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africa, conflict

Few Conflicts in Africa

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“In 1998, 14 African countries were in a state of armed conflict or civil strife. Now the number engaged in major conflict is down to three.”

Jan Eliasson, dåvarande ordförande för FN:s generalförsamling, 13 oktober 2005

freely, Kapuscinski, rebellion, uncontrolled, word

The Catalyst is the Word

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“The indispensable catalyst is the word, the explanatory idea. More than petards or stilettoes, therefore, words — uncontrolled words, circulating freely, underground, rebelliously, not gotten up in dress uniforms, uncertified — frighten tyrants.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski, “Shah of Shahs”

africa, difference, exotic, Kapuscinski, reality, subjects, write

The Real Exotic Subjects

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“The so-called exotic has never fascinated me, even though I came to spend more than a dozen years in a world that is exotic by definition. I did not write about hunting crocodiles or head-hunters, although I admit they are interesting subjects. I discovered instead a different reality, one that attracted me more than expeditions to the villages of witch doctors or wild animal reserves. A new Africa was being born — and this was not a figure of speech or a platitude from an editorial. The hour of its birth was sometimes dramatic and painful, sometimes enjoyable and jubilant; it was always different (from our point of view) from anything we had known, and it was exactly this difference that struck me as new, as the previously undescribed, as exotic.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski, “The Soccer War”

barriers, hearing, incomprehension, Kapuscinski, language, people

We Don’t Hear the World

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“All over the world, at any hour, on a million screens an infinite number of people are saying something to us, trying to convince us of something, gesturing, making faces, getting excited, smiling, nodding their heads, pointing their fingers, and we don’t know what it’s about, what they want from us, what they are summoning us to. They might as well have come from a distance planet — an enormous army of public relations experts from Venus or Mars — yet they are our kin, with the same bones and blood as ours, with lips that move and audible voices, but we cannot understand a word. In what language will the universal dialogue of humanity be carried out? Several hundred languages are fighting for recognition and promotion; the language barriers are rising. Deafness and incomprehension are multiplying.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski, “Shah of Shahs”

1960s, africa, europe, interest, Kapuscinski

When Africa could Conquer Europe

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“In those days, the 1960s, the world was very interested in Africa. Africa was a puzzle, a mystery. Nobody knew what would happen when 300 million people stood up and demanded the right to be heard. States began to be established there, and the states bought armaments, and there was speculation in foreign newspapers that Africa might set out to conquer Europe. Today it is impossible to contemplate such a prospect, but that time, it was a concern, an anxiety. It was serious. People wanted to know what was happening on the continent: where was it headed, what were its intentions?”

Ryszard Kapuscinski, “The Soccer War”

journalism, Kapuscinski, story, writing

What Surrounds a Story

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“It is not the story that is not getting expressed: it’s what surrounds the story. The climate, the atmosphere of the street, the feeling of the people, the gossip of the town, the smell; the thousand, thousand elements of reality that are part of the event you read about in 600 words in your morning paper.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski, interviewed by Bill Buford in Granta 21 (1987)

critic, journalism, Kapuscinski

Kapuscinski Answering other Questions

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“You know, sometimes the critical response to my books is amusing. There are so many complaints: Kapuscinski never mentions dates, Kapuscinski never gives us the name of the minister, he has forgotten the order of events. All that, of course, is exactly what I avoid. If those are the questions you want answered, you can visit your local library, where you will find everything you need: the newspapers of the time, the reference books, a dictionary.”

Ryszard Kapuscinski, interviewed by Bill Buford in Granta 21 (1987)

creating, simplicity

Creating the Grand

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“Den som förmår se det enkla, skapar det ädla.”

Målaren sir Joshua Reynolds, vid akademiföreläsning i London 1770

attack, game, happiness, retreat

Knowing When to Retreat

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“Att veta att dra sig tillbaka när man har lyckan med sig. Det gör alla framgångsrika spelare. En vacker reträtt är lika viktig som ett djärvt anfall. Säkra dina stordåd när du har uppnått tillräckligt antal, även om de varit många. Att ha turen med sig länge är alltid ägnat att väcka misstro. Det är tryggare om den bryts ibland och innehåller en bitterljuv bismak redan då den avnjuts. Ju mer brådstörtat lyckan kastar sig över oss, desto större risk löper vi att halka och kullkasta alltsammans. Den uppväger kanske sin korta varaktighet med förhöjd intensitet. I det långa loppet tröttnar lyckan på att bära en på ryggen.”

Baltasar Gracián, “Handbok i levnadskonst”, nr 38

drawing, face, images, labyrinth, world

Drawing the World

  Publicerad av Emanuel Sidea

“En man bestämmer sig för att avbilda världen. Under årens lopp fyller han ett tomrum med bilder av landsdelar, riken, berg, havs­bukter, skepp, öar, fiskar, bostäder, redskap, himla­kroppar, hästar och människor. Strax före sin död upp­täcker han att denna tålmodigt hopkomna labyrint av linjer tecknar bilden av hans eget ansikte.”

Jorge Borges