|
The opium of the people
Goffredo Fofi
Culture, as the Power understands it and as we have accepted it, is no longer knowledge, but instead a refined tool that dulls our awareness and makes us complacent with the world as it is. And this is the new "opium of the people", bestowed upon us in abundance to make of us light-hearted lotus-eaters.
How many Italians make a living out of "culture"? They – nay, we - are millions, well positioned in schools of every order and grade, in newspapers, in publishing, in entertainment, in television, on radios, on blogs, in museums, festivals, in departments of culture, of tourism, in advertising…we are the greatest "factory" in the country, albeit completely devoid of whatsoever collective identity. A massive cash trail and a massive trail of waffle. But aside from its financial relevance, is not perhaps that the system which we are a part of, that we are complicit with, uses this same excess of culture also to distract us from concrete collective action, numbing us with words, images and sounds? We certainly have no need for this type of culture that is glitzy and manipulative. What we need is a critical culture able to look at the world with a sharp eye and more importantly with the ambition of becoming action. A culture, or better a plurality of cultures, that is able to detox from the blackmail and flattery of power, so as to understand and consequently, to act.
Goffredo Fofi (Gubbio 1937) has worked in film and literary criticism, founded cultural and political publications – "Quaderni Piacentini", "Lo straniero", "Linea d'ombra", "Asini" - he has also taken part in many projects of social and educational intervention from the 1950s until today, in particular in Palermo, Rome, Turin, Milan and Naples. He is the author of many books and pamphlets, among which Totò. L'uomo e la maschera [Totò the man and the mask] (2017), Salvare gli innocenti. Una pedagogia per I tempi di crisi [Saving the innocent. A pedagogy for times of crisis] (2014), Alberto Sordi. L'Italia in bianco e nero [Alberto Sordi: Italy in black and white] (2015), Le zone grigie. Conformismo e vitlà nell'Italia di oggi [Grey areas. Conformity and cowardice in contemporary Italy] (2010), he has also published for elèuthera Da pochi a pochi, appunti di sopravvivenza [From few to few, notes on survival] (2006) and Il cinema del no, visioni anarchiche della vita e della società [The cinema of No! Anarchic visions of life and society] (2015).
|
 |
|
| rassegna stampa |
 |
 Sat 04 Jun 2022 - L'essenziale
Goffredo Fofi e l'instancabile ricerca di luoghi e persone |
|
Mon 01 Jun 2020 - L'indice dei libri del mese
L'oppio del popolo |
|
Sat 18 Jan 2020 - Corriere del ticino
Quando è la cultura ad essere oppio del popolo |
|
Fri 17 Jan 2020 - Il mattino
L'oppio del popolo |
|
Tue 22 Oct 2019 - La notizia
È sempre guerra ai competenti |
|
Tue 15 Oct 2019 - La gazzetta del mezzogiorno
Goffredo Fofi, la critica della ragione impura |
|
Tue 01 Oct 2019 - Arbiter
L'oppio del popolo |
|
Fri 20 Sep 2019 - Gazzetta di Mantova
L'oppio dei popoli? Non è più la religione: adesso è la cultura |
|
Thu 12 Sep 2019 - Internazionale
L'oppio del popolo |
|
Mon 09 Sep 2019 - Il mattino
Il nuovo oppio del popolo? è la cultura in stile social |
|
Mon 02 Sep 2019 - Corriere del ticino
Goffredo Fofi, un intellettuale al tempo dei lotofagi |
|
Sun 25 Aug 2019 - La repubblica Palermo
La povertà non si nasconde |
|
Tue 13 Aug 2019 - Avvenire
Perché la cultura non sia evasione e intrattenimento |
|
Sun 11 Aug 2019 - Il sole 24 ore
La cultura come droga leggera |
|
Sat 03 Aug 2019 -
Il grido di dolore di Goffredo Fofi, invocando il noi |
|
| materiali |
|
|
L'oppio del popolo indice e introduzione - pdf |
|
| eventi |
|
|
Milano, 30 giugno 2019 - L'oppio del popolo - Rob de Matt |
|
borsa acquisti
