Hooray! The Frankfurt Book Fair is back online – with real publishers’ stands and a real audience. However, this is far from the most successful restart since the forced hiatus caused by the pandemic. Due to the disputes that flared up at the fair about right-wing publishers, it is somehow not up to the holiday. And this is good.
Writer and human rights activist Jasmina Kuhnke did not want to put up with the fact that right-wing extremists spread their slogans at the same book fair where she presents her debut novel “Black Heart”. Born in 1982 in the German city of Hagen, Kuhnke’s book deals with the racist attacks she and her family suffered in Germany because of their dark skin color.
Nazis have no place next to decent people
Well, think about it – a young author, whom few people know, canceled his appearance at the Frankfurt Book Fair. It would seem, and so what? But the fact is that her arrival was not even announced in advance – for fears that it could become a pretext for attacks by right-wing extremists. Earlier, right-wing publisher Philip Stein publicly demanded Kuhnke’s deportation. The writer responded to this threat by refusing to come to the fair – moreover, she justified her move, including on her Twitter account.
Stefan Dege
There is no place for the Nazis next to her, Kunke wrote. She considers it unacceptable to give them a place for self-promotion. Fair director Jürgen Boos justifies the admission of the right-wing Jungeuropa by freedom of expression. “As long as the opinion does not violate any laws, everyone should be able to participate in the exchange of views at the fair,” Bose said. According to him, the safety of all participants in the event was ensured.
This is a very crude understanding of freedom of speech. Bose demands tolerance towards the intolerant. Moreover, he demands this from those who have fallen prey to this intolerance, namely, from a writer who is attacked by the right because of her skin color and feels – apparently, not without reason – in danger. “I am very sorry that the author does not participate in this discussion,” Bose’s statement sounds frankly cynical.
One can hardly blame the author for trying to attract as much attention to himself as possible. But she got it. The time for her loud refusal was unmistakably chosen: it has been a long time since Germany has had such an intense discussion about decolonization, racism and gender issues as it is now. And there are reasons for that.
One of them is the rise of right-wing terrorism in Germany, accompanied by a series of murders over the years committed by the extreme right-wing terrorist group National Socialist Underground (NSU), the attempt on the life of Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker in 2015 and the assassination of Kassel regional governor Walter Lübcke in 2019.
All this is the reality of Germany. And this requires resistance from civil society and the defensive strategy that Kuhnke has now demonstrated. This raises the question: Does the majority society have the right to shift the task of combating racism, discrimination and social hostility exclusively onto the shoulders of representatives of minorities? Unlikely. This should be of concern to everyone.
The writer’s deed deserves respect.
It is also true that Germany is on track to become a multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-gender society. Not everyone understands this or is ready to admit it. And least of all those are among the so-called rightists, whose suitability for society can be judged by their concept of humanity.
This is an image of a humanity that denies refugees the right to asylum, despises a democratic state and its representatives. It is also the image of a humanity that, ignoring the lessons of the past, denies the ethical consensus of Germany – a country that, after the catastrophe of National Socialism in its history, struggled to fight its way back into a civilized world community.
Therefore, the act of the young black writer deserves our respect. Kuhnke personifies a young and confident generation that thinks about our values and accordingly sets the agenda, which is often underestimated. We should be grateful to people like her.
And one more remark – to those who consider the protest against the presence of right-wing publishers at the book fair as a clever marketing ploy of a novice writer. This scandal is not caused by a short tweet by Kuhnke, not insignificant at first glance, the refusal of an unknown author to come to the book fair. It is prompted by the need to reflect on injustice and alienation in our society, call a spade a spade and find a social consensus on how we want to live together in the future.
Author: Štefan Dege, editor DW
The commentary expresses the personal opinion of the author. It may not coincide with the opinion of the Russian editorial staff and Deutsche Welle in general.
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