Yes, it’s true – we have to speak about Srebrenica – just as we have to speak about many occurrences in history in order to prevent them from oblivion. Nevertheless, we listen to many speaking about and we read texts of many writing about and we get the impression that remaining silent would have been much better.
Occurrences like the crime of Srebrenica challenge us to find a language long before we start to speak or to write about them. All those who deal only with the question of what should be said in such a context, have already failed, if they don’t deliberate the question as well, how we can and how we should speak about.
To find a human language, which allows us to speak about the inhuman in a way, that the language guides us out from inhumanity – what kind of language might that be? Those who might be able to help us looking for it are the writers – but wasn’t literature as well and quite often in history a useful instrument for inhumanity?
It‘s our obligation to find this language which allows us to speak in a human way about the inhuman. We’ll have to look for those, who can help us with this endeavor.
In the hope to get such assistance the Heinrich-Boell-Foundation invited two guests:
Svetlana Alexijevic, russian-ukrainian-belorussian writer, literary explorer and chronicler of all those phenomena of violence and suffering that accompanied the dissolution of the Soviet Union, starting with Chernobyl to the Afghanistan war, to Chechenia and the entirely “normal” everyday life in a society characterized by violence.
Juan Aranzadi, basque-spanish anthropologist, observer and analyst of the Basque as well as other versions of conflict and violence triggered by nationalism, a researcher of those processes, by which entire societies delude and betray others and themselves about themselves – processes which always come about through language, and which can only be understood, if we succeed to find a different discourse.
The Heinrich Boell Foundation cordially invites you to join us in this quest on
July 15th, 2010 in the Center for Cultural Decontamination at 8 o’clock
in our discussion with
Swetlana Alkeksijewitsch, Svetlana Slapsak and Dejan Ilic
And
July 20th, 2010 in the Center for Cultural Decontamination at 8 o’clock
In  our discussion with
Juan Aranzadi, Irena Ristic and Obrad Savic