Frank Furedi, originally Ferenc Füredi, a Hungarian sociologist, public commentator and expert, left Hungary with his parents when he was 9 years old. He was previously Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, Canterbury. This time, he spoke to the Látószög blog about the state of the culture war between liberal and national values. Below are some details from it.
The "crusaders" believe that classical plays and musical works should either be rewritten in the spirit of their worldview, or they should be deleted. This is how it happened that the new adaptation of the musical Carousel ends quite differently from the original. In the new version of Carousel, there is therefore no room for Billy, let alone redemption of his sins. Instead, Louise is treated by the local old woman – apparently the head of the local MeToo organization – and guided on the way to recovery.
As you can see, since the outbreak of the BLM movement, more and more literary classics have been accused of being racist. The Nutcracker, for example, is attacked on the grounds that its choreography and costumes have always served to perpetuate stereotypes and are degrading and offensive to the Chinese.
Artists have been called on more than once to reimagine The Nutcracker and remove the shameful signs of racist cultural appropriation from it. The Paris Opera House also joined in erasing racist stereotypes. It recently published a 66-page report on how it enforces its commitment to diversity in ballet performances.
Artistic director Alexander Neef announced that the institution will take action to eliminate the caricaturistic racist depiction found in classical ballet performances. Ballet dancers have always often painted themselves whiter during the performances of works such as Giselle or The Sylphide in order to create a supernatural atmosphere. Today, however, this way of creating a supernatural, ghostly atmosphere is often condemned on the grounds that it is meant to emphasize white supremacy.
In recent years, classical music has also been attacked by extremely enlightened Westerners. The best example of this is when Philip Ewell, a black music theory professor, spoke at the Society for Music Theory meeting in Columbus, Ohio in 2019. He explained that classical music is seriously compromised by its own whiteness.
From this point of view, according to which everything in the world bears the marks of white racism, the values presented in classical music are all manifestations of whiteness. As Ewell explained, they are all embedded in a white racial framework.
So, Beethoven is not held in high esteem by classical music fans because of his genius, but because, in Ewell's words, the white and male perspective starred him for two hundred years - explains Frank Furedi on the Látószög blog.
At times, even the classical music press seems to see being a classical music lover as a manifestation of white supremacy. Last September, critic Alex Ross, crumbling under the weight of his own white American status, painted the world of classical music as blindingly white, both historically and in the present. He advised classical music to realize that its entire history is permeated by systemic racism. Since it would be difficult to transcribe classical music, the opponents of Western culture are forced to accept the demand to dramatically increase the number of black performers in concert halls.
the interesting article in its entirety here.
