27.10.2021 | 11:03

Gojko Bozovic: Instead of propaganda, look at the reality as it is

Gojko Bozovic, editor-in-chief of the “Arhipelag” and writer, is one of the first major publishers in Serbia to decide that his publishing house will not participate at the International Book Fair in Belgrade, which was to be held at the end of October, and was eventually canceled due to similar attitudes from other publishers. In an interview with the SEEcult.org, Bozovic points out that, considering that it is necessary to be realistic and responsible today, the current model of organizing the Book Fair – the most massive cultural event in Serbia and the region, is impossible during the pandemic due to the epidemiological risk, and also economic risks for the publishers in case of low attendance.

“It’s not the question whether the Book Fair is necessary, but whether it is possible. The Book Fair is both important and necessary, and it is most needed by readers and publishers. However, we should look at the reality as it is, and not as we would like it to be… Mass events are difficult and risky to manage in these days, and that can be a greater danger for the Book Fair than its cancelation for really convincing reasons… Instead of insisting on an impossible mission of organizing an indoor Book Fair in times of a pandemic, the organization should have turned to more possible and incomparably less risky options, as have numerous other European fairs: an online fair, online presentations, many small literary events throughout the city at the same time, an open-air book exhibition. Or all of these combined”, as Bozovic stated.

In his opinion, epidemiological measures in Serbia are unclear, confusing and inconsistent.

“From the very beginning of facing the coronavirus pandemic, society has been staggering between catastrophism and licentiousness, between unreasonable rigidity and unreasonable looseness. It all started with laughing in the face of the ‘invisible virus’, continued with confinement in houses and apartments, then with catastrophic threats that accommodation facilities in Belgrade cemeteries would be insufficient, to then suddenly switch to triumphalism over the virus, football matches and elections, the only never-ending presidential campaign in the world, to mass gatherings in both open and closed spaces…  Such approach that was completely wrong, strengthened by manipulating with the numbers of infected and deceased corona virus victims, as well as using the pandemic to strengthen the power of the regime and undisguised authoritarianism, became a suitable framework for controversies and conspiracy theories that erupted with all their might,” said Bozovic, who also believes that everything in Serbia is resolved in a campaign and by the will of one man – President Aleksandar Vucic.

Gojko Bozovic, Skopje, September 2021, photo: Pro-ZA Balkan

As one of the consequences of the pandemic in authoritarian societies, Bozovic cites the additional reduction of public influence, the atomization of society and the marginalization of critical attempts to shape new social and cultural contents.

Pointing out the long-term, chronic problems of the publishing sector in Serbia, as well as the challenges brought by technological development, Bozovic mentioned the crisis of taste as a particularly serious problem, which leads to culture becoming unnecessary.

“The most superficial forms of entertainment have taken over almost the entire public space, which is increasingly formatted so that the culture in it is a pure surplus. Citizens are in need of culture, and consumers are in need of entertainment. Are we more citizens or consumers today? ” Bozovic stated.

Despite the problems, Bozovic announced a series of new titles from the “Ariheplag” edition, including a correspondence book by Danilo Kis, edited by Mirjana Miocinovic.

*The interview in its entirety (in Serbian) is available at this link.

(SEEcult.org)

Funded by the International Relief Fund for Organisations in Culture and Education 2021 of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut and other partners, goethe.de/relieffund