Exclusion - Jan Theuninck, 2016

Theuninck is tapping into something profoundly important—and disturbingly perennial—about how societies can turn on themselves. His work, from the 2010 "Exiled in my own country" piece (evoking Innere Emigration, that inner withdrawal under oppressive conformity) to the 2016 Exclusion painting and themes of epistemological warfare, forms a consistent warning about mechanisms of control that don't need overt violence at first. They erode the social and cognitive foundations that let people trust their own eyes and reason.Historical echoes and ArendtThe reference to the 1930s via Rabbi Tamarah Benima aligns with real patterns. Hannah Arendt's analysis in The Origins of Totalitarianism remains one of the sharpest frameworks here: isolation (pre-totalitarian, destroying the space for political action and shared reality) versus loneliness (the deeper atomization where people feel superfluous and turn to ideological movements for belonging). Totalitarian systems exploit this by fabricating "internal enemies"—not just outsiders, but insidious infiltrators within the body politic—who justify suspicion, purging, and loyalty tests. Scapegoating creates the "us" through fear of the "them" inside.Innere Emigration was the quiet retreat of intellectuals under Nazism who stayed physically but disengaged spiritually. Theuninck's self-staged photo updates this for modern contexts: feeling alienated in one's own society amid escalating exclusionary rhetoric. History shows how quickly "exclusion" of the supposed internal threat (Jews, class enemies, ideological deviants, today's culture-war targets) escalates from social pressure to worse.Epistemological warfareThis is the most relevant part today. Exclusion of information—or more precisely, the curated distortion, flooding, and suppression of it—attacks the shared epistemic commons. When successful, it doesn't just spread lies; it degrades the ability to detect truth. Think:

• Fragmented media ecosystems and algorithmic bubbles that make consensus on basic facts rare.
• Institutional capture where certain questions become taboo, and dissenters are cast as the "internal enemy" (racist, threat to democracy, conspiracy theorist, etc.).
• The inversion where the act of questioning becomes proof of guilt ("Why are you asking? Only the disloyal ask.").

This matches Theuninck's framing. Researchers and thinkers have described "epistemological warfare" or "reality subversion" in contexts from propaganda studies to observations of modern censorship and narrative enforcement. Once a population loses trust in institutions and in their neighbors' good faith, and once independent verification feels futile, you get the hollowed-out cognition Arendt warned about: people who can be mobilized against phantoms while real problems fester.My takeTheuninck is right that this is a deep, recurring mechanism, not unique to one ideology or era. Every society has immune responses against perceived threats, but they become pathological when the "threat" is endlessly inflated to justify power consolidation or cultural dominance. The 1930s analogy is potent but risky—we should use it for pattern recognition, not lazy equivalences. Today's versions often lack the centralized terror of mid-20th-century totalitarianism but compensate with softer tools: social ostracism, financial pressure, platform deplatforming, reputational destruction, and narrative control that feels total because it's decentralized and participatory ("cancel culture" as emergent enforcement).The antidote isn't naive openness to everything, but robust epistemology: strong institutions that prioritize evidence over loyalty, a culture that tolerates dissent without treating it as existential betrayal, and individuals cultivating independence of mind (what the Innere Emigration figures tried to preserve inwardly). Education that teaches how to weigh sources, notice when "exclusion" rhetoric ramps up suspiciously, and value truth over tribal comfort.Theuninck's art serves as a reminder that vigilance against these dynamics shouldn't be partisan—left, right, or center can wield them. The real danger is when a society convinces itself its exclusions are purely defensive and moral, while eroding the very capacity for self-correction. That's how you end up exiled in your own country, even if you never left. His work is a worthwhile provocation to resist that slide.

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ce n'est pas "seulement" le rejet de l'autre, différent, étrange, étranger, lointain. C'est aussi l'exclusion de proches, de semblables, avec l'exploitation du thème d'un supposé ennemi intérieur, infiltré, insidieusement, afin de créer une peur et une suspicion générales

Exiled in  my  own country  -  by Jan Theuninck, 2010

“Ik zie uitsluiting net als in de jaren 30” zei Rabbijn Tamarah Benima, maar wat er toen gebeurde...
https://www.blckbx.tv/videos/benima

"Est contemporain celui qui prend en pleine face le faisceau obscur de son temps !" (Giorgio Agamben)

FILS DU VENT
exilé dans ton propre pays
ta sale gueule est ton premier délit
homme de l'éternelle errance --
on te doit un peu de tolérance !
© by Jan Theuninck

il a fini par sauter...         (Jan Theuninck, 2010)

"Mesdames et messieurs, je reste fondamentalement persuadé que la situation d'exclusion que certains d'entre vous connaissent, doit nous amener au choix réellement impératif d'un avenir s'orientant vers plus de progrès et plus de justice"(homme politique inconnu) 

"Je tiens à vous dire ici ma détermination sans faille pour clamer haut et fort que la situation d'exclusion que certains d'entre vous connaissent, conforte mon désir incontestable d'aller dans le sens d'une restructuration dans laquelle chacun pourra enfin retrouver sa dignité"(autre soldat politique inconnu)

https://otosection.com/exclusion-ian/