for evil – it’s implicit in having an ego at all; so when the demonstrators stood in the Place de la Republiqueholding placards that read “JE SUIS CHARLIE”, they might just as well have held ones reading: “NOUS SOMMES LES TERRORISTES”.”

Pascal Bruckner

Attaquer un journal, c’est attaquer la liberté d’expression. Attaquer un journal, c’est dire aux journalistes que toute critique de l’islam peut entraîner une condamnation à mort. C’est répéter que l’islam est un bloc sacré qui ne doit jamais être remis en question. C’est du jamais-vu depuis le XVIIIe siècle. Le chevalier de La Barre avait été supplicié pour «impiété, blasphèmes, sacrilèges exécrables et abominables» au terme d’un procès inique, mais c’était il y a deux cent cinquante ans! Aujourd’hui, pour signifier leur refus de céder à la peur, je pense que tous les journaux de France devraient reproduire in extenso l’ensemble des dessins de Charlie Hebdo. Acteurs, metteurs en scène, philosophes peuvent être les prochaines victimes.

On a décapité une partie de notre intelligentsia. Nous sommes en guerre depuis des années, mais nous avons manifesté à l’égard de l’islam radical une complaisance coupable. Il sera très intéressant de voir les lignes de partage dans les jours à venir. Gageons que les collabos de tout poil plaideront pour une limitation de la liberté d’expression…

Restul aici

Marjane Satrapi

“7th of January. The most sad day.
This humor that fanatics hate so much.
This sweet subversion is their worst enemy.
They killed laughter with their war weapons.
We are all Charlie from today.” – de aici

Art Spiegelman

In Union Square, January 7, 2015, with JR’s blowup of Cabu’s eyes.- de aici

Neil Gaiman

I stand with Charlie Hebdo. As do I, as, I hope, do you. My thanks to Salman Rushdie for articulating it so well. – de aici

PEN America

Un număr foarte mare de scriitori, membri ai PEN, au semnat un apel care condamnă atacul asupra redacției Charlie Hebdo. Printre ei, Woody Allen, Margaret Atwood, Carl Bernstein, J.M. Coetzee, Lydia Davis, Junot Díaz, E.L. Doctorow, Jennifer Egan, Richard Ford, Neil Gaiman, Malcolm Gladwell, Joyce Carol Oates, Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, Andrew Solomon

“As writers, editors, and artists we stand together today in solidarity and outrage at the murder of our colleagues at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. This attack on cartoonists, writers, and editors is an attack on free expression worldwide. It is an attempt to terrorize and intimidate all of us in order to inhibit the free flow of ideas.

Peaceful coexistence within diverse communities requires a climate of tolerance and an open exchange of views that includes criticism, humor, and hyperbole. The right to satirize, to question, to expose, to mock, even when offensive to some, is a bulwark of a free society. Today’s bloody retribution for the drawing and publishing of cartoons represents a terrifying challenge to these values of tolerance”

Restul aici

International Publishers Association

Murderous attack on French satirical magazine is an attack on publishers’ shared values.

The global publishing community is appalled at today’s brutal attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo, where editor-in-chief Stéphane Charbonnier and cartoonists Jean Cabut, Bernard Verlhac and George Wolinski were among twelve people killed.

Assem Shalaby, President of the Arab Publishers Association condemned “this ‎vicious attack that contravenes the principles of Islam and the message of its prophet.”

“This is a horrible crime committed against humanity, freedom of expression, Islam and Muslims” said Ibrahim El Moallem, Chairman of Dar El Shorouk, the largest Arab book publisher. “It is an attack against civilization.”

Restul aici

Tatiana de Rosney

Can’t find words. Impossible de trouver les mots. – de aici

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