This speech is just as good as A World Split Apart, and that's really saying something. He describes the existential gulf between people living under oppressive governments and those in free countries. There is a disconnect between the two, and the latter group very often cannot understand where the former is coming from. As a representative of the former group transplanted into the world of the latter, Solzhenitsyn cites art as the means by which the gap can be bridged.
It is the means by which one can enter into another person's experience.
He also talks about the "spirit of Munich" and how it has dominated the 20th century (inclination of the free world to appease and tolerate unjust violence elsewhere provided it left the West alone) and how violence inevitably requires lies to maintain its position of power-- to deceive people about its true nature and give itself legitimacy.
The task of the artist above all is to remain honest in the face of violence and lies.
"Let the lie come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me."
The Solzhenitsyn Center has released a video made with an excellent (English) reading of this speech, which is available to view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ITbFdTaB_E.
No comments:
Post a Comment