Hakan Günday: “Public space means knocking at your neighbour’s door and asking who he is”

The Turkish writer Hakan Günday says that thanks to the new technologies, which give us enormous amounts of information, we have the sensation that we know a lot and that, through the social networks, we also know a lot of people. Although we have never spoken with our neighbours, we know a great deal about them. This sensation of proximity, combined with the protection afforded us by the screen, is pleasant, soothing, but only an illusion. Public space, Günday says, is the exact opposite. It means going to look for information instead of settling for what is served up to us. It means knocking at your neighbour’s door, looking him in the eye, and asking who he is.

13 March 2017