Trieste born writer reports many Austrian writers emphasized virtues of Idleness as capitalism developed Seems uncertain of his own opinions on the matter, however Little said of the merits of Slowness, which was disappointing The Italian Institute's Riccardo Viale introduced yet another of his wideranging topics last Tuesday (May 7 2013) after recruiting his friend, the much-awarded writer and essayist Claudio Magris, to talk about Time Is No Money: Idleness, Work and Slowness in Middle-European Literature. Those New Yorkers tired of the incessant rat race of paying their rent, school fees, garage charges and other excessive demands contingent on trying to live a comfortable life in this most dynamic of cities might be forgiven for rushing to what promised to be an exploration of a smaller, quieter more rational alternative approach to existence but apparently most were too busy to spare the time. Possibly this was lucky for them since expectations of a rich discussion of that delightful alternative to fast lane moneymaking were not met, even though Professor Viale introduced his guest as if they would be, suggesting that the discussion would be in effective an extension of the recent conference he had organized in partnership with Columbia University's Italian Academy on the topic of how economists had broadened their idea of economic man from a rational creature who made mathematically accurate decisions on how to spend and make money to recognizing that he or she was a creature whose decisions were a lot more irrational and emotional than they had previously reckoned, a trend begun in the sixties by Herbert Simon, in whose honor the meet was held. Unfortunately this was not to be, since Mr Magris decided to spend most of his time reading his 20 page draft paper on his scholarly study of Middle European, mainly Austrian writers of the 18th Century and later who had resisted the onward and upward march of capitalism by celebrating the virtues of idleness and free time as the only path to enjoy the arts and other elevated pastimes properly. The paper was well written but perhaps too carefully worded for newcomers to the topic to follow perfectly in the rich Italian accent of the author, whose rugged Triestian good looks were reminiscent of W.H. Auden. Asked during the brief question and answer period which finally arrived whether he thought that harried New Yorkers could take a leaf out of the books he mentioned as capitalism seemed to be turning the entire nation into a banana republic, financially speaking, Mr Magris seemed averse to preaching any such sermon but allowed that his historical authors, like recent American writing exposing and condemning the drawbacks of unrestrained capitalism, formed a "literature of unbelievable human importance." But he did not view literature as incorporating any lesson, at least as a purpose. "Literature is not a teacher. It can only tell a story. Perhaps a reader discovers something of life which leads him to some political idea, but only in an indirect way. To be a school teacher is not the function of literature. A writer must absolutely not be responsible. He or she must be like a child at play." His talk had awoken longings in the breast of at least one New Yorker in his audience, however, a lady who enthused that "slowness is a lovely concept. A lovely concept. In this country you are given no space to think. You are made to go faster and faster.Reflection is considered deleterious. You are meant to produce all the time. A computer program is considered obsolete in three weeks. People are considered creative if they can put things together faster. The propaganda is so powerful. In the crisis you have the best propaganda machine. The President is doing the best he can. He is intelligent and well meaning, but it's impossible!" Her question was, "Is the present state of hectic pace and of not being unprecedented?" "Yes it is," Mr Magris replied,"We have had epochs of slowness but this one is unprecedented. As a species we cannot face this phenomenon. Trieste has a population of less than 300,000 inhabitants. We can't get the telephone system of New York. Yet my boiler has lasted longer than the Third Reich - fourteen years!" IDLENESS, WORK AND SLOWNESS IN MIDDLE-EUROPEAN LITERATURE A lecture by CLAUDIO MAGRIS Tuesday, May 7 2013 6:00 pm Italian Cultural Institute 686 Park Avenue, New York Magris graduated from the University of Turin, in German studies, and has been a professor of modern German literature at the University of Trieste since 1978. He is an essayist and columnist for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and for other European journals and newspapers. His numerous studies have helped to promote an awareness in Italy of Central European culture and of the literature of the Habsburg myth. Magris is a member of several European academies and served as senator in the Italian Senate from 1994 to 1996. His first book on the Habsburg myth in modern Austrian literature rediscovered central European literature. His journalistic writings have been collected in “Dietro le parole” (“Behind Words”, 1978) and “Itaca e oltre” (“Ithaca and Beyond”, 1982). He has written essays on E.T.A. Hoffmann, Henrik Ibsen, Italo Svevo, Robert Musil, Hermann Hesse and Jorge Luis Borges. His novels and theatre productions, many translated into several languages, include “Illazioni su una sciabola” (1984),”Danubio” (1986), “Stadelmann” (1988), “Un altro mare” (1991), and “Microcosmi” (1997). His breakthrough was “Danubio” (1986), which is a magnum opus. In this book (said by the author to be an “drowned novel”), Magris tracks the course of the Danube from its sources to the sea. The whole trip evolves into a colorful, rich canvas of the multicultural European history. Decorations and awards * 1980: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class * 1987: Bagutta Prize for Danubio * 1990: French Award for Best Foreign Book (essays) for Danubio * 1992: Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation * 1994: Gold Medal of Honour of the City of Vienna * 1995: Honorary doctorate from the University of Klagenfurt * 1997: Strega Prize for Microcosmi * 2000: Würth Prize for European Literature * 1 June 2001: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic * 2001: Erasmus Prize * 2001: Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding (Grand Prize) * 2001: Member of the Academy of Arts Berlin * 2004: Prince of Asturias Award for Literature * 31 July 2006: Austrian State Prize for European Literature[1] * 2007: Kythera Award * 2008: Walter Hallstein Prize * 18 October 2009: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade