Literature is one of the most overlooked artistic mediums in terms of its institutional support. Now is the time to change that.
"We live in an age suspicious of generosity and optimism. The attitude is for realism, for the unadorned fact of a living without illusions. It would be a sparse, plain world were it not for the glitz of abundance. It is a world of simplicities..."
It is not enough to say "I did what I thought was right". Sincerity is no substitute for legitimacy and justice.
Thatcher and Blair have seeped into our social and cultural lives as well.
Today's corporate culture leaves little room for conscience, responsibility or scepticism. Today's managers are responsible for everything, but also nothing.
Penguin books were a fine example of a 'cultural democracy' that has now withered against the reactionary dominance of the mainstream. We need to rediscover the passion for dissent and questioning, and technology may ultimately be the key.
Class remains by nature vague and ill-defined, one of society's necessary mythologies. Class is defined not by a lowly start, nor money nor region, but ultimately as attitude, confidence and absorbed rather than learned values.
For centuries, much of Europe was integrated into a vast African empire. Yet we refuse to fully understand our history. For this tradition of not knowing the West is paying a price it has not yet begun to calculate.
