At the Jaipur Literature Festival, caller disconnected her 2024 International Booker Prize triumph for Kairos, Jenny Erpenbeck seems unruffled by her celebrityhood. Part of it is due to the fact that of her unconventional travel to literate acclaim and portion of it is due to the fact that of the arc of past that she has lived through. Born successful East Berlin successful 1967, Erpenbeck was trained archetypal arsenic a bookbinder, past arsenic a theatre props manager. She aboriginal recovered her calling arsenic an opera manager earlier transitioning to writing. Her debut novella, The Old Child (1999), marked the opening of a singular vocation that has since produced critically acclaimed works similar Visitation (2010), The End of Days (2014), and Go, Went, Gone (2015). Translated into implicit 30 languages, her novels research themes of memory, identity, and the lingering shadows of history, earning her a planetary estimation arsenic a maestro storyteller.
In this exclusive interview, Erpenbeck reflects connected the challenges of German reunification, the emergence of right-wing authorities successful Europe, and the enduring powerfulness of lit to illuminate the quality condition. Excerpts:
As idiosyncratic who lived done the unification of East and West Germany, what were the astir important challenges during that period? How bash you deliberation those challenges person shaped Germany today, and however bash you spot the unresolved issues from that clip inactive persist?
This is simply a hard question. The unification was fundamentally a bully idea, made sense, but determination were galore problems that came with it. I would accidental the main occupation was that it was not the unification of 2 adjacent partners, but 1 portion of the state being added to the other. Besides, Western politicians specified arsenic Wolfgang Schäuble, the Minister for Special Affairs astatine that time, made it wide that we shouldn’t instrumentality this unification arsenic a existent unification, but we should beryllium grateful for being allowed to participate the Federal Republic. And this subtle contempt for the achievements that we had made was the main problem. Of course, determination were galore problems, the economy, governmental pressure, and radical being enactment into prison. But determination were besides achievements. Around 80 per cent of the East German companies were closed down. In the 2 oregon 3 years that followed the unification, many, galore radical mislaid their jobs. Almost everyone had to question places wherever helium oregon she could marque a living.
The unification meant that 1 state would go different country. And of course, this comes with structural problems too. So the institutions were taken implicit by Westerners. The universities – each the intelligence jobs, truthful to accidental – were taken by Westerners. The media was each tally by Westerners for the East German people. And determination were hardly immoderate East Germans starring this oregon that institution successful the West, and besides not successful the East. So the archetypal fewer years were each astir realising what had happened. It was a dilatory process of knowing what was going on. At first, it was possibly welcomed by the Easterners. They thought, the Westerners cognize however to bash it, they should instrumentality over. But aft a while, it became evident that the work was taken from us.
The happening that was absorbing astir the oppositional question and the autumn of the Wall was that we had this benignant of self-empowerment, and the satellite was funny successful however radical got escaped of the strategy themselves. And each of a sudden, we were turned into students again who had to set to the Western strategy and effort to marque a surviving nether caller conditions.
Your caller Go Went Gone offers a profoundly empathetic position connected migration. Given the existent governmental climate, however bash you presumption the increasing power of right-wing parties similar the AfD successful Germany?
The AfD is not the lone enactment successful Europe that is gaining much and much power. You spot the aforesaid inclination towards right-wing parties successful France, Italy, Hungary and the US. We each are facing this problem. People are facing truthful galore planetary problems that they tin hardly woody with them, truthful they are seeking radical who are promising instrumentality and order. They say: we’ll support each foreigners out, and past the problems volition disappear. And of course, that’s not true. The refugees are not the problem. The problems are determination else. In my opinion, they person to bash with the planetary economy, the rule of nett maximisation, and the invisibility of these ample companies that are focused connected making their nett but without being liable arsenic persons anymore. You don’t spot immoderate idiosyncratic successful the planetary economy. It’s each intertwined, and what truly is going on, you cannot spot anymore. And for the people, it’s difficult. They person their tiny lives successful immoderate environment, and they conscionable privation to support the problems out. We had the Corona crisis, we had the fiscal crisis, and present we are facing warfare successful Europe. People are afraid. They are acrophobic to suffer their comfy lives, adjacent if it’s conscionable a middle-class life. The much you have, the much you are acrophobic to lose. And they privation to springiness the work to idiosyncratic who seems to beryllium strong. Because, if you look astatine (Donald) Trump oregon the AfD, they look to beryllium strong, but their powerfulness lies lone successful catering to the ego, thing else. There’s nary thought of solidarity. There’s nary thought that each humans are equal. There’s nary conception of sharing resources. And we each cognize that this is the other of solving problems.
The close is rising again successful Germany. How bash you presumption this politically done the writer’s lens?
A writer is not the 1 who solves governmental problems. It’s conscionable that possibly we are radical who are paying attraction to the invisible shifts that are taking spot nether the surface. My novel, Kairos, is successful a mode astir the shifting of power. It’s astir the maltreatment of power. And successful a way, I’m interweaving it with a governmental shifting of power. What besides funny maine a batch was the question of betrayal, truth, and lies that we tin spot astatine enactment everywhere. Fake quality is simply a occupation now. Who’s trusting which root of accusation makes a large quality politically. So it’s not conscionable a backstage problem. And what has been absorbing for galore years present is the question of guilt and however the thought of idiosyncratic being blameworthy tin beryllium turned into a instrumentality to regularisation people. We tin spot this successful Christianity, but we tin besides spot it successful the Stalin strategy successful the 30s successful the Soviet Union, the amusement trials that took spot astatine that time, besides successful immoderate of the Eastern bloc countries, specified arsenic Hungary and Czechoslovakia. It has a batch to bash with denying, for instance, denying that determination were attraction camps oregon denying that determination was COVID-19 astatine all. They enactment the thought of guilt onto idiosyncratic and past marque nett from it.
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Do you deliberation Donald Trump and Elon Musk volition beryllium capable to impact the governmental sermon successful Germany?
It’s precise shocking that Trump and Elon Musk are interfering with the German elections, owed successful February. When Trump was elected, my friends and I truly felt upset, not conscionable arsenic radical who are seeing it from outside, but besides from inside. I deliberation the occupation ideology is facing is that it is based connected majorities. The radical who are earnestly reasoning astir problems oregon honestly reasoning astir problems and truly paying attraction to others, they ne'er beryllium to the majority. The thought of solidarity is not precise fashionable. So if the bulk is made of radical who are conscionable taking attraction of themselves, it tin lone extremity up astatine immoderate problematic point. I’m not a politician. I’m an author.
Memory plays a cardinal relation successful your work, peculiarly successful Kairos. How bash radical woody with memories, travel to presumption with them, hide them, oregon regenerate them?
Before I wrote Kairos, I did immoderate probe astir representation and adjacent attended a league astir memory. And it became precise wide to maine that representation is not thing that stays everlastingly successful a drawer that you tin unfastened oregon close. Memory is successful motion. It has a batch to bash with our wishes, however to marque consciousness of our lives. So it volition alteration successful the people of our lives. This ever funny maine a lot. And I deliberation however we retrieve our lives is besides however we privation to retrieve our lives. It puts our biography successful a benignant of perspective. It’s besides astir the valuation of what we did oregon what we didn’t. And of course, it has a batch to bash with penning due to the fact that penning is, successful a way, clip traveling. It’s besides astir keeping time. You enactment thing connected paper, and it stays there, and it tin beryllium looked at. And you person to marque the determination astir the extract which you instrumentality for the story. So you person to permission things out. If you bash immoderate research, you volition possibly acquisition immoderate shifting of your ain understanding, not of your memory, but of your cognition of thing that changes things. As you tin spot successful Kairos precise clearly, representation besides has to bash with secrets being revealed astatine immoderate occasion. So I wrote astir it successful The End of Days that erstwhile idiosyncratic dies, sometimes the household volition find immoderate papers oregon photos oregon immoderate benignant of things that possibly uncover a antithetic information astir the 1 you thought you knew. So I deliberation this besides changes the representation from the past. Memory is thing alive. It’s not dead.
How acquainted are you with Indian writing?
The archetypal publication I work was The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, galore years agone erstwhile I was a young woman. After that, I work immoderate books by Indian authors, like, of course, Raj Kamal Jha, and I work Arundhati Roy. I adjacent met her successful South Korea. And earlier I came to India, I started to work thing similar a abbreviated mentation of the Mahabharata. The French writer Jean-Claude Carrière made a caller retired of it. And I truly indispensable accidental I respect it truthful much. I deliberation this is 1 of the astir beauteous books I’ve ever read. The state that is taken to not lone archer a communicative but to person this enactment betwixt the writer and his characters, with characters asking the author, “What are you going to bash with us?” And past helium would say, “Not adjacent I cognize what volition hap to you later.” And past each the vivid visions — possibly vivid is the incorrect connection — but the beardown and almighty visions of what acheronian times we are facing, astir war, the astir horrible scenes of war. And successful a way, I could spot that this is besides a feeling that we are having present successful Europe facing the war. And, with everybody threatening with an atomic bomb, and the Russians perpetually saying, “We volition nonstop immoderate rocket to Berlin,” you work the Mahabharata and you spot it’s each already successful the Mahabharata. It’s shockingly good.
There is speculation that you whitethorn triumph the Nobel Prize successful the adjacent future. How bash you consciousness astir being seen arsenic a imaginable dependable of the procreation oregon a typical of German literature?
I don’t cognize if you cognize the Polish writer Wisława Szymborska, who won the Nobel Prize erstwhile years ago. After having won the Nobel Prize, she said, “I’m not an institution,” and I similar that condemnation precise much. And I deliberation it’s bully to perceive that idiosyncratic thinks I mightiness get a Nobel Prize. I don’t deliberation truthful myself. And I support distant from specified thoughts. I deliberation they won’t assistance anything. For penning itself, the penning stays arsenic hard arsenic it was. Perhaps it’s adjacent getting much hard the older you become. But the problems you are facing erstwhile you beryllium astatine immoderate desk, you deliberation astir this and that, you effort to find the close mode to explicit this and that, oregon to picture thing that you don’t understand, oregon to enactment the close questions to yourself and to the reader. So this is what superior penning is about. It’s not astir caring whether I volition get this and that prize and whether I volition beryllium acknowledged. It’s each wonderful, and I consciousness privileged. And for the longest portion of my beingness arsenic a writer, I was truly blessed that the prizes made maine past successful presumption of money. So I felt grateful for being honored and being work and each this. But erstwhile you’re sitting astatine your desk, I ever effort to support my caput distant from immoderate thought of a readership, of a imaginable readership, oregon what mistakes I could make. It’s similar if you don’t spell to the 100% risk, adjacent risking what radical mightiness deliberation astir you, similar the publication astir refugees. It went well, but I didn’t cognize successful the opening what radical would deliberation astir it. I conscionable felt similar penning it. And I wanted to constitute it successful a bully way, pursuing my criteria, but not the criteria of immoderate professional oregon readership.