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Anosognosia

Hoi Polloi (1935 film)
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It means “you don’t know what you don’t know” and it is a perfect starting point to elaborate on the discussion provoked by my last article on the Indy (Nolens Volens). It turns out that I dared criticise the uncriticiseable and that barring a few more moderate reactions the gist of most comments would be “non sparare sulla croce rossa”. Let us see what sparked off the anger at my criticism and why – as Matt put it – both sides could be saying the same things in different ways.

1. J’accuse never condoned censorship

Let’s get this out of the way. It should by now be very clear that the line taken by this blogger on the current state of affairs regarding freedom of expression and, more particularly, the laws on censorship is one that stands firmly on the side of those who believe that our country is going through one hell of an anachronistic phase. The Stitching judgement and the inability of politicians to legislate clearly in areas where the law seems to leave a lacuna have been criticised extensively in the our writings. I canot understand why I even have to explain that part of the equation. In case it is not clear my personal position on censorship is that if it has to exist it should be in the form of classification and never in the form of outright banning.

Incidentally I also have gone on record confirming the right of extremists to express their sick (sic) ideas in public. The content of the rhetoric must be countered, if needs be, with more rhetoric and not with gagging. Criminal law would do the rest of the job: e.g. you can express your hatred of other races as much as you like (stupid, ignorant and neanderthal as you may sound) but once you incite people to violence then don’t hide behind the “freedom of expression” the moment the prison door shuts behind you. Ugly racist bigots exist. We need to be shocked with the truth not to be protected from it.

2. The hoi polloi, the spoudaios and the average man in the street

DF repeated in so many words what I have touched upon already. Xarabank is successful, village feasts and their petards still top popularity lists and Lou Bondi is considered to be an excellent investigative journalist. It should come as no surprise then that when a law court such as the First Hall Civil Court examines how the man in the street could be affected by watching a performance of Stitching it “gets it all wrong”. Let me stick my neck out again and risk being called an intellectual snob – is the law unjustified in protecting the current standard of education (for want of a better word)? If the judge sitting on a bench is to examine how the average man in the street would interpret Stitching is he to be blamed if he sees the average man as taking a dramatic metaphor literally? Is the board of censors?

Chris  hit the nail on the head from a more practical perspective:

If I may (as usual) see it from the book publishing perspective: what do you expect of a country where arguably the best piece of Maltese literature written in recent years sells a maximum of 1,000 copies, in so doing practically reaching market saturation? I mean, surely the easiest, most hassle-free, Pontius Pilate way of ’supporting creativity’ in Malta would be to spend Eur10- and buy a copy of an amazing book. If less than 1,000 ppl bothered to do even that (and that’s including the assorted freebies, competition prizes, and purchases ‘tal-obbligu’ by extended families and ex-girlfriends), do you expect a 1,000 ppl to bother to turn up for a march? Or, in your desideratum, participate in some massive display of subversiveness?

Are we intellectual snobs, or as I like to call ourselves “wankellectuals” (constantly amused by mental masturbation – incidentally I have a PC term for the ladies among you – “cliterati”), when we decide that +/- 1,000 people is the maximum threshold of intelligentsia? Where does all this take us?

3. Artists of the Country Disaggregate!

The assaults on the freedom of expression have exposed, once again, a serious lacuna in this country. We are in the process of discovering Maltese “anosognosia”. We are learning about how much we do not know and how far we are from knowing. Raphael may rant all he likes about his pet pickle with students “who only protest when their pocket is hurt” (was not that a big indicator of pleasures yet to come 15 years ago?) and about how unfair of me it is to shoot on the Red Cross (not in so many words) because a bunch of University students got their chance to traipse up Republic Street with a megaphone and a coffin. Sure there is nothing wrong in this graffiti-ist reaction. I thought the same way when I convinced fellow SDM members to join Graffitti on a protest against the visit of Li Peng in Malta (I wish I could find a photo of the 20+ students who turned up to be kicked away by the police). Would I be too patronising if I said “now, now of course it makes an impact – if anything it gives MaltaToday an excuse of something to record on video” ?

That was not my point though was it? I could easily be drawn into a list of comparisons as to what makes an impact and what does not. Apparently very little does make an impact outside the formations of the PLPN power circle and unfortunately making a splash within those circles requires the big “V” word : Votes. So was I too harsh when I said that the protesters are molly-cuddled (sic) into a way of protesting/complaining that is in full conformity with the state of how things are run? Of course I was. Purposely so.

On the other hand, I’m sorry if I missed the graffito about the pope (darn) but if that is our answer to Banksy then something must be missing somewhere. We need a counterculture that gives the upcoming youth (who are still more worried about their stipend than whether they use it to buy tickets to Shakespeare at the Argotti) an alternative way of expressing their preference. Before we take the coffin to Valletta and blame the judge for showing us (mistakenly, in our way of thinking) that our society still believes that it needs to be “protected” from new ideas (sad really to describe them as new) why don’t we explore what is keeping the droves firmly stuck to Xarabank and believing in the Gospel of Bondiplus and away from the ideas behind Realtà and Stitching.

This is a country where people would presumably be shocked by a moral play bringing into question issues such as the holocaust but where 87% of respondents on an online poll would send immigrants back to Human Right Haven Libya on a boat.

4. Apologia

To conclude, I see your points – Raphael, Chris, DF, Danny, Matt and the silent ones (sono veggente) – but I stand by the points I made. Questions are being asked of our society and I believe that all parts – including the artists and wankellectuals – need to be preparing a strong case for their future role in society. Carrying coffins into Valletta may be alright for the PR (and for the footage) but it does nothing to challenge the equation.

P.S. Spare me the bullshit of “komdu int il-Lussemburgu”. I don’t know why I bother answering it but in any case before you even think it, just think – for one second – that if that statement were really true why the hell would I be bothering AT ALL?

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25 replies on “Anosognosia”

Jacques, the bullshit of “komdu int il-Lussemburgu/Bxl/Londra/eċċ” comes from the exasperation of ppl not living in the country having, out of necessity I presume, to approximate what it feels to be surrounded by all this. Of course ppl living abroad have an opinion and are as free to express it as the next person, but believe me not actually living here day in day out does alter your perspective.

Even more, the operative phrase here would be not so much “living here day in day out” but “making a living out of the, ahem, creative industries, day in day out”. We don’t have the luxury of arguing what should be done as a more effective alternative to the coffin-bearing procession (incidentally I agree it wasn’t perhaps the most effective of displays – if for nothing else for the totally cynical reason that the miserable turnout was to be expected), because we need to find a way of keeping the ‘creative’ boat from sinking if only, cynically and capitalist-ically (? ok am making up words here …), to have some sort of market to sell our products into.

For crying out loud, most ‘expats’ live in Brussels – a city where the police raided a bishops’ conference, sequestered their mobiles and held them confined to premises for hours while they searched their offices … Can you I-M-A-G-I-N-E anything remotely like that happening in Malta? So no, I insist those of you living abroad can not appreciate fully the disaster of having to make a living out of the so-called creative industries in a country where creativity means karru tal-karnival and żifna Maltija bl-għonnella (whatever that dance is called – no I can’t be bothered to google it).

Sorry hope this isn’t a bit OTT but I’ve had this argument such countless times (as have you, no doubt) that it gets to arrghh proportions ;)

I’m sorry we have to waste time discussing whether a perspetive from brussels/luxembourg/lithuania is more effective or not and will not go any further on the subject myself.

On the other hand i like your reference to the “creative industry” and I would really love to see your take on Chapter 9 of this document: http://www.finance.gov.mt/image.aspx?site=MFIN&ref=2011_Pre%20Budget%20Doc%202010
if you have a moment. If you like it could take the form of a Zolabyte on J’accuse.

It is a very different perspective, Jacques, no doubt about it, and shying away from discussing it won’t resolve it. But whatever …

Yes I’ve read the Pre-Budget Document but as I’m part of the Creative Industries Working Group for the Media sector, revolving around that same Pre-Budget Document, it wouldn’t be correct to comment on it until it’s finalised.

CIWG for government or for the private industry? Isn’t discussing the document the whole point of the document itself?

As for the perspective – thinking different does not mean thinking wrong.

oops, typo, I meant “correct for ME to comment” … obviously it’s there for everyone else to comment, lol

@Chris

For crying out loud, most ‘expats’ live in Brussels – a city where the police raided a bishops’ conference, sequestered their mobiles and held them confined to premises for hours while they searched their offices … Can you I-M-A-G-I-N-E anything remotely like that happening in Malta?

Neither, for that matter, in any other country where sensibility and rule of law prevails.

It wouldn’t happen in Malta only because it’s bishops you are talking about. If it were an atheists’ convention, it would be a very believable scenario. (note: Hopefully we will be able to test this hypothesis at one point over the next couple of years…)

this ‘debate’ sounds like a leftist ‘debate’. All the hundred gathered agree on the ills of capitalism (and that would include Winston Churchill no less). Yet when they start coming down on solutions, the gathering ends up with a hundred different solutions each at loggerheads with the next.

Chris talks about making a living out of the arts. Well, in my opinion one can only do that within the mlPN ambit.

A kick-start to genuine artistic endeavor must not have financial sustainability as a prerequisite. It must take root and evolve for its own sake. Banksy lies at the tip of a movement represnting thousands. This summer I visited exhibitions and other artistic expressions organised in cornfields, closed-down monasteries brothels etc in the fair land that is france, all the work of hundreds of anonymous artists.

Remember, not only is Malta the only nation ‘inter alia’ without divorce, it is probably the only nation without a contemporary art gallery…not only is our mediocrity legendary, it is also deliberately designed…

Some salient points there. Street art will arise out of genuine dissatisfaction and political awareness. And eventually, in the right climate, it will be co-opted by the mainstream and turned into the new chic or cool.

More pertinently, here’s a parallel debate from the UK, where arts funding is seeing a change as part of budget cuts.

Absent the above conditions, or even a Saatchi or a Soros or a similar sugar-daddy for the middle classes to feel well-funded in their artistic articulations, we must wait for a genuine angry young thing to do what your French are doing. But without even a modicum of peer support this is unlikely.

Also:

if Malta is seen in isolation, as a thing unto itself, the problem might appear intractable. However, seen in the context of freedom of movement and proximity to Europe, Malta comes to resemble a backward little village, from which the goths, struggling artists, aesthetes and intellectuals flee with great speed, even into the great metropolii, there to practice freely, without fear of censure and with hope of reward. And no, Brussels doesn’t count ;-).

PS the above is meant as a description, rather than a prescription. I have great respect and admiration for those who stay and struggle (as well as those who join the struggle from afar)

seen in the context of freedom of movement and proximity to Europe, Malta comes to resemble a backward little village, from which the goths, struggling artists, aesthetes and intellectuals flee with great speed, even into the great metropolii, there to practice freely, without fear of censure and with hope of reward.

Well put. The organisers of art-in-the-interests-of-the-regime still come to believe that we have a thriving art scene in Malta like we never experienced before. As with many other sectors that make up maltese mediocrity, someone needs to stand up and shout bollocks when such naked statements are make. On a positive note let us find a field somwhere where to sow the seed of free expression…anyone interested?

Brikkuni try to keep things independent, and they’re succeeding so far. But it would be essential for artists to pool their ideas, resources, etc. for things to grow further.

indeed alex, that is why the independents need to find their ‘field’… it can be a cafe’ a village square, there are many independents around, they just need something to gel them together while preserving autonomy and individuality…networking away from Government and organised politics…

Of course I have – Matt posted the link further up. It’s the kind of article that could very well have been prompted by the Civil Court judgment with or without the “protest/march”. Thank God for the Guardian aye… I am sure it’s working wonders with creating an awareness among the maltese voting community. Now that it’s been “mentioned” in the guardian we can all sit back and clap our hands that ART HAS BEEN SAVED! Thanksgod.

For fuck’s sake Raphael… I never said that there is nothing to react to (re censorship) I am just very skeptical about the whole march march bang bang business. You don’t agree… good for you.

P.S. i also regret using graffitti as example – should call it astridvellism to drive the point home.

Not to start the whole shebang again, but the problem I identify – and may write about Sunday, though I haven’t decided (so much to choose from, etc) – is that there seems to be a new element which is hastening the general regression in Malta.

It is an encroaching wall of cynical discouragement, which depicts as intrinsically futile any attempt to resist the genral direction of the flow.

There’s no need to get all defensive, mind you. You are hardly the only example – Mark anthony Falzon and Ranier Fsadni both spring to mind… and i suppose the same criticism could be levelled at myself.

The trouble is that we – to line myself up with the usual suspects – do not help matters. We hinder. Put simply, people are becoming increasingly conscious of the fear of being defecated upon from above by an army of self-appointed wankellectuals – your neologism, not mine – who always have something terribly clever to say about everything. But clever though it may be… emphasis on the word ‘may’… I can’t see how the wankellectualism of the fight for basic freedoms can actually serve any useful purpose… other than to highlight one’s own cleverness at the expense of the genuine concerns of people who think they’re clever, too (and who therefore feel particularly stung and resentful that their own efforts are nullified by people they think should be on their side.)

On a separate point, this is precisely the sort of thing that plays beautifully into the very classic Nationalist strategy (yes, let’s ruin it all with politics) of portraying any non-conformist as some kind of ‘freak’.

I’m typing with one finger here so I’ll be (thankfully) brief.

1. Cynicism has always been there.
2. I repeat that I believe that there is a big need for a reaction but that the march march bang bang ihas become a useless medium for protest.
3. An artistic counterculture cannot be planned, true, but it needn’t take a bloated wankellectual like myself to point out that if it is not happening naturally then the situation is really really dire.
4. Wankellevtualism has no purpose. It is.
5. Oh the nationalists- anything can be turned to serve their purpose. Opposition is dead and the counterculture is banging coffins in republic street…. Do you blame them for taking advantage?

1. The situation IS really, really dire, whether it’s you who points it out or anybody else.

2. You missed the Pope graffito because it was painted over within a few hours. I interviewed the guy who did it but eventually didn’t run the piece because I couldn’t do so without giving his identity away. (And you remember what happened to karl farrugia…)

3. I don’t blame the nationalists for taking advantage, either… but I do think they’re big enough, tough enough and nasty enough to fight their own battles without any outside wankellectual help.

4. Malta must be easiest place in the world to live out the ‘divide and rule’ maxim. No matter what happens, half the battle is automatically already won.

I thought the same way when I convinced fellow SDM members to join Graffitti on a protest against the visit of Li Peng in Malta (I wish I could find a photo of the 20+ students who turned up to be kicked away by the police).

That protest was organised by KSU in 1995. You see, even before you “fixed” it, KSU was perfectly capable of acting like you’d expect a national students’ union.

Of course it was the fully functioning KSU. How could I have forgotten? Must have been the large number of KSU members on the pavement – although I do have this vague suspicion that once you removed Graffitti from the equation there would have not been much to protest with!Having said that, there’s no doubt that the KSU prior to the reforms attracted its fair share of well intentioned members but the reform/fix would have come about whether I put my meddling fingers into the equation or not.

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