The Latest at Goethe

Poets and thinkers in the search for an identity: 60 years after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany and 20 years after reunification it may be clear where Germany is located on the map. Yet, what does German culture mean today? If we look beyond the clichés of German depth and thoroughness is there something we have in common that differentiates us from the cultures of other nations?

"German culture is dialogue," says Monika Griefahn, cultural policymaker and member of the Bundestag. "It has many facets and is not standardized." Globalization is no threat; on the contrary: "It makes roots ever more important." Her statements met with no disagreement in the discussion round on "German Culture in the Age of Globalization." At the event Wednesday evening, part of the "Landmarken" series, there was consensus that German culture is chiefly distinguished by openness and integration.

Conductor Ingo Metzmacher refuses to attempt a definition of the German concept of culture: "We do not present any uniform German culture. Our strength lies in our inconsistency, our diversity!"

What about "national culture?" Is it a phase-out model in times when every possible artistic influence from the other side of the world is only a mouse click away?

"There is a great deal of tabooing"

Together with the German-Turkish writer and journalist Mely Kiyak, Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, president of the Goethe-Institut, calls for a redefinition of the term national culture. He says: "There is a great deal of tabooing. The term 'national culture' is contaminated. It needs to be given a new life." Kiyak went on: "When I ask for a definition of national culture in Germany, I encounter lots of stammering."

Germany, Lehmann states, has for a long time had difficulties accepting its reality as an immigration country. In the meantime, things have changed, however, and immigrants are seen as enrichment. The Germans are better positioned for entering into dialogue. Therefore, there can be no canon for culture.

Yet Mely Kiyak asks whether such a canon isn't necessary, for when immigrants are expected to integrate with the German culture they first have to know what that is. A canon and a notion of what the national culture is would be very helpful.

Typically German?

At the same time, she criticizes that the reality of Germany as an immigration country is by no means reflected among the native German culture creators in artistic productions in theatres and literature. Lehmann distinctly countered that in recent years in particular great artists such as Feridun Zaimoglu and Fatih Akin are perceived by the public as representatives of German culture.

In response to the question by moderator Christof Siemes of Die Zeit, of what the contents of German national culture are today, the first thing that comes to Griefahn's mind is the prominent significance of the Basic Law, while Mely Kiyak considers freedom of the press constitutive for German national culture.

At least the debaters can agree on something "typically German": constant self-realization with the question "who are we?" Culture attempts to find answers to this question.

At any rate, moderator Siemes suggests provokingly, national culture cannot be seen as a "small consolation." In the opinion of Goethe-Institut president Lehmann, the purely "global explanatory model is not viable for the future." It is local cultural diversity that accounts for creative potential. Or as Metzmacher sums up: "Culture is as culture does."