Fractured world we live in

What is in a font, you may think. The choice of a font could be a matter of personal picking. Some may be pertinent in a formal setting (e.g. Times Roman); other in a jovial environment (e.g. Comic Sans in a birthday party).

Ever since printing became a reality in Europe in the 15th century, blackletter typeface like Fraktur and Antiqua were the mainstay chirography. Most publications were in Latin. Over time as people become more educated, local languages developed and the seed of nationalism was planted. Reformation works of Martin Luther and collection of fairy tales of Brothers Grimm created a need for the schism between Latin and German works. Antiqua was the default script for Latin and Fraktur for German.

All through till 20th Century, Fractur typesetting continued in Germany and many Scandinavian countries. Most of the Europeans had theirs set in Antiqua. The Fraktur-Antiqua difference persisted till 1941 when the Nazi Party declared Fraktur was Jewish writing. The real reason behind this was commerce. Their clients found it hard to read fraktur script. By putting an 'acceptable' rationale behind the decree, the herd just followed blindly.

In modern times, neo-nazi or anti-migration movements use this font to subtly remind its readers of nationalism and to reminisce the time when there was a call to keep the land 'pure'.
Newspapers with old traditions like 'New York Times', Washington Times' and 'Daily Telegraph' have their mastheads emboldened in fraktur font. Beers, pubs' signboards, tattoos and surprisingly heavy metal bands come in this similar typeset to add to their exoticness and mystique.

Closer to home, one wonders why radicals are hellbent on introducing the Jawi in the learning of the Malay Language when in reality the script does not improve the richness, the spread or the usability of the language in any way.

A political statement in Dresden, Germany 'This bus is driven by a German driver' it says.

The Fraktur font emphasises the 'Germanness' to drive home the message. © 99% Invisible.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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