Musik und Dichtung zu Mittag

»Reading is a revolutionary act« – Toni Morrison's quote is the programme for this season. Because reading can change the world. How? The readings of literary texts from antiquity to the present day show us. They tell of democracy being put to the test – and thus make us aware of the opportunities offered by this form of society. Sophocles' ancient drama »Antigone«, Jonathan Swift's satire »Gulliver's Travels«, Thomas Mann's literary admonition »Mario and the Magician«, George Orwell's terrifyingly prophetic novel »1984«, but also Toni Morrison and George Saunders, who focus on the USA, once the world's first modern democracy: with their poetic analyses of freedom, equality and fraternity, of tensions between the individual and the collective, of questions of co-determination and responsibility, they all inspire us to reflect on how we want to shape the future.