Qendra Multimedia / Jeton Neziraj

The author Karl May may have experienced many an adventure, but he did not know the places of his popular stories from his own experience, nor did he personally encounter the many cultures in which his main characters moved. This did not detract from his imagination, on the contrary. He painted the stereotypes of distant peoples that haunted Western minds in his time in oversize, leaving no cliché unturned. Entire generations of children were influenced by his colonialist view of Indians, Arabs or Slavs.

When Jeton Neziraj was commissioned to write a contribution for the Postwest Festival of the Berlin Volksbühne, reflecting on the relationship between Western and Eastern Europeans, he recalled Karl May's literary work. Kara Ben Nemsi, who in May's work rides through wild Kurdistan, among other places, now sets off for Germany. He meets Slavoj Žižek and Peter Handke, the National Socialist Underground and other illustrious figures. Today's Europe invokes its cultural and civilizational values and its democracy proclaimed as sacred. The Arab hero and his companions, however, find another Europe, one that still wallows in stereotypes, deeply rooted in racist thought structures.

The Kosovar author JETON NEZIRAJ is known in his homeland as an uncomfortable contemporary who does not shy away from provocation and confrontation with his theater texts. He has written over 20 plays, many of which have been performed on European stages and in the USA.