THINKING ABOUT DIGITAL MUD-SLINGING

Tessa Szyszkowitz in conversation with Eva Menasse

THINKING ABOUT DIGITAL MUD-SLINGING
How permanent networking threatens the culture of discussion

Eva Menasse states in her latest essay „Alles und Nichts sagen - Vom Zustand der Debatte in der Digitalmoderne“: Nothing has changed the way we live together as comprehensively as digitalisation - we think, feel and argue differently since we have been permanently networked and over-informed. The effects affect everyone, regardless of how much they use the new media. It is a stress test for society: the abundance of knowledge, speed, transparency and indelibility is not a value in itself, especially in the absence of editorial responsibility.

For the past six months, the new digital manners have been particularly evident in the discussion about the Middle East conflict. Why Gaza and Israel in particular are currently the subject of such heated debate can be analysed historically and politically, says the author. Germany and Austria have a different relationship with Israel than the UK and France - which is why the discussion is taking place differently. Through the internet, however, we „see“ everything at the same time and pick out the arguments that suit us.

Eva Menasse started out as a journalist at profil and FAZ and made her debut in 2005 with the family novel »Vienna«. The author was born in Vienna but has lived in Berlin for 20 years. Her most recent novel »Dunkelblum« was a bestseller and has been translated into nine languages. Her novels, stories and essays have received numerous awards and translations, including the Austrian Book Prize, the Bruno Kreisky Prize and the Ludwig Börne Prize.

Tessa Szyszkowitz, Falter columnist and author, was a correspondent in Moscow, Brussels, Jerusalem and London. Curator of the Philoxenia series at the Kreiskyforum, Senior Associate Fellow Royal United Services Institute in London.