Gao Xingjian
After the Deluge
The Chinese writer Gao Xingjian, the Nobel Laureate in Literature in 2000, speaks on the raison-d'être of literature and the sacrifices involved in defending creative literature against abuses of political and mass-media power.
These words sum up his speech to be given on the inauguration of Kosmopolis 2008: "When literature becomes a hymn of praise for a country, the flag of a nation, the voice of a political party or mouthpiece of a class or group, it can be used as a powerful and crushing instrument of propaganda, but it loses its intrinsic nature...".
Participants: Gao Xingjian
Related to Kosmopolis 2008, Kosmopolis
22 October 2008