Ach Europa!

Ach Europa! Wahrnehmungen aus sieben Ländern (1987)

Europe, Europe: Forays into a Continent (1989)

Ach Europa! / Europe, Europe is a collection of seven essays on different European countries: Sweden, Italy, Hungary, Portugal, Norway, Poland and Spain.

There is also a postscript, ‘Böhmen am Meer’ / ‘The Seacoast of Bohemia, 2006’ – a piece of speculative fiction imagining what Europe would be like in the year 2006 – at the time, this was two decades in the future.

The English translation by Martin Chalmers (1989) omits the section on Norway. As the English cover blurb says: ‘It’s impossible to think of a single Europe after travelling with Enzensberger – only of a diverse, irregular, wonderful patchwork.’

This is a travel book in the liberal tradition of Ludwig Börne and Heinrich Heine. However, while Ludwig Börne campaigned for political democracy and universal suffrage, much of Enzensberger’s book extols the virtues of economic liberalism. Enzensberger welcomes the rise of new neoliberal politicians in Western Europe, while denouncing the authoritarian communist governments in Poland and Hungary. As he travels around Europe, Enzensberger meets and admires many politicians and intellectuals who support free market liberalization and financial deregulation. Thus, by the late 1980s, Enzensberger seemed more in tune with the policies of Helmut Kohl and Margaret Thatcher than with left-wing positions.

Schwedischer Herbst / Swedish Autumn (1982)

This section begins with a party celebrating Olof Palme’s election victory in 1982. Enzensberger is relieved to meet at least one iconoclast – a successful businessman, a self-made man who challenges the social democratic consensus. He meets the new culture minister Bengt Göransson, who complains about the ‘loss of variety and initiative that has resulted from the state taking over responsibility for social needs in Sweden.’ (German edition, p. 46; English edition, p. 33). The chapter concludes with a rhetorical question: ‘Vielleicht ist der gute Hirte ein Unding?’ (German, p. 48) / ‘Perhaps the good shepherd is an absurdity?’ (English, p. 35). Enzensberger, it seems, distrusts the welfare state and seems to welcome the ‘creative destruction’ (Schumpeter) of capitalist ferment.

Italienische Ausschweifungen / Italian Extravangances (1983)

In Italy, Enzensberger meets an ‘extremist’ who hates the idea of equality. He calls it a ‘phantom’ and an ‘empty slogan’ (German edition, p. 80; English edition, p. 55). Enzensberger observes that, in Italy, tax evasion has become a ‘national sport’ (German edition, p. 109; English edition, pp. 79-80). Is the Italian model perhaps an image of Europe’s future? He sums it up as follows: ‘Ich und mein Clan, meine Familie, mein Laden, wir kommen durch, auch wenn die anderen verrecken’ (German, p. 117) / ‘Me and my clan, my family, my shop – we’ll manage, and all the rest can go to hell’ (English, p. 86). Enzensberger is shocked by this attitude, however he thinks it unlikely that it will spread to the rest of Europe (!).

Ungarische Wirrungen / Hungarian Confusions (1985)

In Hungary, Enzensberger meets ‘a member of the management’ who predicts the fall of the Soviet Union due to the global reach of American television. He declares: ‘Ich habe nichts gegen die Russen. Man muß sie zu Europäern machen, das ist alles’ (German edition, p. 150) / ‘I’ve got nothing against the Russians. They just have to be made into Europeans, that’s all’ (English edition, p. 111). Later, Enzensberger visits the Romani slum in Esztergom and observes:

‘In der Zigeunerfrage kommt auch das moralische Defizit der Volkstümler zum Vorschein, die sich über die Behandlung der ungarischen Minderheit in Rumänien ereifern, die totale Marginalisierung der Sinti aber […] ganz normal finden’ (German, p. 163)

‘The [Roma & Sinti] question brings out the moral deficiencies of the Populists, who get worked up over the treatment of the Hungarian minority in Romania, but find the complete marginalization of the Sinti […] quite reasonable.’ (English, p. 122).

Portugiesische Grübeleien / Portuguese Reveries (1986)

At the library of Coimbra, Enzensberger meets a young historian who tells him:

‘Natürlich, jedes Volk redigiert die eigene Vergangenheit. Was uns betrifft, wir verstehen uns weder auf die Kosmetik, wie die Amerikaner, noch auf die Selbstzensur, wie die Russen. […] Dafür sind wir Spezialisten der Schattenbeschwörung. Die Geschichte ist für uns eine Art Seelenkino. Gespielt wird immer derselbe alte Film, „Das verlorene Imperium“.’ (German edition, pp. 210-11)

‘Of course, every nation edits its own past. But we’re not skilled with cosmetics like the Americans, nor in self-censorship like the Russians. […] Our speciality is the invocation of shadows. History is a kind of cinema of the soul for us. And it’s always the same old film playing: The Lost Empire.’ (English edition, p. 159)

Later, Enzensberger quotes a newspaper opinion piece by Xavier Pintado predicting that Portugal’s entry into the European Community will only increase the gulf between rich and poor (German, p. 214; English, p. 162).

Norwegische Anachronismen / Norwegian Anachronisms (1984)

The ‘Invention of Norway’ section contains a fascinating discussion of how each nation constructs its history to serve the needs of the present. This phenomenon was described in The Invention of Tradition (1983), edited by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger. Enzensberger interviews three students who think that Norway’s national identity is a Lebenslüge (a ‘life-lie’ or grand delusion) – the term derives from the dramas of Henrik Ibsen (German edition, p. 273). Elsa explains:

‘Wir sind keine kühnen Wikinger, wir sind die verwöhnten Kinder des Wohlfahrtsstaates. Wir sind keine Provinzler, sondern Kosmopoliten. Und schließlich sind wir nicht stoltz und souverän, sondern eine Nation von kompromißbereiten Händlern, die vom Weltmarkt abhängen’ (German edition, p. 273)

‘We are not bold vikings, but the spoiled children of the welfare state. We are not provincials, but cosmospolitans. And finally we are not proud and sovereign, but a nation of compromising merchants who depend on the world market’ (translation E.S.).

In Stavanger, Enzensberger meets an insider who reveals some of the secrets of the oil industry (German, pp. 289-91). Then he meets a group of management consultants who claim not only that Karl Marx is dead, but also John Maynard Keynes too! (German, p. 305).

Polnische Zufälle / Polish Incidents (1986)

In Poland, Enzensberger meets some right-wing intellectuals who admire Ludwig Klages and Ernst Jünger. They think that ‘rationalism is finished’ and they are planning Poland’s future after the fall of Communism (German edition, pp. 344-46; English edition, pp. 200-02). Enzensberger offends his guide Jadwiga when he says: ‘Die politische Heuchelei der Kommunisten und die sexuelle der Katholiken: das ist doch Jacke wie Hose!’ (German, p. 340) / ‘The political hypocrisy of the Communists and the sexual hypocrisy of the Catholics – they’re like two sides of the same coin!’ (English, p. 197). Jadwiga is outraged – she hates feminism; she claims it is not needed in Poland because ‘Unsere Männer beten uns an, jawohl!’ / ‘Our men worship us – it’s true!’ (German, p. 340; English, p. 197).

Later, Enzensberger meets his Polish colleague and counterpart, the journalist and poet Ryszard Kapuściński (1932-2007). Kapuściński says that he regrets the lack of a bourgeois intelligentsia in Poland, who could help to form an enlightened leadership stratum (German, pp. 353-54; English, p. 208).

Finally, in Wrocław, Enzensberger has a conversation with his friend, the poet Tadeusz Różewicz (1921-2014). Różewicz is unhappy about the critical reviews of his work in church newspapers (e.g. his play The White Wedding / Białe małżeństwo, 1975). Różewicz says that the Poles are getting mystical again. Enzensberger responds: ‘Wenn es regnet, braucht man ein Dach.’ (German, p. 367) / ‘People need a roof when it rains.’ (English, p. 219).

Spanische Scherben / Spanish Shards (1985)

In Madrid, Enzensberger meets a German expatriate who assures him that, like the Germans, the Spanish are no longer fascists (German edition, p. 397; English edition, pp. 241-42). Enzensberger visits the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen), where a left-wing politician tells him:

‘in der Frage der Symbole sind es immer die Rechten, die die bessere Nase haben. Die Rechten sind die Spezialisten des Wahns. Deshalb ist es sinnlos, sich um Denkmäler, Fahnen und Straßennamen zu streiten. Dieser Kampf ist sogar gefährlich, denn es ist stets der Dümmere, der ihn gewinnt’ (German edition, p. 407)

‘the right has always had a better nose for symbols. The right are the experts on delusions. That’s why there’s no point in arguing about monuments, flags, and street names. It can even be dangerous, because the stupidest arguments always win.’ (English edition, p. 249)

Later, Enzensberger meets a Basque separatist, and is not impressed. Enzensberger quotes the essayist Fernando Savater (born 1947), who criticises both sides in the conflict (German, p. 437; English, p. 274). Enzensberger thinks that Spain would be better off with a form of ‘functional’ or ‘viable’ federalism, rather like Germany (German, p. 438; English, p. 274).

Epilog: ‘Böhmen am Meer’ / Epilogue: ‘The Seacoast of Bohemia’, 2006 (1987)

This is a piece of speculative fiction. Writing in the late 1980s, Enzensberger imagines what Europe might be like two decades later, in the year 2006.

Enzensberger adopts the persona of a US journalist, Timothy Taylor of ‘The New New Yorker’ magazine.

In this alternate future, Europe has enjoyed sixty years of peace – like most commentators, Enzensberger did not foresee the Yugoslav wars of 1991-2001.

In Helsinki, Timothy Taylor interviews Erkki Rintala, the former president of the European Community, who claims that European unity is a ‘chimera’ (German, p. 481; English, p. 307). Rintala holds with the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897), who thought that ‘forced unity and homogenization are bad’ for Europe (German, p. 482; English, p. 308). Taylor visits Bucharest – after the Romanian earthquake, Nicolae Ceaușescu was ‘shot down by his own people’, after which the French and the Germans came in with a ‘Second Marshall Plan.’ (German, p. 486; English, pp. 311-12). The final stop on Taylor’s journey is Prague – here too, the Communist dictatorship has collapsed.

At the end of the book, Timothy Taylor meets a taxi driver, an Austrian who is studying comparative literature in Prague. The student/taxi driver gives him a copy of Ingeborg Bachmann’s utopian poem ‘Böhmen am Meer’ / ‘Bohemia by the Sea’, and tells him to learn it by heart.

German Edition

Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Ach Europa! Wahrnehmungen aus sieben Ländern. Mit einem Epilog aus dem Jahre 2006 (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1987)

English Translation

Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Europe, Europe: Forays into a Continent, trans. by Martin Chalmers (London: Hutchinson Radius, 1989)