740
PAR.TISAN REVIEW
I have given just the bare bones of the beginning of the war. There
are many more details, many names, much more to say, and many ques–
tions. But I wanted to give you the gist of the role played by intellectu–
als - the "bad guys" in the war. I don't pretend that this is the entire
explanation; it's much more complex. But I want to repeat that the idea
of the moral superiority of intellectuals is a dangerous one. After all, and
in spite of what we are and what we hope for, which is immortality, we
are only humans. Remember that even since 1989, in the so-called
emerging new democracies, writers have not been an innocent breed. I
will quote the words of the one of the most distinguished, widely trans–
lated, and most popular Serbian writer, from his recent interview in the
American press: "Democracy is smoke from a cunt," he said. "What?"
asked a shocked reporter, trying to grasp the meaning of this literal
translation of an expression in our language used to dismiss something as
being totally unworthy. "Yes," answered the famous Serbian writer, "I
think democracy is smoke from the female organ."
Even if we are to become very marginal in the next decade of so, let
us not follow in the direction his opinion has taken .
Edith Kurzweil:
Thank you, Slavenka. Ivan Klinu will speak next, and
then we will have discussion.
Ivan Klima:
Before I begin, I should like to mention two questions I
am often asked. People have wondered how I managed to survive in my
childhood being in a concentration camp, or how I was able to survive
as a writer during all these years of oppression. I always answered that for
a writer the worst experiences are interesting and useful, provided he
does survive them. I was lucky once more when, after I arrived at
Kennedy Airport the other evening for this conference, within fifteen
minutes my bag was stolen. In it was not only most of my money, but
the paper I had prepared for the conference. So I arrived in Newark at
2:00
A. M.
without my paper. I was lucky enough to survive this experi–
ence, and I succeeded in reconstructing my paper, with the help of Pro–
fessor Thomas.
The other question I have been asked is, "What is life like in a
country ruled by intellectuals, whose president is a dramatist?" At first, I
gave evasive answers: other countries are also ruled by intellectuals; Havel
is an excellent writer and also a gifted politician. But later I began to
think of what lay behind these questions. Were they motivated by inter–
est, envy, or distrust? To answer the question completely, we must go
back and analyze the situation of the opposition in the Eastern bloc as a
whole. Because I know you are informed about the situation in Poland,
Romania, and elsewhere, I will stress the situation in Czechoslovakia,
