Secretary of the Week: How to make Echo... Shut up?

Pape Satan Alepe: A Chronicle of a Mobile Society, by Umberto Echo, translated by Li Jingjing and Chen Ying, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, January 2019, 568 pp. 75.00

Several of the columns of the Italian writer, historian and semiotician Umberto Eco (1932-2016) have been translated into Chinese, from Traveling with Salmon, Minerva Matchbox, And The Age of Regression to Pape Satan A chronicle of a mobile society published last year. The last one is his posthumous work, including articles from fifteen years after 2000, published in Italy a week after his death. These anthologies can be seen as sister articles, many of which are repetitive in their themes, as are echoes of echoes of echo (I am still more accustomed to the translation of the name). As he says in the "preface" to the Chronicle, "Those phenomena have been repeated with worrying regularities, and I have no choice but to repeat these uneasy normalities." This is easy to understand, and as someone who has been writing intermittently for more than thirty years, I know what "worrying regularities are repeatedly" and why it can only be "repetitive".

Speaking of "old tunes", Echo really lives to be old, observes and thinks to be old, and the article is also written to be old, which is very admirable. The more he reached his later years, the more pessimistic echoes of reality he became, as can be seen in several of his collections of essays. In the Chronicle, he says that politicians and the vast majority of intellectuals have failed to understand the phenomenon of "mobile societies" and its power, and that Bowman's call for people to face up to the crisis remains a "cry in the wilderness." A certain pessimism and helplessness can also be seen from the title of this anthology, "Pape Satan Alepe", and Echo explains in the "Preface" that this title comes from the seventh song of Dante's "Divine Comedy and Hell", from the mouth of Pluto, the god of the underworld, which has no exact meaning, but reminds people of all kinds of strange things. In conjunction with the subtitle "Chronicle of Mobile Society," everything is so strange in a fluid society that has lost the support of anything solid, which is what we call a demon.

The articles included in the Chronicle are divided into more than a dozen topics such as "Retrogressive Era", "The Elderly and the Young", "Internet Access", "On Mobile Phones", "On Conspiracies", "On Mass Media", "Various Forms of Nazism", "On Hatred and Death", and some articles for Chinese readers need to have an understanding of specific historical backgrounds to read, such as various forces, interest demands and public opinion tendencies in Italian realpolitik, or public opinion in certain specific events. But there are also many political and cultural phenomena that he talks about that are universal, so that our "repetition of the old tune" will not be unfamiliar to us, as he himself said in the "Preface", "Some of these articles, I think are still worth looking back at." What should be seen is that in addition to the easy topics of mobile phone control, network control, self-detonating privacy and fame, talent shows, hustle and bustle, and the pleasure of reading, echoes as a public intellectual, the ideological and critical nature of Echo as a public intellectual is not first of all directed to these, but to the infighting in Italian politics he discusses, to the deception of "politics", and to the public responsibility that should be assumed as a citizen.

Echo has been writing an op-ed since the 1960s, saying, "I have lost my freedom to have no opinion on anything." This is the true opinionist - not even the freedom not to express opinions, which can also be seen as "dying in silence and living without silence.". He wrote an astonishing amount of articles, for example, in the weekly magazine Express, starting in March 1985 and writing for more than a decade. After decades of writing, he is not happy, he said in the foreword to "Minerva Matchbox" (translated by Li Jing, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2009), "I don't talk about what makes me happy, but I always write my thoughts on the things that make me unhappy", which sounds a bit like self-ridicule, but it is true. In the eyes of many people, this is too problematic, you are such an influential writer in the world, writing basically about your own country, how can you only write about "unhappy things"? Isn't that a mess? He even said that the task of intellectuals is to create crises, pointing out that "intellectuals only know how'... When he's in opposition, he's the real critic rather than the propaganda expert. An intellectual who takes an intervening position has an obligation to put his involvement in crisis in particular. (The Age of Regression, translated by Ondeming, Lijiang Publishing House, 2012, p. 76) It is no wonder that Echo has his own judgment about the nature of politics: "Politics itself is a profession that survives by lying, and lying is the duty of politicians; on the contrary, if they tell everyone what they think and do, they will be expelled a long time ago" (Minerva Matchbox, p. 189). Thus, his public writing is all about resisting and rebelling against this politics, calling on all citizens to participate in the 2011 election, "'We want to see the upcoming election as a moral referendum, and no conscientious citizen should shy away from it.'" Many will see this appeal as a call to quell the uneasiness of conscience and to take responsibility courageously. Because: 'No one is an island.' ’...... Don't ask who the death knell is ringing for: it's for you. (The Age of Regression, p. 129) Yes, the death knell rings for all who escape politics.

"On Hate and Love" talks about why to create enemies and incite hatred, which also seems to be "old-fashioned", but he said that "at least for me, it has a new meaning". He argues that "hate" is a group act and "an indispensable act for authoritarian regimes." That is why the fascist school required me to hate the descendants of Albion from an early age; Mario Appelius read his God Curses the Englishman on the radio every night. Authoritarian politics, populism, and certain religious radicals mostly adhere to the idea that those who are not of our race must have different hearts. Hatred of the enemy can unite the people and ignite a common flame of hatred in their hearts. If love can warm me to a few people, then hate can not only make me passionate, but also inspire all those who share the same hatred, and this emotion is directed at hundreds of thousands of people, whether it is a country, a nation, or another color, another language. ...... Berlusconi hated all the judges, and he demanded that we do; moreover, he hated all the Communists, even if some of them were long gone, to create a few examples to hate. (Chronicle, pp. 292-293) The truth has been made very clear, but what he forgot to add is that the carrier of incitement to hatred is not mainly broadcasting, but the Internet, mobile phones, and circles of friends, probably because he really does not like mobile phones and always shuts down.

Hate and conspiracy theories seem to be a natural pair. Echo highlights the "conspiracy theory syndrome" in hatred: "All dictators who, in order to make their own decisions with the consent of the people, accuse a state, group, race, or secret community of a conspiracy to overthrow the country led by the dictator." All forms of populism, including contemporary populism, always accuse some conspiratorial group from abroad or at home in order to gain the trust of the people. (The Age of Regression, p. 56) In this world, it cannot be said that there are no conspiracies, let alone black and white lines to distinguish the existence or non-existence of conspiracies, the problem is that "conspiracy theory syndrome" is indeed more likely to occur in certain groups and systems. Feeling that there is a conspiracy, hatred naturally pulls up, so the "conspiracy theory syndrome" is always haunted.

From inciting hatred to suppressing speech, this is "My Stinky Mouth, Please Don't Talk!" " to discuss the issue. Echo cuts in from "some disturbing events": a French secondary school teacher writes articles about a religion, causing him to face the risk of death; a theater in Berlin withdrew Mozart's "Idomeniu" from the program list because the opera shows the severed heads of Jesus, Buddha, and so on. Echo points out: "What we face is the fear of talking. These taboos cannot be entirely attributed to... Radicals (who never joke about 'anger'), but the consequences of the principles of political correctness. Although it was intended to respect everyone, it actually deprived people (at least the American people) of the right to tell jokes. Not only can we not talk about Jews、...... Jokes with people with disabilities, not even the Scots, Genoese, Belgians, gendarmes, firefighters, road cleaners and Eskimos.... (pp. 324-325) "We are confronted with the fear of speaking" is accurate, but attributed to the "principle of political correctness," probably only because of Echo's Western context. Creating "fear of speaking" is, of course, far more complex causes and harsh consequences than demanding "political correctness." Next, Echo told an example of himself, which is very meaningful. In his teaching on textual analysis, he casually quoted a foul passage from an article that involved the name of a deity, and after class a student politely criticized Echo for not respecting his religion. Echo replied frankly that I was just quoting a dirty quote from someone else, but I had to apologize anyway. The next day Echo teased the important deities in the Christian Pantheon in class, and everyone laughed, including the student. After class, Echo asks him why he doesn't show the respect he deserves to "my" religion, then tells him that joking with God's name is not the same as insulting the gods, and advises him to show greater religious tolerance. The student apologized and said he understood Echo's intentions. The article concludes, "Admittedly, not all teaching relationships are as peaceful and friendly as those between me and the student. Therefore, in other cases, it is better to remain silent. However, in a culture where everyone is afraid of trouble, perhaps even scholars are afraid to mention an Arab philosopher (I am only giving an example) easily, right? This would be the so-called remembrance curse, the removal of foreign cultures that would otherwise be respected through silence. This is not good for promoting mutual understanding and understanding among different peoples. (pp. 325-326) The peaceful, friendly, and rational exchange of ideas between teachers and students in Echo's classroom is truly emotional. And that "recollection curse" deletes more than "foreign cultures that were originally worthy of respect."

Echo has a deep knowledge of both media and populism, so both topics often appear in his articles. When he connected these two themes, there was "On the Dictatorship of "Media Populism." When he saw Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi declaring on television that Italy would not intervene in the Iraq incident, he immediately questioned: "Why does our Prime Minister announce such a serious thing on television instead of in Parliament? I explained that Berlusconi is creating a 'media populist' dictatorship in which heads of state can communicate directly with the people through the mass media, which can elevate parliaments. (p. 465) A few days later, Bey Sr.'s words were harshly rebuked by George W. Bush and Blair, who said he had never said he was going to leave the army in Iraq. It can be contradictory and contradictory, and Echo says this is the benefit of "media populism". As for those who follow the mass media, "their advantage is that the next day they will forget what you said the day before", on the other hand, "only the news that Berlusconi likes will be broadcast on television, which illustrates the essence of the 'media populism' dictatorship." (p. 466)

In the era of self-media hustle and bustle, Echo knows how it is to brush the sense of existence through the Internet. "I 'push', so I am'" said: "Twitter is like a sports-themed bar in a village, talking to both the fools in the village and the small business owners who think they are persecuted by the tax authorities; both the frustrated people who have not been able to get a comparative anatomy lecture at a well-known university and have to become a town doctor, and the drunken passers-by; both the truck drivers who are happy to swear on the roundabout roadside and the women who stand on the street, and the customers who occasionally come up with two wise words." However, all speech begins and ends there, and small talk in the bar never changes the international political situation. Thus, "only a fascist government would be concerned about demagogic pub speech, and therefore forbade people to argue about the government in bars." In fact, the so-called popular sentiment is nothing more than statistics during the general election. Everything people think about when voting is based on the declarations of others, and their own opinions expressed in the bar have long been forgotten. (p. 33) That is, there is nothing wrong with the people "pushing" and the sky will not fall.

In the face of this epidemic, the "outpatient clinics" of many big-name thinkers in the West seem to have disappointed people, some of whom are a little careless at first, thinking that a few casual words can satisfy the public, and then become more serious and talk about some problems. Echo died a few years ago, and if he had lived to this day, looking at Italy, which was under lockdown by the epidemic, I don't know what he would have written and how. From the metaphysical meaning of the concept of "mobile society", the epidemic, the lockdown, everything that used to flow – traffic, people, logistics – has stopped. "Staying at home" seems to be the most logical response and the supreme law, and the "mobility" of the individual body seems to have become more frightening than the "blind flow" of the "blind flow" of the state council, a concept familiar to us in a document issued by the Council of State in 1952 referring to the "blind movement of rural labor to the cities" . From site-based employment to regional migration, people have adapted to mobility, joined the flow, and established their own way of survival in the flow. Now suddenly pause, people have to adapt to the stop, to solve their own way of survival in the stop. As a result, there is a global flow and static game, behind which the system, culture, and values are supporting and playing. On top of the fluid and static game, is the observation and prediction of this global development trend: a complete regression? Or is it just pauses and adjustments in progress? The concept of "fluid modernity", which Baumann put forward, means that there is a crisis in the grand narrative of trying to dominate the world with order, so when the epidemic is raging around the world, the coercive order seems to be likely to re-dominate the world, individuality, difference and freedom rights may be erased, society is solidified into a state of regulation and regulation, and "living" in the shutdown has become an overriding slogan. How would he prescribe a world that was shut down?

From his previous articles, we may know what his answer may be to some public opinion hotspots related to epidemic prevention and control. For example, on the Internet, banning and erasing memories, he once asked: "If the Internet existed, would the Nazi massacre of Jews still be possible?" I'm not sure. Everyone will know immediately what just happened... Despite efforts to filter out what netizens might see, information is spread in both directions," he immediately added, "And let's not think that the bans and tyranny of this world have disappeared." Far from it.". With regard to the extinction of memory, he began with the "curse of remembrance" of the ancient Romans, who could vote to sentence someone to obscurity and oblivion after death, that is, to destroy memory. But he said that has become difficult in today's internet age, and "disappearers can't disappear for long." (Jean-Filippo de Tornak, ed., Don't Want to Get Rid of the Book, translated by Wu Yaling, Guangxi Normal University Publishing House, 2010, pp. 200-202). For example, if we see Italians in lockdown singing and playing on the balcony on video, Echo may suggest that he should also read aloud because he likes to read letters from friends. Moreover, Echo will certainly see certain retrogressive phenomena, which will be linked to the kinds of historical regressions he once listed in the preface to The Age of Regression: the revival of the map of Europe, the resurgence of traditional wars, the resurgence of Christian fundamentalism, anti-Semitism, fascism, the "Yellow Peril", Christian democracy, etc., and he is full of uneasiness and indignation about these phenomena.

No matter what he will write and how he will write, it is certain that he will not be silent in the face of the epidemic.

No matter what Echo wrote, probably not too many of his readers wanted him to shut up. That Italian "Trump" is really unreliable, Echo in the article does not forget to ridicule and satirize his Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi, but no one said that Echo he shut up, and Old Bey did not dare to think about it. But there are still people in the world who want intellectuals to shut up. There is an article in the Chronicle titled "Shut Up, Stinky Intellectuals!" It conveys very accurately and eloquently the anger of those who hate intellectuals. The article said that after a free commentator criticized a certain party, several "political figures" immediately responded, believing that these criticisms came from intellectuals who were divorced from reality, which was useless, meaning that these stinky intellectuals should remain silent. Echo was associated with the intellectuals of the Dreyfus affair in France, when everyone whom Clemenceau called an "intellectual" would make people think in a bad way. He said that those who want intellectuals to shut up are themselves intellectuals. (Chronicle, p. 270) It is also conceivable that perhaps it is these "political figures" who have wondered how to silence Echo and writers like Echo.