Freedom of the Press -- Slovenian Style
- From: Vlado2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:47:14 -0800 (PST)
Attuned
Biserka Karneža Cerjak, Ljubljana Weekly MAG, No.53, 2007
In the year when Drago Jančar received the European award for
literature he asked himself if he must just because he thinks and
writes differently endure every brutality and heaps of insults and
decided to cease writing his Saturday Reflections. His departure from
the pages of the journal where he from time to time dared write
something against the mainstream that flows through the papers and
media channels was undoubtedly greeted with joy by all who questioned
why he was included in the committee for Trubar's celebration and the
crowd of those who prattled at Jančar's expense in those letters to
the editor that were allowed in print.
At the immense monotony and predictability the breathing space for
Jančar and all of us who share his views and want to understand the
whole of an article and its message even though we may not agree with
it. Unfortunately, with the new policy in place, this will no longer
be possible as because of the brutal responses because of "defamation
and pushing around as if one were some kind of a village idiot" one of
the last freethinking writing talents is leaving the printed media.
When did the plot begin to thicken? When were unlocked the door
through which poured in the crowd of the properly attuned as Aleš Čar
put it as he rejoiced over the announced silencing of Jančar? The
break occurred at the publication of the writer's reflections under
the title "A very obvious cow" in which he tried to use the example of
his serially published booklets to show the readers the difference
between democracy and dictatorship. As Jančar wrote, he was
particularly impressed by the booklet with which the Slovenians are
introducing themselves to young Europeans in a rather unique way. In
that booklet the hero is Josip Broz, alias Tito, the first president-
for-life of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who had been supposedly
because of rebelling against the authorities imprisoned before World
War II and who supposedly during the war conducted resistance against
the occupying forces. To this man sporting a cigar [undoubtedly of
Cuban manufacture] and a ring the booklet is devoted an entire chapter
in the booklet where by happenstance some space was found even for
France Prešern [Slovenia's greatest poet, 1800--1849] and Austrian
Empress Maria Theresa. And it was for lack of space that no mention
could be made for the protagonists of the Slovenian independence much
less about the Slovenian democracy. Jančar pointed out that we have
introduced ourselves to Europe as a country of communist continuity
while the rest of Europeans who used to live behind the iron curtain
decided to break with the communist past. [There is some quastion
about that, too.] All the way from the Estonian Tallinn, from where a
throng of two million at the time of the dismantling of the Berlin
wall had woven no less than six hundred kilometers long living chain
all the way through the capital of Lithuania, across Poland,
Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the main achievement is considered to be a
democratic government with an elected parliament and president. A
clear cut line has been drawn between democracy and communism. The
word democracy is even found in the booklet with which Latvia is
introducing itself to Europe. And precisely because of that--because
Drago Jančar dared to expose the Slovenian twisting of the truth, its
lie, he risked to be kicked and spat upon as a rabid dog in the land
of attuned thinking. From now on he will be silent so that the throng
of identically thinking can be heard. In tune.
.
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