Exposing Hidden Racism in Art

​​Just imagine a censorship authority whose members had to remain anonymous for security reasons, being required to study books, articles and the playlists of opera-houses and theatres to check whether their content represents a risk to public order and security.

Just imagine a group of people, or even just individuals, who thought their beliefs and convictions could only be upheld if they reacted violently to publications which they thought might be insulting or provocative, if they persecuted those responsible, and perhaps even murdered them on the open street.

We're not far from such a scenario - there's been at least one such murder, when a young Muslim believed that a film director had insulted his faith.

It's true: there are Islamists who are prepared to use violence and whose ideology exhibits some of the characteristics of fascism. But how should free societies react to such people and the risk they represent?

Defending freedom of thought and democracy

There is no such thing as absolute security. That may be stating the obvious, but it doesn't decrease the fear which is by now so deep that it led to the withdrawal of the Mozart opera Idomeneo from the repertoire of a Berlin opera-house because of the fear of physical attacks.

This phenomenon has proved the catalyst for a debate in which no-one who considers him- or herself a democrat can support the restriction of freedom of thought and freedom of artistic expression.

We have to defend our society and our legal system against Islamists who are prepared to resort to violence. That's an issue over which there is not even any need for a discussion. The opera should be back on the stage as soon as possible.

All the same, the decision to withdraw the opera leads to an interesting question. In the final scene - which, incidentally, was considered by the security authorities to be offensive, not by Islamists - the prophets of various religions are beheaded. Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha, as well as Poseidon - all have to suffer the same indignity.

But it's interesting that one significant founder of a religion is missing from this list. Scarcely anyone has commented on the fact, and that's leads one to be suspicious. Moses, at least on a German stage, cannot be beheaded. But if Moses cannot be beheaded, doesn't that mean that we are already subjecting ourselves to self-censorship and restrictions on our freedom of thought?

Anti-Muslim tendencies in the world of the arts

Just a glance at the history of western art and literature is enough to reveal a long list of antisemitic, anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish sentiment. There are controversial pieces like Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," and clearly antisemitic works like the novels of Gustav Freytag. Even the heroes of the German novel, Theodor Fontane and Thomas Mann, have had to undergo critical examination.

But neither the men and women of violence nor the self-appointed defenders of the faith are worried about the problematical works of such writers. That's left up to academics. There has been plenty of useful research raising the issue and exposing examples of racist and antisemitic tendencies in works of art. Similar research must be built up dealing with anti-Muslim tendencies.

Such research already exists, if only in its early stages. But these tentative beginnings are completely overwhelmed by a mindset on the Muslim side which is ill-considered, shrill and potentially violent, and ready to protest at a moment's notice. Such Muslims seem to be happy sulking in what has turned out for them to be a comfortable corner, but their readiness to feel insulted has led to "insult fatigue" in Western public opinion.

Intellectual disarmament

Freedom of thought is the backbone of every democratic society. But freedom of thought is not an insurance against racist ideology, resentment and distortions. In this world which is flooded with images, the images in our minds are like a cache of arms which are no less dangerous than weapons in the barracks. How can we achieve disarmament?

Intellectual disarmament is much more complex that military disarmament. Weapons can be destroyed. Images and words remain for ever. They can't be removed from books and are hard to wipe from minds.

These are issues which are scarcely considered in the current conflict over cultural sensitivity. That leads to the suspicion that the primitive reactions of Muslims to provocations and their simpleminded playing out of their feelings of resentments are welcomed by western society as a welcome way of letting it off the hook. That way, western society does not have to deal with its own exclusivist and defamatory cultural tradition.

That tradition is an old tradition of stigmatising that which is different. It assumes a lack of willingness to deal with the stranger seriously and self-critically. Instead, ever more frequently, conventional caricatures are developed, clichés which are not only insulting but which also provide the distorted pictures which form the basis for racist and culturalist ways of thought.

Zafer Şenocak

© Qantara.de 2006

Translation from the German by Michael Lawton

Qantara.de

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