Cancel Culture

The term ‚Cancel culture‘ originates from America and originally refers to the collective exclusion of a person or organization due to an offensive or discriminatory statement they have made. The roots of this phenomenon lie in social media, where ‚cancel culture‘ can be practiced through the majority withdrawal of media attention.

Constructive potential

According to this understanding, the accusation of practicing ‚cancel culture‘ could theoretically indicate a rash defamation of a person and lead to a constructive discussion in which, for example, the discriminatory content of a statement is discussed. Practically, however, the use of the term often deviates from its actual constructive potential.

Political use

De facto, ‚cancel culture‘ is mostly used as a political fighting term against people who, in their opinion, point out repetitive discriminatory content of a (prominent) person. An example of this is the media protest Joanne K. Rowling attracted because she allegedly attracted attention several times for allegedly transphobic tweets (cf. Schwarz 2020). Thus, it is rarely a boycott due to a one-time misconduct, but rather the visualization of alleged repeated discrimination. Whether or not discrimination is actually taking place is, of course, always open to discussion and is, in principle, controversial and sometimes bitterly debated.

Snowflake

The term ‚cancel culture‘ seems to be synonymous with the ‚political correctness‘ accusation. Both expressions are characterized by imagining a large mob that would (and could) censor freedom of expression. However, the conceivable goal of those criticized could also be to relativize the accusation of discrimination without having to deal with the actual criticism. The debate is thus possibly already terminated before it even arises. To this end, the critics are often accused of hypersensitivity, as manifested in the derogatory term ‚Generation Snowflake‘, which is portrayed as very sensitive and psychologically fragile.

Wokeness

The term ‚wokeness‘ (revival) is also used in a polemical exaggeration to disparage the „Snowflakes“. A neutral definition of ‚wokeness‘, on the other hand, would be that comprehensive awareness is sought without ever being fully achieved.

Letter on Justice

Another commonality with the ‚political correctness‘ debate arises in terms of counterparties. The 150 signatures of Harper’s Magazine’s A Letter on Justice and Open Debate, published in 2020, which speaks out against ‚Cancel culture‘, all come from prominent actors in the art and media industries. It is therefore a privileged group that accuses certain political activists and groups, especially left-wing ones, of ‚cancel culture‘. Lawyer and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich assesses the Letter of Justice this way:

„I refused to sign the letter because Trumpism, racism, xenophobia, and sexism have had such a free and malign influence in recent years that we should honor and respect the expression of anger and heartbreak that is finally being heard.“ (Black, 2020)

Literature

„Confess Your Sins – Language Police“: https://www.kontextwochenzeitung.de/debatte/487/beichte-deine-suenden-6895.html

Harper’s Magazine (2020): A Letter on Justice and Open Debate: https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/

Orzessek, Arno (2020): From the Feuilletons. When Political Correctness Becomes the Norm. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur: https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/aus-den-feuilletons-wenn-politische-korrektheit-zur-norm.1059.de.html?dram:article_id=468280

Pilarczyk, Hannah (2020): Debate on Cancel Culture Many rifts, many fights. In: Spiegel Online: https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/cancel-culture-viele-graeben-viele-kaempfe-essay-a-60615caf-c115-467e-a2e3-3e3e7bdca606

Pop Culture Dictionary: Cancel Culture. https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/

Schmitt, Uwe (2016): The coddled „snowflakes“ and their enemies. https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article159946299/Die-verhaetschelten-Schneeflocken-und-ihre-Feinde.html

Schwarz, Carolina (2020): Open letter against „Cancel Culture“: diversity in discourse. In: Taz: https://taz.de/Offener-Brief-gegen-Cancel-Culture/!5694595/

Schwarzer, Matthias (2020): Dieter Nuhr and the outrage: what actually is „Cancel Culture“? In: RND Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: https://www.rnd.de/medien/cancel-culture-was-ist-das-und-warum-benutzen-dieter-nuhr-und-andere-den-begriff-6CAKQ5TQRJCJFDJ3WIMY4S7GT4.html

Urban Dictionary: snowflake generation. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snowflake%20generation