The German literary critic, cultural journalist, and author Uwe Wittstock gained significant attention with his detailed accounts of what the Nazi takeover meant for authors and intellectuals. His descriptions of the actual events in the books February 33: The Winter of Literature and Marseille 1940: The Flight of German Literature serve as warnings for the dissolution of democracies in our time. By using concrete testimonies in the form of letters and diaries, Wittstock provides a close-up human picture of how democracy and freedom of expression are crushed. He points out how quickly media, legal systems, political institutions, and even individual intellectuals adapt and normalize extremely authoritarian tendencies. A further discussion with Uwe Wittstock can be found earlier in the program.
Here, he will be in conversation with Björn Wiman, an author and culture editor at DN, who regularly writes about the lessons to be learned from the history of authoritarian movements.
Date och time: Saturday March 21, 12.15–13.00
Place: Uppsala City Library, Free Admission!
Language: German and Swedish – the conversation will be interpreted into Swedish