Bob Geldof handed back his freedom of Dublin in a
very ungracious way and the city council could not allow itself to be treated in
that way. Although you mightn’t think it because of the way they behave, there
is a dignity to government or there is meant to be. A meeting of the Government
in Government Buildings is meant to be more formal and dignified than a
meeting of the same group of people in a pub. Hence the formality around the
event, the formality of the agenda and the preparation of the necessary
documents, the building in which it takes place and so on. Form follows
function, as they say, but form is also the way in which the seriousness of
government is conveyed. It must be careful not to tip over into arrogance and
aggrandizement but if the city’s highest honour is rudely thrown back in the
city’s face (more or less literally) the city council can’t let it go.
Geldof and Bono would be better off tackling the real evil contributing to poverty and suffering in many parts of the world: the obscene level of spending on arms by the West much of which ends up
in the deaths of very large numbers of people (although the “developed world” has recently experienced some blow back). They
are, however, very careful not to "go there", as far as I can tell. A reduction of 3% in US defence spending would end world poverty, something that Geldof and Bono could publicize to good effect. I’m not
sure, incidentally, that the good people of Ethiopia appreciated being
patronized by Geldof and the rock world in 1985. There is another side to that
story but I don’t think we ever heard it.
There is an excessive number of prizes for everything nowadays - literary, film,
drama, man of the year, freedom of the city, turnip grower of the year, etc. The Economy of Prestige
(2005) by James F. English, one of the most important books on culture published
in recent decades, is a study of the impact of prizes on literature. The number, nature and politics of literary prizes (which
incidentally keep on growing and keep devaluing existing prizes) are now
the key to literary success rather than talent. There are now so many books being published that authors know they must be on a prize list to be
able to stand out from the crowd. Not surprisingly, the proliferation of prizes and their importance in determining the success or failure of a book is now influencing what people write and
how they write. The prize culture is shifting the balance of power from
publishers/editors/the world of literature (the sort of people who should
determine what gets published) to (my old profession) bureaucrats, in this case
the bureaucrats of the literary world. They might know their way around intrigue
(always a useful skill) but might have the artistic
sensibility of a sod of turf. I gather that some old hands – like the Nobel
people – are very “iffy” about being dragged in to the tsunami that is now the
world of prizes and keep their distance from all the prizes hoo haa in an
attempt to avoid the devaluation of the Nobel Prize for Literature (which should
be awarded three or four times a century – no more).
English’ book is superb but I doubt if you will find it referred to very
often in literary magazines, newspapers, etc. It’s the old story: who guards
the guardians? How can we curb the rivers of books, most of which didn’t need to
come out of anyone’s pen, if the people whose job it is to guard against this –
the media, the publishing industry, the public square essentially, have a vested
interest in not curbing it?
To finish where I started: while I can understand why Dublin City Council might wish to award its highest honour to someone the Council believes to be of outstanding character, the devaluation of literary prizes is arguably being mirrored by the devaluation of other prizes/awards, including the award of the freedom of the city. Dublin City Council possibly rushed in where others would have waited a little longer only to subsequently find itself with egg on its face. I can't help feeling that there is an element of the city council promoting itself and Ireland's progressive values in making awards of this kind. If the city is progressive (and with its housing problems it is hard to make that case) such gestures are not necessary. If the city is not progressive awarding the freedom of the city won't fool anyone. And, as I say, it can end up with egg on its face. More haste less speed might be the motto for the city council in future.
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