"The Terror of Leisure" as a Diagnosis of the Times

As part of the literary program of the XXXIX Theatre City Festival, the book "Terror of Leisure" by the Montenegrin writer, critic and political scientist was presented at the Poets' Square. Aleksandar ĆukovićThe evening's moderator was literary critic Dr. Radoje Femic, which opened the conversation with a series of thematic directions on the cultural, political and aesthetic tensions of the contemporary era.

Femić pointed out that Ćuković belongs to the circle of authors who foster an elitist approach to culture and resist the trivialization of creativity. “The title Terror of Entertainment itself gives up on ambiguity,” Femić emphasized, adding that the book demonstrates “an intellectual and artistic engagement” that does not necessarily have to be interpreted as political, but is humanistic.

Ćuković clarified that the title is not a stylistic provocation, but a precise description of the contemporary social situation:

“Capitalism, increasingly sophisticated, is starting to charge for entertainment. When entertainment becomes a commodity, it becomes an instrument of the market and control. Today you have to have fun and demonstrate it – because without it you are not ‘in’, you are not ‘cool’. This defines the post-truth era. And the question is – does truth matter to anyone anymore?”

The author then elaborates on the connection between entertainment and the loss of authentic critical thought. In the text “The Death of the Reader,” which is part of the book, Ćuković argues against the postmodernist concept of the “death of the author” and warns that in the era of dromology and acceleration, the reader – and thus the act of thinking itself – is disappearing.

"As in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, everything becomes suspect - especially reading. The reader disappears, and with him critical thought."

Femić noted that Ćuković's style exploits the "effect of disappointed expectations" and that the book, through its hermetic form and cynical attitude towards the dominance of superficiality, offers space for resistance:

"On the one hand, we don't want to mass-promote our work – because that means compromise. On the other hand, we regret that it has remained confined to academic circles, sterile for wider social radiation."

Ćuković added that "cocooning is always anti-dialogue" and particularly highlighted the danger that small cultures, like Montenegrin, face if they lose dialogue.

The conversation also touched on the book's genre diversity: from monologues, dialogues, to speeches. Femić underlined the importance of language as a vital barrier against global superficiality, while Ćuković spoke about language as a means of shared creative flow:

"A writer must be a reader, he must reside in language. Outside of language – he does not exist."

At the end of the evening, Ćuković, referring to the optimistic ending of Fahrenheit 451, reflected on the hope that the written word still offers:

“In a society where reading is punished by burning, the survivors keep the books in their heads. These heads can be the seeds of criticism that will sober up even those who have not yet dared to read.”

The evening ended with a dialogue with the audience, who attentively followed the extremely thoughtful and critical tone of the promotion.