NHK hyappun de meisho (Great books in 100 minutes on NHK) Václav Havel: Chikaranakimonotachi no chikara Václav Havel: The Power of the Powerless

About three decades ago, in 1989, socialist regimes in Europe began to fall, one after the other. This was the collapse of the Cold War structure. As each nation underwent changes in its political system, a certain individual in Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel (1936‐2011), received wide public attention. This is because this person, who was known as a dissident playwright, became the president of a country.
 
This book, published as a textbook for an NHK Educational TV program, guides the reader through The Power of the Powerless (1978), Havel’s representative work, and discusses what undergirds a system called totalitarianism, how politics is related to people’s daily lives, and what kind of power may reside in words.
 
Havel became president in 1989. Prior to that, he was a playwright—an ordinary citizen. His thinking is characterized by his attempt to redefine what is commonly regarded as “politics” from the ground up, instead of discussing the concept within existing frameworks such as political science or the dynamics of actual politics. Havel argues that, in examining totalitarianism, it is important to focus on the ideology that bolsters the system, rather than paying attention to any particular individuals. This is because ideology “offers an immediately available home” to “wandering humankind.”
 
While ideology offers people a place of abode, it prevents them from thinking on their own as individuals and makes them abandon their conscience. As a result, they will act only in a way that is expected of them as though they were automatons. In contemporary parlance, people will “read the situation” before they act. Havel calls this phenomenon “automatism.”
 
Another characteristic of Havel’s essay is that he calls for the rethinking of politics from the standpoint of individual citizens. As an example of automatism, he cites a political slogan that greengrocers would display in front of their shops. Such an act, by itself, may not appear to have much significance. However, according to Havel, if such a seemingly innocuous act is constantly repeated, it will eventually become the “panorama of everyday life” and foster a social ambience. Havel focuses on the awakening of individuals’ conscience as a means of breaking free from this predicament, arguing that the situation will gradually change if the greengrocers take down the slogan or start speaking their mind in public forums.
 
Thus, Havel prompts us to reconsider politics in our daily lives. This textbook not only deals with The Power of the Powerless but also his other essays and plays in an effort to provide a broader picture of Havel’s life and character. The book also discusses artistic expressions that suggest new possibilities for life as a “parallel culture” and the attraction and danger of words themselves. Please make sure you get ahold of this textbook and the translated version of Havel’s work if possible, as you reexamine your daily experiences.

 

(Written by ABE Kenichi, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2020)