On 30 October 2025, Rhinozeros 5 was published on the theme of Lügen – lying and lies. Featuring contributions by scholars and artists, the yearbook of the Käte Hamburger Centre CURE asks about the political dimensions of lying and lies and how the res publica can defend itself against the distortion of reality.
The fifth volume of the cultural journal Rhinozeros. Europa im Übergang (Rhinoceros: Europe in transition) was published on 30 October 2025. Edited by Franck Hofmann, Markus Messling, and Christiane Solte-Gresser, the yearbook of the Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation (CURE) – funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space – turns its focus to the lies undermining our society. This issue is driven by the guiding question: how can we find ways to live together in a divided world without first asking what is true? Right-wing authoritarian movements are once again working to turn lies into truth. How can we respond to this assault on truthfulness? And how can the res publica be defended against the distortion of reality?
Featuring contributions by scholars and artists, Rhinozeros 5 addresses these questions by connecting historical reflection with current debates about the political dimensions of lying and lies, the fragility of the better argument, and the social role of republican institutions such as public culture and critique.
Rhinozeros. Europa im Übergang offers a collection of texts and images that explore the present with historical insight. It aims to engage German society in worldwide, multifaceted conversations about reparations and to confront the challenge of reimagining Europe’s place in the world. Like the centre itself, Rhinozeros is dedicated to fostering international exchange, translation, and openness to the wider world. Thematically organised around a verb – an action – each issue brings together scholarly and artistic voices from within the centre and beyond.
“Rhinozeros gives complex thought the space and time it needs. Essential in these times of political and ecological crisis.”
– Tilla Fuchs, Saarländischer Rundfunk
The volume features texts by Isabel Capeloa Gil, Jacques Derrida, Ricardo Domeneck, Kossi Efoui, Forensic Architecture, Angélica Freitas, Jan Friedrich, Mohamed Kerrou, Alexander Koller, Curzio Malaparte, Herta Müller, Oliver Precht, Lars Ramberg, Cord Riechelmann, Diana Rodríguez Vértiz, Situation Room, Sun Wei, Željana Tunić, Ines Weizman, and Isabel Zapata, with Rhinozeros drawings by Friederike Groß.
Its editors are Franck Hofmann, comparatist and cultural historian at Saarland University; Markus Messling, professor of Romance literatures and comparative literary and cultural studies at Saarland University and director of the Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation CURE; and Christiane Solte-Gresser, professor of comparative literature and director of the Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation CURE
→ Rhinozeros. Europa im Übergang
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Käte Hamburger Centre’s cultural journal and yearbook, Rhinozeros, we’re marking the occasion with a lively evening at the Saarländisches Künstlerhaus. More information is available here.
