'I write, you write, he writes… I read, you read, he reads…'
I write, you write, he writes… I read, you read, he reads…
" Talking about ‘littérature engagée’ is out of date! We all have, at some point, heard or read this. Therefore, when asked if I consider myself an engaged writer, I think “life” and not “literature”, and fiercely, invariably answer that life is nothing but engagement. Writing implies logos, in the Greek sense, and logos implies concept. Engagement, like any other concept, can – but need not – translate into action. In literature, this action is what takes place between the writing and the reading consciousness. Through imaginary experience, what starts as an encounter with oneself turns into the proxy experience of a thousand and one lives.
Good literature is based on empathy; it strives to achieve the repetition of human condition. Characters from Colonel et l’Appât 455, inspired by “real people” from around the world, have lived, loved, suffered and died under torture in the jails of Latin America, of the Far-East, of Africa, of the Middle-East, of Guantanamo etc.
Before writing this book, and before writing my first book, I read, a lot. These novels opened a wider world. My first travels to the far reaches of the planet took place under the weeping willow of a Persian garden where I would cry and laugh, turning the pages of one novel after another. Amongst my earliest friends and eternal lovers, were l’Idiot, Gavroche, Hamlet, “la” Bovary. Many of these books, read over and over again, address themes that also appear in “Le Colonel…”. Some, including literary masterpieces, leave me wondering: is it really necessary to write yet another book about horror and hope, love and hatred, le mal d’amour and le mal de vivre, le mal at all? Probably yes, because literature is life, and literary life reinvents itself to remind, upset, shake, awaken, lean towards; it targets individual conscioussness – starting with the writer himself – to eventually create collective consciousness. Such is the strength of the imaginary and of the right word – miracles that dictators dread so much. To them, the quill held by a virtuoso is a formidable weapon, against which an armada of guards can do nothing.
Words, even those sharp as a razor blade, do not rape, torture, or emprison. They are spread throughout the world, and reach those who rape, torture or emprison…
I write by necessity. I write because I live. And I live, also, to fight those who sow death. “
Light translation by Colette & Lucie
Fariba Hachtroudi was born in 1951 in Tehran, and received her doctorate (PHD) in art and archeology in Paris in 1978. She lived in Sri Lanka from 1981 to 1983, where for two years she taught at the University of Colombo while performing research on the Teravada Boudhism.
When Fariba returned to France in 1983, she started, as a journalist, to denounce Khomeynism. In 1985 / 1986, to understand the daily life of her compatriots, Fariba travelled clandestinely to Iran by way of the desert of Baluchistan. L’Exilée, Hachtroudi’s first book, describes her haunting journey.
Ten years later, in 1995, Fariba who was much more pessimistic than others, already predicting change and revival “slowly and from within Iran”, decided again to approach the issue by creating a humanitarian association free of political affiliations. MoHa, the association for the foundation of Mohsen Hachtroudi, focuses it work on education and secularism – conditions essential for the respects of women’s rights and the promotion of democracy. MoHa helped Iranians refugees wherever they were. After her last trip to Iran (2006) Fariba Hachtroudi hopes to be able to register her Foundation in Iran in order to help the youth inside the country as it was the goal of her father.
Don't miss the opportunity to meet her on Monday 9 May, 6.45pm, at the Free Word Centre!
Farida will take part in the European Literature Night Festival to present her novel The Man Who Snapped His Fingers (translated by Alison Anderson, published by Europa Editions) exploring themes as old as time: the crushing effects of totalitarianism and the infinite power of love. Book now!
