P I L L S O R T A L K ? A

POETRY 1 MOUNTAIN 1 KATEKELLAWAY.M WHYMILOSEVIC CRACKEDZBIGNIEWBRZEZINSKIpto

PLUS SILLYSPIES*. AFRICA'SHOPE*, APHORISMS*,

*

INTERVIEW 48 O basanjo’s return JONATHAN POWER When Olusegun Obasanjo became president of Nigeria again, Jonathan Power wanted to be with his old friend. Under Obasanjo, Nigeria lias the chance to go somewhere—but will he live to see it?

M ILLENNIUM BRIEFING 56 T h e death o f language DAVID CRYSTAL In the next 100 years, half of the world's languages are going to die. Is this trend merely a symptom of modernisation, or cultural extinction on an unacceptable scale?

C O V E R S T O R Y Pills or talk? Adebate with Lewis Wolpert and Peter Fonagy

A c en tu ry a f te r p u b lic a t io n o f F reud’s The Interpretation o f Dreams, is p sy ch o a n a ly s is d ead? D r u g s and “cogn i t iv e th e r a p ie s” are th e n ew fa sh io n , b u t advances in our u n d e r s ta n d in g o f th e m in d m ay have p roved F reud r igh t . PAGE 16

ARTS & BOOKS 60 T h e poetry m ountain KATE KELLAWAY Poetry is more popular than ever before. But judging from what is sent to the Observer, most of it isn't much good.

61 Easter 1916, Ha Ha Ha CARLO GEBLER Roddy Doyle has written a dangerous book—and a historical masterpiece.

64 T h e g lobal c lich e PAUL KRUGMAN on a book which perfectly sums up the conventional wisdom.

R E G U L A R S 4 le t ters Alan Ryan is wrong.

6 news & curiosities

8 T illy ard’s ta les STELLA TILLYARD Married to a nomad.

9 p ic o f th e m onth

39 the list Prospect's guide to lectures.

55 choices Prospect's pick of the arts.

67 endpiece HERB GREER on young playwrights.

70 crossword DIDYMUS

71 brussels diary MANNEKEN PIS Meritocracy can be bloody.

72 previous convictions MARK FRANKLAND The drama of business.

65 T h e return o f th e aphorism SIMON MAY explains that in the age of the .soundbite, the sight-bite and the one-liner, the aphorism is due for a comeback. No form is more suited to our age.

W ITNESS Paul Barker searches for a Yorkshire relative who fell at Ypres Salient in 1915

An o ld photograph w e b rought from th e funeral was o f Edmund A shw orth in uniform . T h e p ic tu re b egan a k ind o f quest. PAGE40

F O R T H C O M I N G

• Ralf Dahrendorf on G erm any • Cynthia Ozick on love • Was Bach Jew ish?

DEBATING SCIENCE AND

THE PUBLIC TRUST

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PROSPECT November 1999 3