We take this interesting article in La Jornada Semanal . We thank Luis Tovar, deputy managing editor, for permission to publish it over.
Ghosts of Mississippi:
burning of books in Italy
burning of books in Italy
Fabrizio Lorusso For
L to censorship and blacklists shake again to Italy and raised the specter of a latent fascism in certain sectors of society. On 16 January, Raffaele Speranzon, cultural counselor of the province of Venice, who has a track record and militant neo-fascist Freedom Party (PDL ) founded by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi publicly relaunched a proposal for another Berlusconi from a nearby village, Martellago: libraries will ask the city to remove from the shelves of books about sixty Italian and foreign writers. Tiziano Scarpa, Valerio Evangelisti, Wu Ming, Pino Cacucci, Massimo Carlotto, Antonio Moresco, Girolamo de Michele, Daniel Pennac, Lello Voce, Loredana Lipperini, Giuseppe Genna and many more will be censored. Scarpa Venetian novelist defined the initiative as "a practice of dictatorships and absolute monarchs. But why are these writers? According to the promoters of censorship, his guilt is that he signed an appeal. Your membership goes back to 2004, when they signed a statement that encouraged the literary magazine Carmilla against the extradition of Cesare Battisti, who belonged to terrorist training Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC ) in the 1970 and was sentenced to life life in Italy. Among the writers are outlaws political views and very different races, so in fact the signature is a mere pretext to punish freedom of thought and culture.
The case is very complex and controversial because Battisti was convicted in absentia and under special legislation in Italy during the eighties. After taking refuge in Mexico and France went to Brazil where he has been imprisoned since 2007. On December 31 the former president Lula da Silva decided not to extradite him to Italy, although the Supreme Court reserved the right to reconsider the case. In an attempt to determine the views of Lula, the Italian secretary Foreign Affairs, Franco Frattini, and Defence, Ignazio La Russa, threatened to impose trade sanctions against the South American giant.
However, Italy and in the first place, the Veneto region, benefit both the relationship with the Brazilian economy can not afford any serious tantrum there. The problem here is not Battisti, he is a scapegoat and an excuse for not tackling the country's unresolved historical issues and divert attention from real problems when necessary. The 2004 appeal also raised the need to close a troubled and painful chapter in Italian history, the "Leaden years", in which red and black terrorism, intervention by the state apparatus and diverted the killings led to the use of standards and practices "exceptional." Censorship Venetian aims to hit a group of citizens and intellectuals who fight for freedom of thought without flirting with political power and in spite of it. Indeed
also books by other writers such as Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah and a television program in which he accused the party Lega Nord (Northern League) in connivance with the most powerful mafia in Italy (the 'Ndrangheta Calabria) are gradually being removed from shelves across the region of Veneto. The governor of this state, Luca Zaia, belongs to the populist and racist Lega Nord which is allied with Berlusconi PDL, both in this state and nationally. The Regional Secretary of the Lega, Gianantonio Da Re, expressed his joy on learning that the mayor of Gomorrah Preganziol managed to get the libraries. Instead, citizenship and some writers and demonstrations planned in the town square against the mayor to support the librarian who alleged censorship. Overall responsibility for the police union, Franco Maccari, raised extending far across the country fascist and invited to boycott the books of authors "incriminating." His remarks represent a unique case in Europe and a threat to Italian democracy.
In a fit of year marked by sexual scandals Berlusconi and the uncertain future of his government, severely weakened due to the break with the rightist Gianfranco Fini, also envisioned the ravages of a decadent regime which silences the voices. While Cavaliere he managed to evade the summons of Milan prosecutors, who accuse him of exploitation and child prostitution and extortion, their lackeys in charge of launch proposals draconian and unconstitutional.
To top it off, the counselor will also Speranzon "recommend" to cultural institutions and initiatives to organize not defined literary "persona non grata." Officials who do not accept the order "will assume full responsibility." The threat is clear to librarians and the whole society, since the burning of books and the banning of writers uncomfortable for power have become weapons of war against free speech. The most ironic is that instead of taking a safe distance and show his alleged soul "liberal" politicians increasingly PDL their membership to endorse censorship initiatives that expand like wildfire.
So did the minister of the municipality of Venice for culture and education, Donazzan Elena, who has a history of militant in the Italian Social Movement, born of the ashes of the Fascist Party. Two years ago proposed the compulsory teaching of Catholicism in schools, also for non-believers, and promoted the distribution of the Bible in schools in the region on behalf of taxpayers. He also ordered the printing of brochures about the fall of Berlin Wall made by "the youth of the party" following the method of copy and paste the Internet. Perhaps the same Donazzan wanted to highlight this sophisticated research technique as a model, or not bother to check the edition of its propaganda, it was paid by the citizens. This is the style of education officials in Venice and, unfortunately, not only them.
aware of the danger to freedom of expression in Italy, writers and society are responding with creative control methods. It goes beyond the traditional "click activity" or "slippers" in which only signed an appeal on the internet, Facebook, or passively forwarded e-mail protest. Instead, open observatories to track the progress of the case (Wu Ming page and the Lipperatura), creates networks of solidarity with public officials contrary to "recommendations" neo-fascist, some of them show the "red list" users of libraries. In addition, diffuse opinion articles on thousands of blogs and in many languages, so the case is also appearing in newspapers and news media world. Writers solidarity will disseminate information in each public event involving that the word is always free and sovereign. Let us not remain silent.
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