INTERNATIONAL

ALFREDO ARIAS, THE PARISIAN ARGENTINE

Anne-Sophie JARRIGE

In his hands, the sauciest zarzuela becomes the most fascinating revue. He, more than any body else, knows how to exalt illusion, fantasy, dream and humor. For the thirty years, he has staged revues with dancing girls, tango cabarets, operettas, political and autobiographical comedies, Shakespearean classics and burlesque shows by his friend ad compatriot Copi. Alfredo Arias is on in Paris at the moment with <<Peines de Coeur d’une Chatte Francaise>> (the love sorrows of a French lady-cat), an artistic extension of the cult show <Les Peines de Coeur d’une Chatte Anglaise>> which put him in the limelight in the late 70s. His incredible productions have been all around the world. He is widely exuberant man with a hint of nostalgia permanently on the move between two cultures.

Alfredo Arias, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1944, became interested in Europe, and especially in France, Very early on, taking lessons at the Allaince Francasis in the early 60s. He sought his way and, after studying law, he turned to painting and sculpture, which he exhibited. Yet, his real interest was in the theater and, as early as 1966, he put on his first production, <<Dracula>>. In 1967, after the fashion of the 19th century Romantics who traveled in Italy, he visited Europe, going to France and Great Britain. Back in Argentina, he produced three shows in 1968 but, owing to the political climate in his country of origin, he was forced into exile with the whole Tse group and came top swell the ranks Copi which aroused the wrath of a group of rioters disguised as servicemen. He then put on <<Luxe>> (lixury, in 1973, which has already a variation on the music-hall with its big staircase, and (Vingt-quatre heures>> (Twenty-four hours), a revue of the codes of boulevard theatre, operetta and vaudville. <Piens de coeur d’une chatte anglaise>>, a jewel of a show in which masks combine with the magic of the music, marked the late 70s. 1985 was a turning point for him. He was appointed head of the Aubervillers drama center and the man who was capable of exuberance, provocation and sensuality on the stage became a level-headed, affable, rigorous manager through an astonishing and uncharacteristic mixture.

Indeed, Alfredo Aria is an alchemy two worlds: France, his country of adoption, and Argentina, the land of his roots. It is a successful alchemy but one that is not always easy to live. <<When I arrived here on 12th October 1969, I couldn’t understand anything. I had come from a completely won over right from his first production, gradually put him at ease but we should not be taken in by this imperturbable face with its dropping eyes. On the inside, he is boiling with ideas. His mind is bubbling over with plans. From <<Mortadela>> to Nini Marshall and including <<La Femme Assise>> (the seated woman) but Copi or <<Sortileges>> ("spells), Arias has not exhausted the fortunes and misfortunes of Argentine nor its motley world. It is a baroque area, like a matador’s custom, for the most international of Argentine theatre producers who, like an adventure-seeking wandering player, moves from Shakespearean drama to contemporary melodrama (the astonishing work of Juan Pineiro, <<Boulevard du Melodrame>>); from the courtyard of the Popes’ Palace in Avignon to music hall via opera and the big international stages where lyrical works are performed with <<The Blue Bird>> by Maeterlink, <<The Tales of Hoffmann>> by Offenbach, <<les Indes Galantes>> by Rameau and <<the Rake’s Progress>> by Stravinsky.

This singular determination, which some find disturbing, to combine genres and registers, to go against the grain, to use anachronism and displacement against banality and standardization and to prefer the outmoded, is all his life. It is a life, which mingles with such diverse characters as Melies, Hitchcock, Lubitsch, Cocteau and Balanchie, skillfully out of the norm and distanced, since his purpose consists, in his own, in <<sowing confusions or adding a dangerous gesture>>. <<Like tightrope walkers>>. He says, << I prefer risk>>. His aim is to throw light on the work and his solution is <<to put magic at the disposal of the public and show it how, in the course of a rehearsal, a singer can become a doll>>. He has succeeded in this wager. In <<Peines de coeur d’une chatte francaise>>, music conjures up remote memories, sets off dreams and the most uncontrollable associations of ideas. The play is full of dreams and poetry with unusual actors as well a few faithfuls: Marilu Marine as the unforgettable <<Beauty >> from <<Les peines de coeur d’une chatte anglaise>> Roberto Plate for the scenery, Rene de Ceccaty, Chole Oblensky for the costumes and an international troupe. After this show, Alfredo Arias will set off on an international tour before staging Genet’s <<Les Bonnes>>, first in Italy and then in France, tirelessly continuing his work as a cultural ambassador.

Media Cooperation in South Asia: Complexities, Constraints and Prospects

Mr. Victor Gunewardena, Colombo

The media in South Asia reflect several of the complexities that are rooted in the region – in its history, heterogeneity, asymmetry of size, resources and power and the jealousies, suspicions and fears that surface from time to time. While much of the skepticism and gloom of the early phase of SAARC’s evolution has been dispelled it has not disappeared altogether.

Despite the commitment to regional cooperation, the traditional antagonisms remain and fears for the survival of SAARC were expressed loud and clear within the past 12 months. On the first occasion, the rival nuclear tests carried out by India and Pakistan on the eve of the Tenth Summit in Colombo, and the recent clashes between both powers over the Kargil sector of Kashmir, indicate how fragile SAARC is and how uneasy is the peace that prevails in the region.

Reactive journalism gives high priority to events that threaten or disrupt normalcy, to tension and conflict and in so doing may also contribute to its exacerbation. By focussing on certain aspects of events and ignoring aspects that may counterbalance exaggerated perceptions of threat or danger the media could wittingly or otherwise create the conditions on which political decisions are made and peoples fears and anxieties are roused.

Depending also on the interests – political, economic and social- the country’s media reflect, the particular media messages could influence that country’s political agenda and affect people’s attitudes towards the issue in question.

Often, the disproportionate attention given to events and the relatively poor coverage of the achievements of an evolutionary process such as South Asian cooperation could project a lopsided image suggestive of failure or imminent doom.

Such an impression was sought to be conveyed by the media on the eve of the Colombo Summit in July 1998. An unusually large corps of media personnel, especially from outside the region, arrived in Colombo in the expectation of confrontation between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan, despite the fact that discussion of contentious political issues is precluded from the official Summit agenda. The informal meeting between the two Prime Ministers must have disappointed those media personnel who had expected a confrontational encounter.

That the SAARC framework and the various for a it provides could foster sober appraisal of problems between neighboring countries is not sufficiently appreciated by the media in the region.

This is so partly because the professional culture of many South Asian media personnel has much in common with that of their western counterparts, despite the enormous differences in culture and setting. What often makes news is disaster, conflict, failure, aberration, crime, violence and sex.

Such an attitude towards news is perhaps derived from the notion that the media must succeed also as industry. To be economically viable in the competitive market newspapers and other forms of mass media need to generate popular demand. Consequently small newspapers and other forms of media with limited resources could at best serve only a small clientele provided they survive competition from bigger media organizations. The short-lived tabloids and weeklies that cater to sectoral interests in several of our countries illustrate the point that economic factors impinge on media, especially on newspapers. Their survival depends not so much on their economic sustainability.

Some small newspapers that have a special appeal to sections of the community because of their socio-political orientation tend to resort to exaggeration, wanton partisan speculation or at times to political gossip in order to expand their readership. But such gains are temporary because eventually their credibility is eroded.

Economic Factors

Journalism in several parts of South Asia has become a product of industry, either owned or controlled by private persons or companies on the one hand, or run as government-managed undertaking, serving the partisan purposes of the ruling party or coalition.

Such ownership or management, whether governmental, corporate or individual, compounds the prevailing constraints such as those stemming from the harsh features of the regulatory framework and functional constraints that impinge on the professional freedom of media personnel and the terms and conditions of their employment.

The information process in South Asia is being rapidly commercialized and news and entertainment are being marketed as commodities, with various forms of media competing with one another.

Advertising has begun to play an increasing commercial role so much so that the traditional symbiotic relationship between the press and advertising, radio and advertising, and television and advertising has tilted to advertising, and television and advertising impinges on the space/time available for news, educational and cultural programs and affects their quality as well.

Newspapers tend to contain an increasingly disproportionate amount of space, which is taken up by advertising compared with the space available for news, features articles, reader’s letters and other relevant information of public interest.

Likewise, both radio and television news bulletins as well as educational and entertainment programs are either sponsored by advertisers or are interrupted to carry advertisements. Consequently, the time available for broadcasting or televising news and socially relevant information is curtailed in order to promote advertising income. News and program content are also thereby curtailed.

Ironically, this development has occurred despite information technology making information transfer quicker and increasing it potential for wider reach and access to those who most need socially relevant information for their economic emancipation or to improve the quality of their life.

Readers, listeners and viewers who already have access at all to a newspaper, a radio or the possibility of watching a TV program. While thew "information rich" are becoming richer, the "information poor " find little improvement in their lot.

Community radio is perhaps an exception in that such programs are produced abnd broadcast by local communities to primarily the information needs of such communities. Often, the sharing of information throufh such media outlets is focussed on needs or in solving of information through such media outlets is focussed on needs or in solving problems created by the vagaries of nature or are man-made. Where the information made available has been utilized successfully the achievement helps relieve hardship caused by deprivation or disparity or both.

Some such "success stories" are highlighted initially by the indigenous language media and subsequently are picked up by the English Language press. It is such "success stories" that need to be disseminated widely within a country and then in the region because such achievements are promotive of Articles a and b of Article I of the SAARC Charter.

The normative role of the journalist in a democratic society is primarily to serve the public interest by publishing news, views and other information which being socially relevant would be of public benefit. But media competition based on commercial criteria may not consider such information interesting or exciting enough top arrest readers’ attention or that of listeners or viewers. News that is a saleable commodity caters to a clientele that has certain expectations about content and its commercial utility.

Challenge of new technologies

The burgeoning growth in information and communications technology is causing among journalists and media trade unionist about their job security. This is because of the radical change in the way traditional media have worked hitherto and the general state of un-preparedness to adapt to the revolutionary transformation. The changes would impinge heaviest on mind-career journalists and other employees who would be required to acquire competence in the new technology.

The concern of journalists who face new challenges was voiced at a special meeting in Montreal in 1996 of the International Federation of Journalists. Its declaration believed it necessary that journalists should have the right to work in socially protected and professional conditions.

Its also drew attention to the trend that the development of new on-line services results in significant change in the media labor market and that new qualification standards are being required of journalists to keep their present jobs.

Additionally, while new forms of work arise for on-line editing and data collection many of those doing such work are often nor identified as journalists.

The IFJ was also perturbed that "many media organizations now rely on a part-time or casual workforce" and those media companies find it cheaper to contract work out to freelance journalist, who generally receive few social benefits. "It is n insecure environment which diminishes the scope for independent journalism".