The world’s biggest international book trade fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair, just concluded at the end of October 2022. It saw the presence of over 4,000 exhibitors from 95 countries. It is interesting to note that though the Frankfurt Book Fair traces its history to 500 years ago, this modern version ran for the last 74 years under the patronage of Germany’s Ministry of State for Culture and Media.
While the Frankfurt Book Fair is one of the most strategic events in the world to observe global trends, secure deals, and build connections in the publication industry, such monumental events are also opportunities for a more profound purpose.
Indeed, the president and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Jürgen Boos, has stated, “We must hear all voices, insofar as they do not violate the law, and give them the opportunity to be heard.”
One of the key features of the Frankfurt Book Fair is the forums and talks held concurrently during the six-day affair. It features current and political topics, such as the safeguarding of democracy, diversity in the media, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but a major angle was missing in the writer’s estimation.
In times of increasing polarisation and mistrust globally between adherents of various religions and civilisations (especially between Islam and the West which is a source of much tension), more can and should be done for all parties to not only converge to aim for a certain return of investment, or to enhance the visibility of a nation’s soft power, but to propel, trigger, or spark new possibilities in the domain of thought and action.
The following are some thoughts on how such events can be improved in the future, as well as how Malaysia and nations from other civilisations could use such opportunities to their advantage in the context of cultural diplomacy, civilisational dialogue, and to be part of the healing efforts to the deep fractures in the world.
Firstly, we need to use such events to convene more cross-worldviews, and cross-civilisational dialogues—the commitment to recognise “diversity” must not merely mean “cross-cultural” which can still sideline the diversity of worldviews in the world. Failure to do so will inadvertently lead to a monologue and hegemony of one particular civilisation at the expense of the rich diversity of worldviews in the world.
Secondly, the government of Malaysia, in particular, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education, should consider involvement in such events as part of their cultural diplomacy efforts. This means, both ministries together with Government Linked Companies and the private sector, should take this opportunity to invest and promote Malaysia’s best authors and publications, and strategic institutions which can position Malaysia further as a nation of thought leadership and as a noteworthy participant in civilisational dialogue. Indeed, we have enough talents and thinkers in the country for such a pursuit.
Thirdly, Muslim nations should take such opportunities to also learn about others in a more profound way “so that you may know one another” as stated in the Qur’an (Surah al-Hujurat, (49): 13). Trips to institutions that cultivate a culture of knowledge in Germany should be made as part of ongoing study trips of Muslim world delegation representatives with the purpose of drawing lessons for their collective advancement.
One must keep it mind that the Frankfurt Book Fair is only one of the many commendable initiatives over the years on the part of German officials and civil society in cultivating the culture of knowledge in German society.
The aforementioned commendable initiatives include the preservation of numerous institutions and initiatives which promote both the humanities and the natural and technical sciences—all of which deserve to be reflected upon by Muslim nations whose tendency is only to promote the natural and technical sciences at the expense of the humanities to their own detriment.
One such commendable initiative is the preservation of the famous Heidelberg University, which is Germany’s oldest university and one of the world’s oldest surviving universities where the humanities and natural sciences are taught for almost 700 years. As of 2021, the university has seen the emergence of 33 Nobel Prize winners, domestic and foreign heads of state or heads of government, eminent figures (such as Max Weber, Arnold Toynbee, Hannah Arendt, Hegel, Jose Rizal, and Muhammad Iqbal), as well as distinguished philosophers who taught there such as Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Jürgen Habermas.
The Germans also honour their luminaries in the humanities and the natural sciences—another important feature of a society that cultivates a culture of knowledge. This is because, in reality, knowledge is afforded to individuals, not institutions or society.
By way of example of how the Germans honour their luminaries, the illustrious poet, playwright, and novelist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (d. 1832) is memorialised in the Goethe Institute (the cultural diplomacy institution which promotes the study of German abroad and fosters knowledge about Germany) which is present in 159 countries and receives annual grants from the German Foreign Office; the Goethe University, which was founded and funded by wealthy Frankfurt citizens; and the Goethe House museum, which was founded by the Free German Foundation, a literary association, which secured funding from the state, city and national government.
It is interesting to note also that it is at the Goethe University that the famed historian of science, the late Fuat Sezgin (d. 2018), worked most successfully under the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science in Frankfrut. Sezgin is best remembered for filling in a major lacuna in modern Western scholarship on the history of science, with regard to the contributions of Muslim scientific tradition. In addition, Sezgin painstaking efforts included overseeing the reproduction of the scientific and technological inventions found in manuscripts of the Muslim scientific tradition for educational purposes.
All these facts and realities point to the opportunities we can and need to take, in order to assume a more proactive and meaningful participation in international affairs, as part of the journey to offer a more compelling solution to the world’s woes and to be a source of healing for the deep pains and illnesses the world has experienced. We should not underestimate our gifts and what we can offer to the world.
