25 May 2006 Written by Andrew Eglinton Print This Post  Email This Post

Since the beginning of April 2006, a short article that appeared in the French newspaper Le Nouvel Observateur by journalist Ruth Valentini on Austrian writer/playwright Peter Handke’s attendance at the funeral of Slobodan Milosovic has sparked a wave of outrage in international intellectual circles and has been the object of great media attention in France (in amongst other countries). It prompted the General administrator of the Comedie Francaise, Michel Bozonnet, to unprogram Handke’s piece, Voyage to the Sonorous Land or the Art of Asking, and has led to a petition by renowed authors, directors and intellectuals against the censorship of Peter Handke’s work. Since there is currently little coverage of this affair in UK national media, I decided to provide a short ‘overview’ of what has been published in the French media in the hope of raising awareness to the fundamental issues of censorship, misconstrued information and political/media speculation on theatre and literature.

There is no commentary here on my behalf, simply translations of articles. I intend to follow up on this affair over the coming week or so with a post about its implications and its relationship to other instances of censorship in theatre (Bezhti and My Name is Rachel Corrie to name just two).

Please note that the text below in English is my personal translation from articles originally published in French. The translation is in no way defnitive or authoritative and should not be judged as such. Where equivalences in translation have been awkward/not applicable I have left the original French. Please also note that this is only a small portion of the story and I encourage readers to search for other sources on this matter. I will build a list at the foot of this post as more information comes to light.

• The article by journalist Ruth Valentini, published in the Nouvel Observateur on the 6th April 2006 (Source)

Peter Handke à Pozarevac

“Je suis heureux d’être près de Slobodan Milosevic, qui a défendu son peuple”, a déclaré - en serbe - Peter Handke le 18 mars sur la place de la Libération, à Pozarevac. L’invité surprise y affichait son deuil aux côtés de 20.000 fanatiques. Fidèle au “Boucher des Balkans” et à sa propre position révisionniste, l’écrivain autrichien, auteur de “Justice pour la Serbie”, était venu “en voyageur de la vérité”. Ainsi Handke, pour qui “être pro-Serbe est un titre d’honneur”, persiste dans sa défense de “Slobo”, considère les Serbes comme “les vraies victimes de la guerre”, approuve le massacre de Srebrenica et autres crimes commis au nom de la purification. Brandissant le drapeau serbe, se pressant pour toucher le corbillard et y déposer sa rose rouge, Handke fait triste figure. Avec son hommage au despote, le poète a définitivement creusé la tombe de son honneur perdu.

Ruth Valentini

Peter Handke in Pozarevac

“I’m pleased to be close to Slobodan Milosovic, who defended his people”, declared - in Serbian - Peter Handke on the 18th of March at Liberation Square, in Pozarevac. The surprise guest mourned along side 20, 000 fanatics. Faithful to the “Balkans Butcher” and to his own revisionist stance, the Austrian writer, author of “Justice for Serbia”, came as a “voyager of truth”. Thus Handke, for whom “to be pro-serb is a title of honor”, persists in his defence of “Slobo”, considers the Serbs as “the real victims of the war”, approves of the massacre of Srebrenica and other crimes committed in the name of ethnic cleansing. Brandishing the Serbian flag, eager to touch the coffin and lay a red rose, Handke appears as a sad figure. With his homage to the despot, the poet has dug a definitive grave for his lost honor.”

Ruth Valentini

• Response from Peter Handke, published in the Nouvel Observateur on the 4th May 2006 (Source)

“Je n’ai pas déposé une rose rouge sur le corbillard de Slobodan Milosevic. Je n’ai pas touché le corbillard. Je n’ai pas brandi le drapeau serbe. Et jamais je n’ai approuvé “le massacre de Srebrenica et autres crimes commis au nom de la purification”. Jamais je n’ai considéré les Serbes comme “les vraies victimes de la guerre”.

Et à Pozarevac, je ne suis pas venu ” en voyageur de la vérité”. Je ne suis pas l’auteur de “Justice pour la Serbie”, mais du “Voyage hivernal aux fleuves Danube, Save, Morava et Drina” (Gallimard). Et nulle part, dans mon petit discours à Pozarevac, je n’ai dit : “Je suis heureux d’être près de Slobodan Milosevic, qui a défendu son peuple.”

Ce qui est vrai : j’ai prononcé le discours en “serbe” (ou serbo-croate) ! Et pour les lecteurs, je le traduis ici en français : “Le monde, le soi-disant monde, sait tout sur la Yougoslavie, la Serbie. Le monde, le soi-disant monde, sait tout sur Slobodan Milosevic. Le soi-disant monde sait la vérité. Pour cela, le soi-disant monde est aujourd’hui absent, et pas seulement aujourd’hui, et pas seulement ici. Je sais que je ne sais pas. Je ne sais pas la vérité. Mais je regarde. J’écoute. Je ressens. Je me souviens. Pour cela je suis aujourd’hui présent, près de la Yougoslavie, près de la Serbie, près de Slobodan Milosevic.” P. H.

“I didn’t lay a red rose on the coffin of Slobodan Milosovic. I didn’t touch the coffin. I didn’t wave the Serbian flag. And I never approved of the “the massacre at Srebrenica and other crimes committed in the name of ethnic cleansing.” I never thought of the Serbs as the “real victims of the war”.

And at Pozarevac, I wasn’t there as a “voyager of truth”. I’m not the author of “Justice for Serbia”, rather of “Voyage hivernal aux fleuves Danube, Save, Morava et Drina” (Gallimard). And nowhere in my brief speech in Pozarevac did I say: “I’m pleased to be close to Slobodan MIlosovic, who defended his people.”

The truth is: I gave the speech in “Serbian” (or Serbo-Croatian)! And for the readers, I have translated it here in French: “The world, the so-called world, knows everything about Yugoslavia, Serbia. The world, the so-called world, knows everything about Slobodan Milosovic. The so-called world knows the truth. Thus, the so-called world is absent here today, but not just today, and not just here. I know that I don’t know. I don’t know the truth. But I look. I listen. I feel. I remember. Thus I am present here today, close to Yugoslavia, close to Serbia, close to Slobodan Milosovic.” P. H.

• An excerpt from the letter of support by writer Anne Weber published first in Le Monde on the 3rd of May 2006 and quoted here in the Nouvel observateur on the 4th May 2006 (Source
  )

“Voici le texte de soutien à Peter Handke signé par l’écrivain Anne Weber, soutenu par plusieurs intellectuels, et paru dans Le Monde le 3 mai 2006.

“Le 6 avril 2006, dans la rubrique “Sifflets” du Nouvel Observateur, parut une notule portant sur Peter Handke, signée Ruth Valentini. La journaliste y qualifie l’écrivain de “révisionniste”, prétend qu’il “approuve le massacre de Srebrenica et autres crimes commis au nom de la purification”, et lui prête des propos qu’il n’a jamais tenus. Dans une lettre au Nouvel Observateur, Peter Handke répond à ces accusations. Trois semaines plus tard, sa réponse n’a toujours pas été publiée, “la personne qui s’occupe du courrier des lecteurs étant actuellement en vacances”.

En attendant, il a suffi des cinq phrases mensongères de Ruth Valentini pour décider Marcel Bozonnet, administrateur de la Comédie-Française, à déprogrammer une pièce de Peter Handke qui devait être jouée dans une mise en scène de Bruno Bayen à la rentrée de 2007.

Here is the letter of support for Peter Handke signed by the author Anne Weber, supported by several intellectuals, and published in Le Monde on the 3rd of May 2006.

“On the 6th April 2006, in the section “Sifflets” [Whistles] of the Nouvel Observateur, appeared a short article on Peter Handke, by Ruth Valentini. The journalist calls the writer a “revisionist”, claims that he “approved of the massacre at Srebrenica and other crimes committed in the name of ethnic cleansing”, and holds him accountable for ideas that he never had. In a letter in the Nouvel Osbervateur [see letter below], Peter Handke responds to these accusations. Three weeks later, his response is still not published, “the person who is in charge of reader mail is on holiday at the moment”.