The main star of this year's literary festival "Open books" will be the famous French writer, playwright, film director Philippe Claudel. "I have admired your country since childhood," says the writer about Lithuania, who subtly touches on contemporary problems in his novels, and talks about the fear of otherness, something that is also very relevant in our country nowadays.
A special way of looking at the world
"It's hard for me to call myself a writer. It is not a profession, it is not a job. This is a special way of looking at the world", says Ph. Claudelis (b. 1962), one of the most famous French writers of our time, who will be a guest at this year's "Open books" festival, which will be held in Vilnius on September 24-25. Having published his first book only at the age of 37, he says that the novel is the art of maturity - for as long as he can remember, he has always tried to create, felt the calling of a writer, however, only when he felt that this result was worthy of greater attention from readers, he decided to debut his work.
And since the publication of his debut novel "Quelques-uns des cent regrets" in 1999, Ph. Claudel has received recognition not only in his homeland, but also in other countries - his books have been translated into dozens of languages, he has won important literary awards. Among them are the Goncourt prize for lycée students and the Independent (now Man Booker International) foreign prize for the novel Brodek, he was awarded the Goncourt prize for short stories, and the book Gray Souls won him the Renaudot award.
Now he is not only a recognized author, but also participates in various juries, he is a professor of literature, a member of the Académie Goncourt, Ph. Claudel spent 11 years working with prisoners, and later he transferred this experience to a motion picture.
Warning: history repeats itself
The writer says that in his works he tries to convey the dark, bad side of humanity, but he never judges - he leaves the right to the readers to decide how to evaluate the created literary world, which interweaves traumatic experiences with modern times through allegories. The author's warnings that the dark episodes of the past tend to repeat themselves are obvious - with subtle references, the author guides the reader through the dark paths of humanity today.
"Literature gives us the opportunity to see what we cannot see without it. Asking questions that are usually silenced. It confronts the reader with a complex and paradoxical world. It tears him out of his kind of mind, the comfort of his feelings, and encourages him to explore other trajectories, other lives, other hopes and other anxieties. Literature gives an opportunity to meet the Other," he says.
Speaking about how the pandemic affected him, the writer said it was a period of paralysis. Both for him personally and in his literary work. "I didn't want to write. I made a film for television - about a prison. It was an unconscious way of talking about a time when our freedom of movement was restricted, our lives were kind of suspended. By the way, he is still a little bit like that for me. Something has happened and something else cannot start yet," he said.
Dr. Claudel, speaking about the upcoming meeting in Vilnius and what problems the pandemic has exposed, said: "We live in an era of strong egoism and fear. Many voices are trying to mess with people's minds - encouraging them to believe that trained secret forces are trying to kill them, take advantage of them. Stupidity is a terrible scourge. All this does not inspire much optimism…”
He notices other prominent signs - growing intolerance, inability to debate, desire to rewrite history, constant avalanche of insults. On the other hand, he says that he also notices a new emerging form of fascism - thought - fascism, cancel culture help to impose their dictates by spreading a new form of racism and denying the obvious.
He writes about the current problems of our time
His books are often compared to the works of Franz Kafka, in his unique literary worlds, he speaks picturesquely about the birth of evil, human nature, history, the intersection of cruelty and goodness, the boundaries that we often cross when mentioning humanity. In his works, he interweaves allegories, traditions of modern literature and fabulous, mythical motifs, and is called one of the most interesting writers not only of France, but of the whole world.
Jurga Mandrijauskaitė, director of the "Open books" festival, says that what Ph. Claudelis writes about in his novels strongly resonates with the problems that have emerged at the moment. "What stands in the way of tolerance - lack of knowledge, danger, threat, fear for one's safety?" In his novel Brodekas, lack of communication, often even unwillingness to find out, ignorance turns into a conflict that turns into bloodshed. The philosophical discourse hidden by artistic means in the novels of this author only proves that these are not novels only about the Holocaust and immigration problems. These books are about all times and all kinds of lack of tolerance for others and the roots and consequences of all this."
Audrius Ožalas, head of the "Open books" program of the festival, says that Ph. Claudelis is one of those writers who, in his books, cleverly drawing historical parallels, talks about what is plaguing the world today. "Ph. Claudel often talks in his books about the fear of otherness, anxiety when dealing with another culture, newcomers, and this is very relevant in today's Lithuania", says A. Ožalas. Therefore, in the conversation with the writer at the festival, not only his most important works, themes, creative principles will be discussed, but these themes, which are very sharply reflected in his work, will be touched upon, complex moral questions that reveal human nature and force us to rethink our own attitudes and value principles with the help of literature. .
In Lithuania - evaluation by critics and readers
Before coming to Lithuania, Ph. Claudel says that he is very honored that his books are being translated into Lithuanian and he is looking forward to meeting the readers. "I have admired your country since childhood," says the writer, who has always been interested in how such a small country lives in such an important geographical position, constantly feeling Russia's presence nearby.
Three books by this author have been translated into Lithuanian, and they have received excellent reviews from both experts and readers. Lithuanian readers were first introduced to the work of this writer by his novel "Pilkosios sielos" (published by "Vaga" publishing house, translated into Lithuanian by Alina Kiliesaitė). In that year, it was chosen as the translated book of the year in Lithuania.
At that time, the literary expert Dalia Zabielaitė wrote about "Grey Souls" in the publication "Šiaurės Atėnai" that "it is truly an extraordinary, mesmerizing and shocking book with a look into the depths of the soul". "Although the novel is modern, it is written as a synthesis of several genres (detective, historical, psychological novel), using an original (non-chronological, mosaic) storytelling-reminiscence technique, a realistic, but at the same time, perspective that goes beyond the limits of realism. Transcending the boundaries of the aforementioned genres: it is more than a detective story, more than a historical novel. Maybe an allegory - an essential look at universal existential and moral problems, at love, hate, guilt, remorse, grief, pain, hypocritical rules of this world, the cruelty of the heart, meanness, sometimes its light and unfathomable depth or mystery," he wrote. D. Zabielaitė.
Ph. Clauedel's second novel "Brodekas" translated into Lithuanian (published by "Baltos lankos" publishing house, translated into Lithuanian by Jonė Ramunytė) also received recognition in Lithuania. In 2018, this book entered the short list of the Most Valuable Translated Books. At that time, the commission member Marius Burokas said about "Brodek" that "Ph. Claudel has some kind of magic wand of a writer - his seemingly gray and simple texts enchant and involve you". Literary critic Virginija Cibarauskė, reviewing this book in the publication "Literatura ir menas", wrote about the "almost unbearable and graceful, poetic style of Ph. Claudel's prose" and the fact that the themes typical of "Grey Souls" are also repeated in this book: memory, guilt, evil themes of banality, violence suppressed in a small community, and war.
So far, the author's last novel published in Lithuanian is "The Dog Archipelago" (published by "Baltos lankos" publishing house, translated into Lithuanian by Jonė Ramunytė). Again, this is an allegorical story that mercilessly exposes human nature. It raises essential moral questions, it has become the world of today in gloomy colors, in which there is a fear of otherness, vices hidden under the surface, a world of inner fall and our decisions, choices, which determine which side we are on, which future world we create.
Also known in the world of cinema
Ph. Claudel is world famous not only as a writer, but also as a filmmaker. His films have gained international recognition - already his first film Il ya longtemps que je t'aime received the prestigious BAFTA award in 2009 as the best film made outside the English language, it was included in several lists of the best films of that year compiled by film critics. And his subsequent works received recognition, critics note that in the cinema, as in books, he talks about the complexity of our world, human nature and its duality.
The writer says that films and books are two completely different ways of working, which complement each other in his life: while writing, he feels independent from anyone, and cinema always have limitations: time, money, studies, working with actors and technical staff.
"However, I think the biggest difference is that when you write a novel, you use language to tell a story, but when creating a screenplay, everything happens differently: you use the simplest language, because the final goal is not language, but a picture, an image," says Ph. Claudel . By the way, his studies also connect him with cinema - he studied literature, art history and cinema. Already during his student years, he tried to create short films, but, as in the case of books, he waited until the result was good enough to show it to a wider audience - first by writing scripts for other directors' films, and finally by taking on his own films.
However, he admits that the community created by books is special. "Books create a community that can explore our complex world together - that's more important than anything else," he said.
The "Open books" festival will take place on September 24-25. of Saturday event, where the meeting with Ph. Claudel will take place, will be held at the Museum of Applied Art and Design.
