Javier Marías Interview: "You rest in fiction." | Louisiana Channel

“There is a great incapacity to let the past be past.” Spanish novelist Javier Marías has been hailed as “one of the most original writers today” and is often mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In this extensive video interview, he talks about fiction as a refuge and about his home country Spain - then and now.
Marías believes that only in fiction is it possible to tell a story which is as it is without anyone being able to question it. Some kind of truth lies in literature, he argues, as a lie is always something concerning the truth, and there is no truth previous to a fiction: “And then fiction creates its own world as it were, and then it belongs more to invention than to lies.” In continuation of this, Marías is sometimes happier in his fictional world: “You rest in fiction… it’s a good rest from the real world.” His recent novels take place in the past, and he feels that there used to be a different, less superficial way of being in the world, a “sense of modesty or sobriety that seems to have been lost in the last twenty years or so.” This, he argues, also makes us incapable of accepting ambiguity and the fact that we consist of both good and bad: “People are not aware of their own contradictions anymore.”
“Spain has been an anomalous country for too many years, and now it’s normal. It’s just one more European country.” Spain came out of the Spanish Civil War and straight into Francisco Franco’s nearly 40 yearlong dictatorship (1936-1975), and the youth of Spain seem to have a hard time understanding and accepting the “cowardice” of the past - why people didn’t simply overthrow or kill Franco. This, Marías continues, is due to their inexperience with what dictatorship actually is: “They think: “Oh well, we would have done it.” No, you wouldn’t.”
Javier Marías (b. 1951) is one of Spain’s most celebrated novelists, whose has been translated into numerous languages. He was born in Madrid, but - during the Franco regime - he spent parts of his childhood in the U.S., where his father taught at higher education institutions. Among his novels are ‘All Souls’ (1992) (Todas las almas, 1989), ‘A Heart So White’ (2012) (Corazón tan blanco, 1992), ‘The Infatuations’ (2013) (Los enamoramientos, 2011), ‘Berta Isla’ (2018) (Berta Isla, 2017) as well as the ‘Your Face Tomorrow’ trilogy (2004-2009) (Tu rostro manana, 2002-2007), which was hailed by the Guardian as “the first authentic literary masterpiece in the 21st century.” Marías is the recipient of prestigious awards such as the International Dublin Literary Award (1997) and the Prix Formentor (2013). Marías is also a columnist for El País as well as a respected translator of e.g. Shakespeare, Henry James, and Nabokov. Moreover, he operates the small publishing house Reino de Redonda.
Javier Marías was interviewed by Synne Rifbjerg at the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark in August 2018.
Camera: Klaus Elmer
Edited by: Klaus Elmer
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2018
Supported by Nordea-fonden
#JavierMarías #Interview #Writer
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[@r.s.9861]

RIP Maestro 🖤

[@juandiegoramirezserrano3155]

Still difficult to accept there won't be more books by Javier Marías.

[@ramdularsingh1435]

Here is another brilliant creative genius working in Spanish Language ! His works are a treasure to the World Literature ! I love his works infinitely.

[@juandiegoramirezserrano3155]

Best writer in Spanish language today. He is simply a genius. Any of his books is a great universe.

[@Diasdelectura-dp2lz]

Cierto

[@isabelfuentesnar1]

R.I.P..... señor Marías

[@angelicafernandez1404]

He has such a fine sense of humour. I love it.

[@RAUL7487]

Su faceta como columnista los domingos en El País es maravillosa. Estoy leyendo una recopilación de ellos en un libro llamado "Será el cocinero buena persona" y es una delicia.

[@elpidro1397]

As someone who was born and bred in Catalunya, all I can say is that I agree 100% with Marías... He is spot on

[@mariajesusalmeidahernandez988]

Mi más sincero pésame a la familia. Echaré de menos su columna de los domingos.

[@lethokuhlemsimang2208]

he seems so sincere.

[@Sonnycrockett1989]

Fantastic interview, thank you.

[@nem0763]

The hate for Marías in the comments is interesting to me. I'm Canadian so I have a passing rather than intimate view of Catalan separatism. But Marías to me is just being cautious about the proposed means and political personalities of the separatists. He's says explicitly that he can understand and even condone it as a legitimate political goal, but not under the conditions where its leaders and ethos are demagogic and emotional rather than pragmatic and diplomatic. And that is a view I share with him. As a Canadian I can certainly sympathize with Quebecois separatism, not to mention indigenous self-governance which I think has the greatest claim to redrawing borders. But I would feel Marías's trepidation about those separations in the same way: drastic, fervent, surging action to achieve these ends is not to be trusted, because such revolutions simply don't have the virtuous outcomes that people see in their excited hearts. And that pattern is a matter of record, borne out in what Marías calls the major events of history. Now that I've reiterated what you should have been able to hear just by taking in Marías's point of view with proper care, let me just say that I love his works and any chance to hear him speak is a treat. He is simply one of the greatest artists we have. ✌

[@RAUL7487]

Hatred to Marías in Spain is residual. Don't pay attention to that and forgive those lost souls.

[@Diasdelectura-dp2lz]

Javier is loved in Spain.

[@iwonaartemii4162]

amazing interview !

[@EdgarSoberon]

This man was a light in the darkness. I will miss his weekly column “La Zona Fantasma” in El país QEPD

[@juandiegoramirezserrano3155]

"You rest in fiction" whenever I feel disgusted with real life I open Your face tomorrow and that world makes me forget about everything and travel to another universe.

[@rishabhaniket1952]

Can’t believe he is gone 😔 Just found about him and Hilary Mantel. Two giants

[@amelmahmoud8221]

thank you

[@Ozblu3y]

Probably better if people disagree, to comment, rather than disliking the video. Louisiana didn't necessarily produce a bad video, or a bad interview, it was just the person on it who has had some debatable thoughts

[@DavidPetisco]

In fact he is pretty right about what he says, and I am spanish.

[@emiliobello2538]

His English is great

[@selmamouraopazo4090]

Sueño que me la hiciste y grito al cielo un si pleno y absolutamente silencioso.

[@josefinadelgado362]

😢❤

[@Jorg80611]

RIP to the king

[@kilgoretrout413]

DEP 😢

[@ernestodejosue607]

Que diferencia con tu padre. El sí estaba orgulloso de ser español. El era todo un hombre y un intelectual de verdad. Y para mi el mejor escritor del siglo XX.

[@johnsilverlargo]

Cierto!!

[@DavidAlvarez-he6sd]

Y como lógico corolario entendemos que Javier Marías no es intelectural? No digamos tonterías...

[@ernestodejosue607]

@@DavidAlvarez-he6sd Javier Marías es un intelectual de la estirpe de Gorgias o Protágoras. Su padre de la estirpe de Aristóteles o Santo Tomás de Aquino. Es decir, la diferencia que media entre los sofistas y los filósofos. Entre los que usan la razón para velar o desvelar la verdad. En el sentido de un sofista, Javier Marías sí es un intelectual. Como tantos otros hoy día. El quizá con menos excusas que otros.....

[@13tuyuti]

@@ernestodejosue607 estás seguro que la razón por la que a Javier no lo considerás un intelectual de verdad no es porque no está de acuerdo contigo, porque no comparte un sentimiento que vos pensás que tiene que sentir?

[@DavidAlvarez-he6sd]

@@ernestodejosue607 Vaya falacia del hombre de paja me acabas de hacer. Para ti no es intelectual porque no comparte tu visión de España (falacia ad-hominem).

[@kamalpreetsingh1686]

This talk is not about literature,it becomes political in the middle...... should be talk about literature and writing process

[@mantisamygdala]

Why?

[@kamalpreetsingh1686]

@@mantisamygdala because we have political thinkers for political talk....

[@LarsLeonhard]

I am sad that Louisiana gives a political platform to this guy and not the opposition to the argument. Especially at the time it came out. Louisiana should stick to literature and art, because the lack of nuance here is unfair to the Catalan people fighting for independence.

[@abanicador123]

good morning

[@MoNICA-se3gc]

He was writing very good in Spanish but his stories were a little superficial for me.

[@rambla12000]

He didn't like to allow people to try and wrong, which is the only option to improve. Didn't you find the right english word for this?

[@janhenkel4459]

lol Yeah, that's how politics and human history works.

[@vodkatonyq]

Slightly disappointed with his English. I thought he was more fluent in it.

[@tinotino9952]

Hi Tony, yours is an interesting comment. Marias never claimed to be fluent (at native level). He did spent time in USA (as a child) and UK. He does speak with an accent, but is vocabulary and fluidity of his conversation is exceptional for a non-native speaker. Just curious, why did you have an expectation that he was “more” fluent” ? not an attack/negative comment, perhaps you do have information that points out that he “should have” been more fluent.. Cheers Tony !!!

[@vodkatonyq]

@@tinotino9952 as far as I know, Marías (RIP) translated several works of classic English literature into Spanish, which gave me the impression that he was highly fluent in the language. His English is still pretty good, but for a literary type who translated from the English language, maybe a tad below expectations.

[@kokorospirit5006]

It's very tricky to be 100% bilingual, probably improving his english would mean impoverish his vocabulary and master of spanish language which was essential to write his books.

[@miguelangelthomas5154]

Literary translation and speaking require completely different skillsets. His vocabulary, grammar and expressions are fine, especially for somebody whose primary everyday language is Spanish. The only shortcoming is his pronunciation in which he presents a slight accent. Finding people who are 100% native level speakers with no notable differences in the primary and secondary languages is very rare (I know because I am one).

[@vodkatonyq]

@@miguelangelthomas5154 the skills are different, but they are related and definitely transpose each other. If someone has such a high level vocabulary in a foreign language enough to translate from it into the mother tongue, that means he could use this vocabulary when speaking. There's no need to hesitate or not even know words when one has already spent a long time reading and comprehending that foreign language well enough to translate it into the mother tongue. His vocabulary knowledge in his head should easily translate to being able to speak with more precision and exactness.

[@LarsLeonhard]

So the fascists call the independence movement for fascists. Right! Perhaps Louisiana should find someone with a Catalan view point to balance things out? He is definitely clever with words, but leaves out a lot of the story. First the history of Catalonia, how they are a region that has had it's own language and culture, how Spain has treated that region for generations, and also how Spain even refused to discuss the situation with Catalonia. Unilateral cry for independence was the only way in the end. We are many who remember how Spain cracked down on the referendum and it will never be forgotten. I hope to see the day come when CATALONIA can finally be free from Spanish repression. #freedomforcatalonia

[@mirazusta2002]

A country is not made up by language, traditions and culture only, and to illustrate this point I´ll use the example of Switzerland, where 4 languages; Italian, French, German, and Swiss, and the different traditions within the 4 regions Switzerland comprises, have cohabited since its very foundation. France, where French, Corsican, Basque, and Breton (probably I´m leaving out some other language) also cohabit without major issues is another example of this. As for how Spain has treated "that Region" (here you are completely right, since Catalonia is and has always been a region within Spain, since its very foundation, and not a country or a nation, as they pretend to make people believe both in Spain and abroad) what exactly do you mean?, Spain has gone a long way as a country both at political and administrative level, particularly since its Constitution was approved "in referendum", and by all Spaniards, including the Catalans, after Franco´s demise. I´m afraid it is more complex than that.

[@LarsLeonhard]

Referring to the constitution which Catalonia accepted after Franco is one of the weakest arguments in my opinion. After Franco, Catalonia had no chance to change or influence the constitution text and they feared a new Franco and accepted it consequently. It is a strange argument that just because the constitution says all of Spain should agree to let Catalonia become independent, that one should adhere to that principle. The question of independence and the right for self-government should be entirely up to Catalonian people. They deserve that right and the UN charter has text to that effect.

[@mirazusta2002]

@@LarsLeonhard yes, it should be up to the Catalan people as well as to the rest of the Spaniards, including the many Catalans who oppose independence in Catalonia in the first place. Those Catalans who regrettably don't make themselves visible, either for fear of those followers of independent parties that are clearly radical in their approach to the whole thing, or simply because they are busy enough trying to live their own lives

[@LarsLeonhard]

That is why there should be a fair and balanced referendum. No one (incl. in the independence movement) has ever said anything differently. All the independence leaders asked for was to be heard, to have an open referendum and a fair discussion. The Spanish government chose a hardline and pushed the door in the face of the Catalonian people and refused to even meet and discuss it.

[@mirazusta2002]

@@LarsLeonhard A referendum on independence is against the law, that's my point. As for your opinion on the assertiveness/enforcement of the constitutional order against those who threat the unity of a country as being a strange and weak argument to prevent any region, Catalonia in this case, from breaking the unity of Spain, this validation of the constitutional order is what lawyers in Spain and elsewhere refer to as "the application of the rule of law", which any democratic country, which Spain undoubtedly is, has the legitimate duty to exert, by popular mandate, in order to guarantee the rights, safety and security of the majority of its citizens.