"I shall never forgive"
"I laugh of what I want to when I want to". As stated by Charb in his Petit traité d'intolerance from 2009 on the things to avoid in life such as the theorists on laughter.
A true Rabelaisian (with that analysis by Glucksmann added on) Charb underlined that the problem is not be found in the "You can laugh at everything, but..." - combination. The "but..."-continuation changes nothing. It is the sentence itself "You can laugh at everything" - Cette sentence parfaitement imbecile - which is the problem, i.e. someone granting to others the right to laugh: "I do not need your benediction and I am not at all forced to laugh at everything. I laugh of what I want to when I want to".
Charb is no longer with us and what took place on January 7 this year shall remain an open wound in cartooning. For anyone trying to write off the murdered Charlie Hebdo-cartoonists as it has been attempted the past weeks from a number of members of the American PEN, it must be remembered too the impact of Charlie Hebdo had. While rendering inspiration is not a prerequisite for exercising the freedom of speech, the impact of the Charlie Hebdo-cartoonists tells quite another tale than that of any alleged hate speech. They inspired those, who could only speak up at their personal peril - which in itself is a sentence that hurts writing considering...
Particularly in the French-speaking Northern Africa their impact has been of a long-standing nature. Ali Dilem for one has been and is once again a member of the Charlie Hebdo-staff, and Nadia Khiari has stated all along what Charlie Hebdo and its predecessor, Hara Kiri, has meant to her. The magazine created a space in which anything could and would be questioned, and within this developing a language for critique, which having no affinity to a blame game, focused on sharp wit that was even transformed into the drawn line daring to be at once ugly and lovingly rounded.
The clear-cut one-liner with that wry precision in the turning of a quotation is instantly recognizable in the art of Amine Labter too with a daring, to which he answers himself that the paper sheet is his protection against possible adversaries to what he draws.
The clear-cut one-liner with that wry precision in the turning of a quotation is instantly recognizable in the art of Amine Labter too with a daring, to which he answers himself that the paper sheet is his protection against possible adversaries to what he draws.
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| Amine Labter /Vit'amine! May 1, 2015. "The cartoonist Tahar Djehiche sued" - I shall never forgive |
Amine's colleague Tahar Djehiche was at court today, accused of having insulted the president Bouteflika in linking him to the growing opposition to the drilling of shale gas. An aggravation to the charge was having shared the drawing on the social media.
And so, if it is a matter of not wishing to face the responsibility, Amine Labter has literally drawn the consequences on behalf of the president. En face and on that very color, only the sign is not one of benevolence this time.
