KALTBLUT-HONK! 03 The Divas

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Thomas Langnickel-Stiegler is a Berlin based communications consultant and co-host of the discourseoriented
Berliner Kamingespräche project. Having studied social sciences at the University of Siegen, he
worked in public relations for film and TV, in advertising, and as an editorial member of various publications.
His 2007 Bachelor’s thesis in Language and Communication dealt with the concepts of image and
identity.
with reality in a different way than we might be used
to doing. After all, being curious about the different,
the new, the unknown, is also part of what it means
to be human. In my humble opinion, we should
learn to exhibit that positive, productive part of our
humanity more regularly again.
If you start seeing eccentric people like that, you
could just as well describe being a diva in a positive
way as the extreme way to explore one’s full potential
through one’s facets. To say it with my favourite
quotation by German writer Johann Christoph
Friedrich von Schiller: “Rarely do we arrive at the
summit of truth without running into extremes; we
have frequently to exhaust the part of error, and
even of folly, before we work our way up to the noble
goal of tranquil wisdom”, (Philosophical Letters,
Prefatory Remarks).
All in all, in a society of masses that are attending
yoga classes, clerical services (ie go to church), seeking
“professional” counsel to find their true self (some
of us are even said to try to find themselves in sexual
encounters) – by what right do those blame the socalled
divas for trying it their way? And what about
those who still insist on mocking you for seemingly
being out of control every now and then? Well, next
time someone calls you a diva, why not tell them to
diva your ass instead? Or, simply ignore them. However
you do it: be above it, be yourself, be diva!
That said, being a diva can just as well be interpreted
as a sceptic approach towards what a society
demands of the individual, often without any proper
reason. Paradoxically, this unwillingness to unconditionally
adapt might even enable the individual
to find its true, authentic self – if (sic!) it is not for
reasons of catching attention, but to critically reflect
on society that one acts out on one’s perseverance.