Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 13.09.2007

Regina Mönch reports on the case of Bulgarian art historian Martina Baleva, who has come under fire from Bulgarian nationalists (background here). Her research findings indicate that in the 1876 Batak massacre, Ottoman troops slaughtered primarily defenceless women and children, and that there was no heroic insurgency against the oppressors. Her opponents "launched an Internet appeal to have her impaled, offering first 500, now 2,500 euros for her current address in Germany. Furthermore they assaulted her parents with running cameras and organised a mob to destroy Bosch appliances in central Sofia. The Robert Bosch Foundation is one of the young researcher's funders. Martina Baleva has received death threats by email, the boulevard press has unleashed a hate campaign, citizens of Batak are said to have called for her expatriation, and the director of the National Historical Museum has threatened her with legal proceedings for denying the 'Bulgarian Holocaust'."


Die Tageszeitung, 13.09.2007

Ekkehard Knörer discovers an absolutely disenchanted world in Christian Petzold's film "Yella", which hits the screens in Germany today. "The decisive question that has been asked nowhere so clearly as by Christian Petzold is: what forms of existence replace rootedness and home and how do we represent these new forms in cinematic images? In the cinematic context, one can't answer these questions without making reference to Michelangelo Antonioni, who made the dissociation of character and space the centre of his cinematic aesthetic in almost euphoric modernist gestures. The puzzle hidden in the rustling of a forest - in short, the thesis of Antonioni's key work 'Blow Up' - has been replaced today nothing at all, no secret to discover, no matter how medially well-equipped one tries to be. No songs sleep in things any more and when leaves rustle, it's late capitalism they're whispering about."

Swiss Islamic reformer Tariq Ramadan talks with Cigdem Akyol and Daniel Bax about his relationship to the constitution and the Sharia, which he calls "applied ethics": "Every kind of law which demands values like justice or equality is part of my Sharia. The German constitution makes no distinction between women or men, or Christians and Muslims. The crucial question is not where these laws arise. If a law serves justice, then it's my law. A German Muslim who ignores the German constitution and yet accepts it nonetheless, does not fulfil his duty as a Muslim." See our portrait of Tariq Ramadan, "Under suspicion."


Die Zeit, 13.09.2007

Thirty years after the death of Maria Callas, literature studies professor Elisabeth Bronfen considers what makes a diva a diva and why today we only have at best popular celebrities. "The smooth, attractive appearance has nothing to do with the diva. Maria Callas' passion was carried by a double force of will: she was determined to overcome all obstacles and she understood the possibility of her own failure. The tenor Jon Vickers described his performance with her at the Scala: during the love duet in 'Medea', Callas missed a high note and some audience members started to boo her. So she turned away from her partner, faced the audience, stretched out her arms and changed the text. To Verdi's music she announced: 'I have sacrificed all and given it to you.' For a moment, the tension was so great that there was not a sound in the entire opera house, and then the audience roared with approval. But the point of the anecdote is in fact the diva's fragility. While the two of them took their bows, Maria Callas whispered to her partner: 'Aren't they terrible, Jon, just terrible?'"


Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 13.09.2007

Mark Zitzmann is sceptical about the future of French cultural policy. In his portrait of the new culture minister Christine Albanel, he doubts whether she can change the trend for purely quantitatively successful events, or if she even wants to. "The much-lauded 'cultural democratisation' can be honoured, but is pulling ever more people into ever more institutions really the sole objective? The number of visitors to the Louvre increased 10.5 percent to 8.35 million from 2005 to 2006, which was officially celebrated as a great success in cultural policy. But what is the benefit to the individual visitor whose toes are trampled blue by crowds swarming the 'Mona Lisa'? Quantitative considerations have long overtaken qualitative ones. Sarkozy's obsession with quantifiable success stories – more media eye-catchers than means to an end – could lend added force to this development."


Die Welt 13.09.2007

Historian Hans-Arthur Marsiske demands more respect for robots, maintaining that they are a mirror image of humans. "In robotics competitions, engineers and IT specialists subject their concepts to a Darwinian struggle in which only the best survive. They consciously reproduce patterns of natural evolution. In today's transition from natural to technological evolution, the result is a situation similar to the early days of life on earth." That the military also has a keen eye on developments comes as no surprise: "In the military, robots basically do the three 'Ds': work that's Dirty, Dull and Dangerous."