euskalkultura.eus

Sabrina Otegui/Buenos Aires.  Invited by the FILBA Foundation, Basque writer Harkaitz Cano participated at the end of September and the beginning of October in various events related to literature and languages in Buenos Aires as well as in Santiago, Chile.  In this context, he also presented his latest novel, published in Spanish by the Seix Barral publishing house.

We should remind you that the original version of Twist in Basque was published in 2011 and it is based on real events, concretely the case of two young boys from Tolosa Joxean Lasa and Joxi Zabala who were kidnapped, tortured and went missing by GAL in 1983.  The novel won the Euskadi Prize for Literature in 2012.

-You just arrive, what impression has Buenos Aires made on you so far and what are you hoping for from this trip?

-It is a very eclectic city, very chaotic, but I like chaos, and so I’m fine.  Traveling allows you to get other points of view on your work.  When one of your texts is translated into another language or when you travel to another country, it is like entering in a gallery of deforming mirrors.  The new image that you see gives you a lot to thing about and the image that you had before starts to change.  That’s what traveling and translations do for me.

-You mention translations and one of the goals of this trip is precisely, to present the Spanish version of Twist.  Even though the novel is translated, do you think that the Basque conflict can be translated?

-Yes.  I think that many keys of Twist can be easily understood from the beginning.  We are talking about the missing and this is not an unknown topic for many Argentineans, or for Chileans…just the opposite.  Taking this as a starting point, it can be understood without any problem.  Later, of course, there are many things that are different, the context, the reasons are different, but there is also something in common that helps to understand the story.  Sometimes one thinks that it is a subject that others won’t understand but later when you travel; you realize that it is more in our heads than in others. In addition, it is literature, our language in common is literature, we are not talking politics, it is a novel and even though some key points may escape us, the book can be enjoyed all the same.

-Keeping the aforementioned in mind, how would you invite someone who is not aware of the current situation in Euskal Herria to read Twist?

-Where there is pain there is opportunity, and in the 80s there were many painful cases.  Literature can have a cathartic power and the book, is written with this hope. But I insist and underscore that it is not a book of chronicles nor a political text.  It is a novel; even if it is based in reality, and it even includes other personal questions of mine, like the decadency of journalism and the media, or the decadency of models of other eras, as well as the theme of personal construction.  This is another point that is questioned in the book, until we are free and it is truly our “free will” and to what extent we are slaves to others expectations.

-The characters in Twist make reference on more than once occasion to the Latin American dictators, was it a concern at the time or a reflection that is from the present?

-No, I don’t think that it was a worry of the time; you have to remember that Internationalism was very established in the 80s.  Now perhaps, it has toned down a bit but in the early 1980s the guerrillas from El Salvador, Nicaragua were also very present in the discourse in the Basque Country.  I looked to see what was happening in those places…Maybe taking these realities as mirrors, in the moment, some things taken out of context generated misunderstandings and this also is something that is mentioned in the book.

-The first chapter is entitled, “Cambalache 1983.” A name that is very significant for Argentineans, why did you call it that?

-I always say that the first chapter of a novel is like the first stroke of a painter on a canvas.  It starts out as a dark stain but little by little, this stain becomes something figurative.  This is the first chapter of Twist: the end of the 20th century, there are very painful events…looking for a niche to understand what can’t be understood.  Literature is also that.

In the same way, the lyrics to this song come to mind, “Twentieth century Cambalache.” It is impressive.  Among authors, or other people of my generation, we have spoken many times about the 20th century.  We were born in the 20th century and in some ways we have stayed there.  Our memories are there, and if, we can use Twitter, but there is something inside of us that has stayed in the 20th century.  That is why “Twentieth Century Cambalache” seems to me to be an appropriate title for the first chapter.

-This isn’t the only text where you mention the tango and Argentinean literature.  For example, in Argentinar lotsatia (The Shy Argentinean) one of the characters is Julio Cortazar, how did you get to Argentinean literature?

-I think like most people, I got to know Argentinean literature as an adolescent thanks to Cortazar.  Different than Borges, Cortazar is is very good for adolescence while Borges, on the other hand, comes a little later, since at the age of 15 Borges is further away.  This doesn’t happen with Cortazar though.  Cortazar has something irreverent, his games, his way of playing with misspellings, giving instructions to climb the stairs…this for an adolescent is a great way to get better acquainted with literature.  In high school, I had a professor that really liked Cortazar and thanks to her, I became familiar with him and his literature.  And of course, later I continued to follow Argentinean authors.  For example, the story book that I like the most lately is Pájaros en la boca, (Birds in the Mouth) by Samanta Schweblin.

-Some people say that Basque literature doesn’t have any tradition or that books or authors don’t exist that function as references, do you agree?

-People always say that Basque is a very old language, and so it is.  But it seems more interesting to me to say “old but with young literature.”  This means that many of the most interesting books have been written in the last fifty years.  While other literatures have a written tradition, we have a very important oral tradition.  So our classic writers are “young classics,” the majority of our classics are alive Saizarbitoria, Atxaga…It is a paradox but it doesn’t have to be bad.  Not having a tradition is a problem, and at the same time, an opportunity.  For example, when I started to write Belauna Jazz, there were very few pages written in Basque on jazz.  That is when you notice the lack of references and all you have to do is find other resources, in Cortazar, El Perseguidor (The Persecutor)… There is an entire work but also a possibility.  It is like being the first one to step in the snow; you leave your own footprint, like we should create our own tradition, our own resources, which is very attractive to an author.  When you have to create your own tradition you become your own grandfather.  It is exhausting but also a great opportunity.

-During the last few years, you have had the opportunity to travel and get to know the Basque Diaspora in various places around the world, what is your opinion about this movement?

-I think that the South American Diaspora, above all in earlier generations, has kind of frozen in time.  There are some references that aren’t current and don’t exist anymore in the Basque Country, and surely are the fruit of idealization which sometimes produces a kind of shock.  But I have the feeling that this is changing with the new generations.  Now it is easier and cheaper to travel, and with technology you don’t’ have to go to a place to get to know it; I think that in this way a Diaspora that is more united to the Basque Country is possible, to the real Euskal Herria, in which many artists, musicians, singers and writers are working…