A verse by Goethe was quoted in passing by philosopher Hannah Arendt in an essay on Brecht, in which she is highly critical of the effects of the poet’s political and ideological commitment in some of his poems and plays. The verse is the subject of comment by José Maria Vieira Mendes, who is a playwright, a member of Teatro Praga, and a writer of essays and an extraordinary diary (Arroios. Diário de um Diário, Dois Dias, 2015) – and who could not ignore Arendt’s mediation.

Henry James is a great writer from the turn of the 20th century. An expert in human psychology and a refined stylist, he was the creator of a vast, powerful harbinger work, in which the theme of the meeting-confrontation of Europe with the United States appears insistently. In his work, the subtlety of the mysteries combines with the harshness of the conflicts. Born 180 years ago, his enigmatic personality traits and the surprising events of his life continue to generate enormous curiosity and fascination. Novelist, short story writer, essayist, literary critic and journalist, the renowned Irish writer Colm Tóibín is a devoted connoisseur of James, about whom he wrote The Master, a biographical novel translated into many languages. In this issue of Electra, Tóibín revisits the author of The Portrait of a Lady, to show the importance of houses in James’ life and work. From these, he gives us a picture full of truth and vigour of this tormented genius.

With Europe at war and fascist regimes in the ascendant, the Portuguese World Exhibition held in Lisbon in 1940 was the New State’s greatest propaganda event. It exalted the political and cultural symbols and the ideological underpinnings – predominantly nationalism, Catholicism and colonialism – of Salazar’s authoritarian regime. Using art and culture as instruments of prestige and seduction, its purpose was to create an imperial imaginary and a providential and civilising myth for the Portuguese nation. Under the aegis of the commemoration of the Double Centenary, history was co-opted to create a grand backdrop. Today, from a distance of eighty years, this major ideological and cultural event, which also comprised a ‘large album of images’, presents a historical memory that is far from neutral or passive, as the historian and researcher Júlia Leitão explains.

A socio-political movement developed in the United States by activists denouncing systemic racism and structural violence against ethnic, sexual and religious minorities, wokeism demands social justice and emancipatory change in the way we live and inhabit the Earth. Based on the concept of awakening (‘woke’), it attacks the ideological barriers and mechanisms of domination that oppress minorities.

In the ‘Metropolitan’ section of this issue, the Italian architect Martino Tattara reflects on the way in which cities have responded to their housing crises. Analysing the relationship between property and housing, he recounts his experience of collective housing construction, as carried out by the architectural practice Dogma. In Berlin, Venice, London and Chicago, Tattara has taken part in the most important international forums of debate on the major challenges facing contemporary architecture and urban planning.

Yves Michaud, a philosopher and art critic, and Salvatore Settis, an art historian and archaeologist, discuss a subject of great relevance today: the issue of returning artworks and ‘important objects’ to their original source. Taking the example of the marbles Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon at the beginning of the 19th century, which are housed in the British Museum, Settis shows how there are many misconceptions and a long history that need to be known to realise what is in play in terms of the claims for repatriation; Michaud, looking at the issue from an anthropological viewpoint, demonstrates that these operations are hugely complex and that they often end up being used to back up a concept of museums as spaces for chauvinistic propaganda.

This diary travels between Lebanon and Argentina, between father and mother, love and sex, freedom and danger, and life and death. The author is a filmmaker called Anthony El Chidiac who was born in Beirut 32 years ago and whose documentary Room for a Man, sombrely beautiful and with a powerful innocence, examines the subject of fear and the desire to be oneself in a private and public world where homosexuality is condemned. In this ‘Book of Hours’ written for Electra, Chidiac states: ‘I grew up in a shattered family, in a divided society, and a non-conforming body & mind.’ There are echoes in this diary of a world in crisis. There is a confession that becomes accusatory in tone, a dry precision that seeks an escape. The name for it is poetry.

I see the question of a critical edition of Céline’s anti-Jewish pamphlets quite differently from Pierre-André Taguieff. He would like, if possible, to be the editor of such a publication, being the most qualified for the task, together with Annick Duraffour, with whom he co-authored Céline, la Race, le Juif. I have the utmost respect for this monumental work and read it almost in one go as soon as it was published. The two authors gave a thorough explanation of Céline’s antisemitism, explored all its sources, dismantled all his subterfuges and lack of moral principles.

The American writer and journalist Lisa Abend, who regularly writes about food for Time magazine, looks at the role of chefs and discusses how, since the 1990s, they have developed into stars, celebrities and heroes with a cultural and political status that goes far beyond their role in the kitchen.

The cultural policies of democratic governments adhere to the principle that they cannot dictate taste, as they once did under totalitarian regimes, and therefore they must be protected by a series of interventions and bureaucratic protocols. This complex issue, the source of constant criticism, controversy and protest, is examined by writer and performance artist Patrícia Portela.