How do societies adequately deal with the burden of their history? Answers were sought at the Munich Literature Festival – Mirjam Zadoff and Ronen Steinke spoke at the Literaturhaus about the consequences of violence, and a symposium at the Kammerspiele focused on the “poisonous legacy” of the literary canon.
Violence has an effect on those who perpetrate it and those who suffer it: both petrify. The author and director of the NS Documentary Center Mirjam Zadoff quoted this insight from the philosopher Simone Weil in the packed hall of the Literaturhaus on Friday evening. And she adds: “Getting out of this petrification is a difficult process for individuals and societies.”