| From Unity, 5 July 2008 |
Culture as an area of struggleby Mel CorryI was asked to make a contribution to the pre-congress discussions taking place lately; unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the meeting, so I submit this article for the consideration of comrades.Anyone watching political developments over the last week should understand that culture is an important area of struggle as Sinn Féin play games with everyone over the non-implementation of an Irish Language Act and Peter Robinson replaces a Paisley loyalist with another arch-bigot at the Department of Culture, Arts, and Leisure. For us we should be proud of the way that we have promoted the Irish language through our bilingual web site in a way which promotes the language with quiet dignity and no neo-Celtic triumphalism. When we promote the use of Irish we share the same ground as militant nationalists in the North and the polite middle classes of the South; however, as Marxists, speaking and supporting the language can be seen as an expression of solidarity with oppressed and marginalised cultures the world over, cultures being destroyed by the ongoing march of narrow majoritarian nationalisms and capitalist exploitation. If the Irish language is to survive and prosper then its proponents need to reach out to the Protestant unionist loyalist community and demonstrate that language constitutes no threat to their position and could be a vital part of their culture, as it was in the late nineteenth century. We in the party should examine our own particular culture. Do we have one? Is it the same north and south? Can it be developed as an area of struggle? Can we provide a cultural alternative in the communities from which we emerged? If we ask ourselves why so many disparate elements of the labour movement call in to the premises on May Day, it is because we are seen as the incorruptible conscience of the labour movement and they know that on that day sectarian differences are put aside, as we put the workers’ day centre stage. The party has been to the fore in a number of cultural activities in the last number of months. No-one will argue with the role that individual communists played in the celebrations of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Spanish Civil War. We also had a very successful celebration of the ninetieth anniversary of the October Revolution, with Hans Heinz Holz speaking to a packed audience in the premises. We promoted the celebration of the 1906 dockworkers’ strike. In Dungiven, Marion and Hermann have been running many cultural events over the years, which have given us an opportunity to promote our class and show an alternative way, particularly to youth. All this leads me to the opinion that the time has come for a resurgence of our party. We have survived the demise of the Soviet Union, we are expanding our branch structures, and we move forward with confidence. Maybe we should develop our cultural activity by making sure that after all our public meetings we sing at least one verse and chorus of the “International.” We should develop our relationships with artists and musicians, particularly those with a political edge, such as Open Window Productions, who tell the story of working-class Belfast. We should give encouragement to people in the arts by utilising the premises for musical events or arts exhibitions which have a class dimension. As a small party with big ideas, no area of struggle can be neglected. We must use the talent that we have in the party, and in our circle of influence, to promote class consciousness among those who have drifted and those who are searching for us. The radical American singer-songwriter Steve Earle was asked by the media after singing at a huge anti-war demonstration in Washington, was there a role for artists in such campaigns? He replied that his role was to hold a mirror up to the audience. Our role should be to hold up a mirror to society, let them see the dangers of individualism, the trap of consumerism, and the answer of socialism. |
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