In the podcast series The Cartoon Crisis, endowed professor of public philosophy Stine Jensen looks for the cause and effects of the murder of Samuel Paty. The spoken language of this podcast is Dutch. The podcast will be broadcast on radio channel NPO 1 .
Lest we forget
On October 16, 2020, French history teacher Samuel Paty was murdered in broad daylight. He was beheaded in the street after showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in his classroom during a lesson on freedom of expression. In memory of Paty and what he stood for, Stine Jensen is creating the four-part podcast series The Cartoon Crisis for broadcaster HUMAN about the consequences of Paty's murder. So that we do not forget him and we continue to discuss freedom of expression.
Boundaries
Since Paty's murder, teachers have been struggling with the question of which images they can still show and how much space they can give to freedom of expression. And do the cartoonists still dare to push the boundaries? The boundaries are not only unclear around cartoons, debates about censorship and offendedness are the order of the day. Think of the quarrels surrounding spring fever, gender, Roald Dahl or 'woke'.
In this four-part podcast, Stine Jensen explores the limits of freedom of expression. To show or not to show? To discuss or...? That is something Stine also struggles with as a teacher. Should she be braver? Or is it good to consider the sensitivities of certain groups that may feel offended? Through Jensen's personal quest, this podcast addresses difficult and current themes: the tension between courage and fear, freedom of expression and taking each other's sensitivities into account, humor and religion.
In the first two episodes, professor of Erasmian Values Ronald van Raak and emeritus professor Marli Huijer of Erasmus school of Philosophy respectively have their say.
Episodes
Episode 1: #Jesuissamuel
In this episode, Jensen reconstructs the murder of Samuel Paty. In the Netherlands, a reaction quickly emerged after the murder: in an instructive letter for teachers following the murder of Paty, a number of Utrecht professors stated that it should be possible to show cartoons, also to Muslim students, provided the learning environment is safe. But, they argued, it is better to discuss controversial cartoons by describing them. Is taking the sensitivities of groups into account the highest form of tolerance?
In this episode, Stine speaks to, among others, lawyer and philosopher Afshin Ellian, foreign correspondent Floor Bouma and former politician Ronald van Raak.
Episode 2: The Teachers
On November 5, 2020, three weeks after the murder of Samuel Paty, a philosophy teacher from Emmaus College goes into hiding in Rotterdam. He had the cartoon 'Immortal' by Joep Bertrams, which was awarded the Inktspot Prize, hanging in his classroom, a cartoon that was drawn after the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in 2015. What choices do teachers make in their lessons when it comes to sensitive teaching material, such as cartoons? For example, do 'trigger warnings' offer a solution? Jensen talks to her colleagues. How do they approach this in class?
In this episode, Stine speaks to, among others, social studies teacher Halil Karaaslan, philosopher Marli Huijer and senior media studies teacher Jaap Kooijman.
Episode 3: Offended
Why do some people find certain images offensive? And what do you feel offended by? Jensen asks her podcast guests this question. She visits a symposium in Utrecht about controversial images in Islam and comes across a riot in America in which a teacher was fired after showing art historical images of the Prophet Mohammed in class. There are also numerous images in Dutch schoolbooks. Do we make enough difference between cartoons and other images?
In this episode, Stine speaks to religion and visual culture teacher Joël Valk and art historian Christiane Gruber.
Episode 4: The Cartoonists
What have been the consequences of the various global cartoon crises and Paty's murder for cartoonists in the Netherlands? Paty brought the matter to a head, but there has been a debate about cartoons in society for much longer. The cartoon issue in Denmark in 2005 caused a worldwide uproar, one that is only increasing. It is no longer just about portraying the prophet, but about all kinds of stereotypes of population groups. Jensen consults a lawyer and meets three cartoonists.
In this episode, Stine speaks to, among others, lawyer Tamara Buruma and cartoonists Ruben Oppenheimer, Joep Bertrams and Sanaz Bagheri.
- More information
Visit the HUMAN website: https://www.human.nl/de-cartooncrisis.html