Syndicate: Call for Participation for special edition of Bastard

[honor <honor@va.com.au>]

29.5.99

Call for Participation for:
A special edition of Bastard produced in response to the war in Yugoslavia

An independent coalition of writers, publishers and critics are producing a
free newspaper which seeks to create an insight into the manifold responses
engendered by the the war in Yugoslavia.  We are calling for input from
those interested in helping create a vehicle of reflection, a method of
amplifying the voices of the observers in this crisis.

Apologies to anyone who receives this message more than once.


War without a cause?

If there is a feeling shared by most who witness these days of war in
Yugoslavia, it is the feeling of historical impotence. Seven weeks of war
has turned us into mere spectators, watching the tough guys play chicken.
The war drive goes on and on, the edge of the cliff gets nearer and nearer.
We watch in fascination, but nobody puts on the brakes.

Is there really nothing we can do? Are the home-viewers really the last
consulted on this war and the first to be defeated in it? Is there any
deeper humiliation for all of us?

History humiliates those who see no sense in it. Blindness to the meaning
of a historical event renders helpless those history challenges. Or as
Hegel said somewhere, "hell is truth seen too late."

The course of history isn't decided only by those who imagine they occupy
the driver's seat. It was Kant who stressed, two hundreds years ago, the
dignity of the so-called passive audience. The truth of an event is not
decided by its protagonists, but by its witnesses. It's us armchair
passengers who observe what passes, and decide what passed.

The vector that connects camera-tipped missiles and eye witness accounts
uplinked by satellite to millions of eyeballs around the world, might seem
to create more and more mere passive observers, but it also creates more
and more witnesses to history, and participants in its assessment and
recording.

We, the so called passive audience, today more then ever, should be again
aware of our historical dignity. To "do something" doesn't always mean to
engage oneself in the concrete practical situation. To grasp the meaning of
historical events, can have an impact on them which could be even more
decisive than a practical involvement.

There are too many warriors among pacifists, too many humanitarian
activists among generals, to many politicians among criminals, and too much
stupidity among the smart bombs. To reflect upon all this won't immediately
stop anything, but it can help us to open our eyes to the dangers and
perspectives of the reawakened history we are now faced with.

There is never enough time -- for an accurate knowledge of the history of
the region, for reliable, balanced, confirmed information, for an instant
theory which explains it all, or for an ideology to be led by.  Godot never
arrives, even in Sarajevo. But we can do the best we can.

Therefore, we propose to collect what we already have, to produce a
publication -- on paper as well as on the net.  We are inviting expressions
of interest for another kind of effort -- the effort of the observer,
trying, despite the odds, to render fair witness.

Acknowledging the wealth of the critical and anecdotal texts produced in
response to the unfolding circumstances in Yugoslavia, the publication aims
to draw together critiques, essays, and analyses, as well as important
historical documents, reports from the ground, artists responses, letters,
diaries, protests, petitions, addresses, and URLs - all essential to
creating a candid a picture of the situation: the juridical, as well as the
moral one

Arkzin, the Croatian magazine originating from the anti-war movement in
1991-92 (http://www.arkzin.com), has taken the initiative to design and
produce this one-off coalition newspaper. Their graphic accomplishments are
widely acknowledged. Boris Buden, responsible for Arkzin's critical theory
section, "Bastard," will be a key part of the coordination of the
publication.

The newspaper will be published in two locations: Zagreb (for Central and
Eastern Europe), and Amsterdam (for Western Europe).It will be in English,
printed in tabloid format, and will be approximately 40-60 pages. The
publication will also be available as PDF files for anyone to download and
print.

Please join us!

* Become a co-publisher or even print your own editions
* Suggest articles or writers for publication
* Help us with the distribution
* Suggest names of groups or papers who would to distribute

The publication is open to contributions, just as the historical situation
is open today to all possible outcomes and their meanings.
Let's follow the hint of history ...

For further enquiries or expressions of interest:

Boris Buden
buden@eunet.at
http://www.arkzin.com/bb

Honor Harger
honor @va.com.au
http://www.radioqualia.va.com.au



		<transitory>

honor@va.com.au
http://www.radioqualia.va.com.au/

Help free media in Yugoslavia: http://helpB92.xs4all.nl
Support free speech in Kosovo: http://www.dds.nl/~pressnow/open/channels.html



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