Israel: Interview with the author of „The Book of Whispers” in „Yediot Ahronot”, by Shiri Lev-Ari (photo)
Primim de la editorul Anita Peri Sela: Stimate Domnule Vosganian,
M-am bucurat sa citesc interviul pe care i l-ati acordat ziaristei Shiri Lev-Ari, publicat pe ynet in urma cu doua zile. Ynet este, in momentul de fata, cel mai citit site israelian de stiri si subiecte de ordin general (este publicatia online a lui Yediot Ahronot, al doilea ziar ca raspandire din Israel.)
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4293338,00.html
Adaug si ca reactiile cititorilor in urma articolului (talk-backs) sunt toate extrem de pozitive, toti laudand cartea.
Am tradus pentru dvs. articolul in engleza, anexat in continuare.
Toate cele bune,
Anita Peri Sela
Posted: 20.10.12
Varujan Vosganian: “I wrote out of a sense of obligation towards the Armenian people”
Romanian politician Varujan Vosganian, wrote in “The Book of Whispers” the bloody story of the Armenian people. “I wrote a novel about my roots and the generations before me, but the main protagonist in it is the 20th century and the great pain it caused humanity and history. An interview
By: Shiri Lev-Ari
Translation from Hebrew: Anita Peri Sela
A tall, bearded man, in a stylish suit, accompanied by a small entourage, has arrived last week to “Hasifriya” bookstore inDizenghoffCenterfor the launching of his new book in Hebrew. The Romanian author of Armenian origin Varujan Vosganian, who is also a politician and an economist in his country, wrote the novel “The Book of Whispers”, which is based upon his family’s memories fromArmenia.
Vosganian landed here for 24 hours and has already left, yet not before he told the audience gathered at the bookstore, in a charismatic way, about himself, his family, and mostly about the sad history of the Armenian people; a story which is to be told whispering, as insinuated by the title of his novel.
“The 20th century grew old at a very early stage of its life”, Vosganian says, “it was barely 14 when World War I started, causing it to age rapidly”. And he immediately adds that the 21st century aged even much earlier yet: starting already from its first year, with the attacks of 9/11.
“Look”, he points to the cover of his book, “this is a photograph of my family”, and he names his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and so on, one by one. Autumn of 1926, the Danube, all sitting or standing on a long rowboat, above them open skies, deep waters underneath, and the photo is cut at the right side of the boat, as to say: it is not entirely clear where they are headed to, and what the future has in store.
Vosganian was born inRomaniain 1958. He studied Economics and Mathematics at theUniversityofBucharest, and he holds a Ph.D. in economics. He is a member of the National-Liberal party inRomania, located on the conservative right wing of the political map, and he held the position of Minister of Economy and Commerce between the years 2006-2008. He is president of the Armenians’ Union of Romania. He also published a few books, mainly about politics and economics, but a few poetry and prose ones as well.
Vosganian is the third generation to the Armenian holocaust: a genocide which was committed by theOttoman Empireduring World War I against its Armenian population. Mass massacres, deportations and death marches which resulted in about one and a half million victims.Turkey, and this is a well known fact, still refuses up to today to acknowledge the events of those times and recognize them as genocide, let alone to seek forgiveness.
A Lesson of a Painful Native Land
“The Book of Whispers” (Hakibbutz Hameuchad publishing house, trans. Ani Shilon) describes the tragedy of the Armenian people, which were hurt twice: first by the Ottomans in the beginning of the century, and then by the Soviets, in the middle of it. It describes the deportations and mass murders, the attempts at struggle and rescue, the return of the refugees after the second World War to Armenia, which became Soviet in the meantime, the deportations of those refugees to Siberia or to forced labor camps, and the emigration of many Armenians to European countries and their settling there, dwelling in nostalgia and longing for their homeland.
“This book was written out of a duty I had to fulfill”, says Vosganian, “out of my obligation towards the Armenian people, towards my grandfathers and grandmothers and to the rest of older people who surrounded me in my childhood, to whose stories I used to listen in my early years. But the main protagonist of this book is the 20th century, and the tremendous pain it caused humanity: world wars, mass graves, concentration camps, genocides, uprooted and displaced peoples, ideology abused to serve as a means of authority and control. Around it, the other characters in the book are of a sort that you would not find in history books. History books refer, usually, to the victors. The Book of Whispers talks about the defeated ones, about those who have suffered history, endured it rather than having lived it.
“I was so conscious of the mission this book represents, that the first time in my life in which I experienced the fear of death, was when I was about to finish the book. I was afraid to die before I would manage to finish it. Now, the book can continue to exist in the world even without me. It is a book that outlines the identity of the Armenian people – from culture and religion, to gastronomy, along heroes and significant characters. I believe that there is such a “book of whispers” in any place and any time, because these things were lived – all that is required is to write them down.”
“The bodies would collect from the north at the bend of the river, the water had drowned them and the fish had not yet consumed them. The bodies were pulled out onto the riverbanks using long sticks with iron hooks fitted to their ends. Since the earth was frozen and the number of cadavers was greater than they could burry, they poured oil on them and set them ablaze. The thick smoke could be seen clearly from the camp in Meskene”. This is a description, one out of many, of the Armenians’ death marches onTurkey’s land.
Did you base these descriptions on the testimonies of people you knew?
“All the characters in this book existed in reality, including their real names. So did all the events that are mentioned in it. But it is a novel, not a history book. Because it talks not only about things that happened, but about what people would like to have happened, about their agonies and their hopes. The descriptions of the atrocities are based on testimonies of people who were present in those events, on documents from those times and on my family’s memories.
Why is the Armenian story told as a whisper rather than in exclamation marks?
“The whisper is an expression of honesty. When a person wished to confess about his actions, he whispers. When one talks about one’s self, they do not shout it, but whisper. And the whisper is also an expression of love. When two hearts are close they whisper; only hearts which have been separated and driven away from each other have to shout in order to be heard. In my childhood, whispering used to be the way in which people used to discuss important things, especially during the soviet times.
A holocaust, not our own
“I wrote in this book about Armenians the way they are, about their strong and about their weak points. The book does not sow hatred, nor does it promote feistiness of any type. Firm, decisive conclusions kill, in my opinion, the art. The one who is to come up with a conclusion is the reader. The writer only presents his testimony.
How do you find the comparison between the Armenian holocaust and the Jewish one?
“The struggle of these two peoples to survive emphasizes the great strength of survival through culture and faith. The Armenian genocide has had, as much as the Jewish one did, a high toll in victims. The elements which differ in one holocaust from the other are, first of all, the lack of documentation – there are less materials documenting First World War than Second World War, and then, secondly, the attitude of the nations of the world and international public opinion to those events.
“In what pertains to the holocaust of the Jews, world justice has been done, although, on a mental level, we can still see, every now and then, despicable phenomena of holocaust denial. I think that the Jews and the Armenians should cooperate in order to entice the international public opinion’s sensitivity and awareness, to have these tragedies recognized, thus making sure that they are not repeated”.
Why do the Turks, in your opinion, refuse to acknowledge this tragedy and define it as genocide?
“The Armenians have developed an advanced civilization, and when the Turks arrived to these areas the Armenians already had a vast and advanced culture. Recognizing the genocide of the Armenians would imply a Turkish acknowledgement of the pertinence of the Armenians to this place, and requires them to admit the way in which Armenians’ lands and treasures were taken away from them during the war. The conquerors have ruined thousands of churches, schools and institutions, and have uprooted millions of Armenians from their homes. And, unlike Germany or Japan, who apologized to the peoples against which they had committed their crimes, Turkey is consistently denying the Armenian genocide and punishes whomever dares bring this historical truth to light. We hope the Turkish authorities would soon adopt a different approach to this issue.
How do you explain the harsh history of the Armenians? Why did it all happen to them?
“Armenian lands have always been located on the important crossroads of the great empires. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, Alexander Macedon’s Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, the Tatars, Tsarist Russia and Bolshevik Russia – have all passed through it and conquered.Armeniawas the first Christian state in the world and has still remained Christian despite the occupations and events it endured. Sadly, today’sArmeniaoccupies a small territory of 30,000km, and its population is not more than three million citizens. And still, it is a symbol of struggle and resistance.
How do you find Armenia of today?
Armeniais finding itself in a difficult geopolitical position, surrounded by states which manifest aggressive attitudes towards it, such asTurkeyandAzerbaijan, or display controversial stands, such asGeorgia. In spite of the stepsArmeniatook in order to establish diplomatic relations with it,Turkeyhas ceased the normalization process between the two states. ButArmeniaenjoys the support of the Armenians in Diaspora, a fact which helps improve the situation of its citizens.
You were born in Romania, and you live in it. Do you consider yourself an Armenian writer, or a Romanian one?
“My parents were born inRomania. I write in Romanian, although my Armenian is good. My experiences fromArmeniaare limited. For instance, I have never met Armenian villagers; all those that I met in my childhood were city folks. I have never met stuttering Armenians, so how can I know the bubbling of the language? I have not ever met Armenian drunkards, so how can I be familiar with their language? I am a Romanian writer, but my Armenian roots make my writing unique.
How does one combine poetry and prose with politics and economics?
“The thing is authenticity. If you are authentic, there are no conflicts. Just as there is no kitsch in nature; nature, in itself, is pure, authentic. Kitsch is produced out of human interference. Politics, economics and poetry are all means of communication. Being a poet is more meaningful to me than being a minister. Had I not been a minister, there would have been someone else to fulfill that role. But if I were not to write the poems or the novels I wrote, no one else would have written them in my place. It is the poet that offers greatness to mankind”.
