EDA KRISEOVA
89
Kurzweil: What about intellectual life? You had such a lively one as dis–
sidents. Does that still function, or are you more fragmented?
Kriseova: We are fragmented. The people who were united under the
communists now are independent. But that is normal and doesn't mat–
ter. It was not normal to live in ghettos .
Kurzweil: You mean intellectual ghettos.
Kriseova: Yes. These ghettos were formed in response to outside pres–
sure, pressure by the state police. And then, of course, when the coun–
try split so completely, we functioned very differently. When you are not
under pressure, you are much more independent. But some writers and
artists are frustrated, because in the sixties some of them were very suc–
cessful. Then, they were banned and were waiting for better times. Now,
better times are here, and nobody is interested in their work. When
these people were in opposition, they expected much Improvement.
Instead, our society has turned aga inst the dissidents.
Kurzweil: Why?
Kriseova: Because people have guilty consciences. That is also a part of
the hate for Havel. He is too moral for them. Most of them were and
are opportunists. Our society is in a bad moral state. People during the
time of "normalization," in the twenty years after the invasion in
1968,
lost their dignity, self-respect, honor, and sense for a good reputation.
They now conform by telling lies. Some intellectuals and people in
power are making up stories about their lives: they pretend to have been
dissidents, and even to have signed Charter
77,
when they want to sell
themselves abroad . They are not even ashamed to tell these stories in the
presence of former dissidents. I am not frustrated. I can publish in my
own country, in my own language, I can travel, and I have no trouble
with the state police. I feel that I am a world citizen. That makes me
happy and unhappy at the same time. I am a part of mankind, and I feel
responsibility for our world . It seems to me that the world slips up on
problems which are no longer solvable, that our reality is more dramatic
than any fiction that you might invent. I am scared, and that is why I
started to write essays for the first time in my life.
When I look around me, it's such a small stage, and small puppets are
playing as if they were giants. They are fighting about small amounts of
power and money, compared to wealthy and powerful Americans.
