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给我一个独裁庇护所

Apr 7, 2016 Ian Buruma

纽约—在美国总统奥巴马开拓性地访问古巴后，滚石乐队在哈瓦那举行的免费音乐会看起来相对而言就算不上什么大事了。奥巴马在半个多世纪的深度敌对后重新开启了美国和古巴的关系。而年逾古稀的滚石乐队成员只不过是表演了几首吵吵闹闹的音乐。

但是，从象征意义上说，滚石音乐会绝不是小事。要理解滚石在数十万狂热的古巴“粉丝”面前表演的重要性，你必须先理解对于共产党独裁统治下的人民来说摇滚乐意味着什么。

比如，20世纪70年代，和其他共产主义国家一样，捷克斯洛伐克是一个沉闷、压抑、毫无乐趣可言的地方，平庸的党的御用文人决定着基调，创造力被强制的因循守旧所压制。摇滚乐被认为是有毒的资本主义堕落形式。20世纪70年代末，一个叫宇宙塑料人（Plastic People of the Universe）的用英语演出的本地摇滚乐队因为“有组织地破坏和平”而被捕。滚石和其他西方团体的唱片是被禁止的。

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j. von Hettlingen Apr 11, 2016

Ian Buruma speaks of the power of rock music, that changes the mood of a society and marks the zeitgeist of a generation. Cuba had under Fidel Castro been isolated the last five decades. This year Obama became became the first sitting president to visit Cuba in 88 years. A few days later, the Rolling Stones gave a free concert in Havana. While Obama’s "trailblazing" visit to Cuba was historic, Buruma sees the concert of this bunch of septuagenarians as equally symbolic. Cubans realised that they had in the past missed so much fun and entertainment in rock and roll that they now want to catch up.
The Rolling Stones celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012, and the band is keen on staying another 10 years in business. There were other rock bands around in the 1970s, and they were all seen as a "noxious form of capitalist decadence" in communist countries, which all had one trait in common - a "dreary, joyless place." Countries behind the Iron Curtain served to shield their population from Western influences, allowing the party leaders to "set the tone" and enforce "conformism."
Rock music was banned because the apparatchiks feared that the "frivolous posturing" expressed in "loud, anarchic" noises could inspire young people to "imagine what it would be like to be free, if only for fleeting moments." They certainly viewed the freedom of expression and creativity that spawned the music scene in the West as "profoundly subversive,"
Despite oppression, records had been smuggled into Eastern Europe, where "they were treasured by young rock fans." For them the expletive language and this "expression of serious rebellion" was an "escape from the drabness of a tightly policed normality." Some rock bands were formed underground. In the 1970s the "Plastic People of the Universe" got arrested in Czechoslovakia for “organized disturbance of the peace.” The dissident playwright Václav Havel," was a rock fan himself. In 1989 he led the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and became its president. After the partition of the country, he was re-elected as president of the new Czech Republic. He also made the American rock musician Frank Zappa an honorary cultural ambassador.
Buruma points out the flipside of music-induced ecstasy, whose "experiences" are similar to those "in a religious frenzy," prompting "official guardians of social order.... to ban such practices." Already in 380 BC in ancient Greec, "Plato warned against departing from traditional forms of music." He claimed "exciting new sounds, were a danger to the polis. He believed that lawlessness began with unorthodox kinds of musical entertainment, and advised the authorities to put a stop to such things."
Rock music may have served people in communist countries as a silent demand for "shelter from dictatorship." But other totalitarian regimes see traditional music as a threat too. Adherents of Wahhabism, who follow the austere form of Islam, ban music, saying it corrupts the mind and soul of a true Muslim. Song and dance are banned by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Islamists in Mali and in the Islamic State.
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Nikolas Papavlassopulos Apr 11, 2016

Mr. Ian Buruma you have not done your homework. Before the Rolling Stones, Rick Wakeman of the rock group “YES” had performed in Cuba. “Air Supply” has performed in CUBA. “Magic Street Preachers” have performed in CUBA. “Audioslave” has performed in CUBA. “Sepultura” has performed in CUBA.
By the way the primary reason that many rock groups do not play in CUBA, is U.S sanctions and finances! Rock groups do not play for free.
The Cuban regime comes second, by far.
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Nathan W Apr 10, 2016

It would demonstrate significant cultural misunderstanding to suppose that a rick concert by international stars would be a "relatively minor event" compared to the visit of Obama. For many people, this was probably a far more significant event than Obama's visit.
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Tonu Pavel Apr 8, 2016

It is sad that US can pretend that it is still a democracy only when matched with countries like Cuba and North Corea. While Cuba has an idea to suppor its dictatorship, US is gradualy left without any because american democracy like american dream are vanishing all together.
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Petey Bee Apr 8, 2016

it's a shame the Cuban dictatorship had a policy banning visits by westerners such as the Stones, who for years enjoyed unrestricted freedom of travel...
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Godfree Roberts Apr 8, 2016

Rather retro piece, given that the US itself has abandoned democracy. That's not just what our own eyes tell us every day, it's what President Carter pointed out, repeatedly, and researchers at Princeton confirmed. It's over.
Jimmy Carter: U.S. Is an 'Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/videos/jimmy-carter-u-s-is-an-oligarchy-with-unlimited-political-bribery-20150731
And "Testing Theories of American Politics," by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page in Perspectives on Politics, The American Political Science Association September 2014.
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给我一个独裁庇护所

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