“We didn’t think she would save the world at all; we thought, on the other hand, that it was the only way not to escape from it. This is one of the many enlightening reflections on literature that originated from the pen of Diégane, the narrator-writer of The most secret memory of menthe novel which won its author, the Senegalese Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, the Goncourt 2021 prize.
On the occasion of the Festival TransAmériques, Aristide Tarnagda and Odile Sankara, two artists from Burkina Faso, will offer at the Studio du Monument-National a theatrical reading of the novel published by Philippe Rey/Jimsaan, an investigation where mise en abyme follow one another, a tribute to literature, a plea for it to be more valued, better defended, more popular, more free. “My concern was to get to the bottom of the literature issue,” the 31-year-old author, who has lived in France for more than 10 years, explains over the phone.
It was not possible for Mohamed Mbougar Sarr to give birth to “a blissful ode”: “I wanted to explore the value of literature, its real scope, what it could and could not do, its limits, its cowardice , its responsibilities and its irresponsibilities. I wanted to criticize her, but without ever ceasing to believe in it, always taking her seriously. In the end, I would say that my novel is as much a love song as a profession of faith. »
Literature and literary life
The author draws an important distinction between literature, “a profound linguistic, philosophical, aesthetic and artistic work”, and literary life, “the way in which one embodies literature socially, for purposes of classification or hierarchy which are not not always beneficial.
“It has happened,” he explains, “that the literary milieu has given literature the most terrible alibis, that it has given it intentions, that it has made it endorse tensions or social violence that had nothing to do with it. see with her. Discourse on literature is always a reflection of a certain way of thinking, and sometimes it’s the worst way. At the same time, it demonstrates that literature is not disconnected from the social game, from its comedies as well as its tragedies. »
Without wanting to give lessons to anyone, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr believes that his novel “alerts on reading and reception biases based on something other than the intrinsic quality of the work”, in other words, which he approaches by the fiction of the issues that are widely discussed in so-called postcolonial studies. “Faced with the violence of a biased reception, positioned above, correlated with a dominant ideology, I believe that we must remain vigilant. I hope that my book occupies and will occupy a place in this collective reflection which concerns creation, theory and politics. »
Passage to the stage
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr perceives the theatrical work of Aristide Tarnagda and Odile Sankara less as mediation than as translation or adaptation. “That is to say that there is an autonomy in what they create, a commitment, a talent and an understanding that is implemented when appropriating the text. I don’t know exactly what they did with it yet. The most secret memory of menbut I really liked what they did with it. girded earth, my first novel. They know my writing well, I am convinced that they will be able to convey its main principles and rhythms. »
The author affirms that he is “not obsessed with moving into another genre”: “I don’t write with the theater or the cinema in mind, but neither am I opposed to what other artists appropriate my novels. I know very well that the stages and the screens are able to reach a greater number, because they are more direct and they abolish the act of reading which frightens many. That said, if these forms of mediation encourage people to return to books, that seems to me very interesting as a dynamic. »
To love is to rewrite
Whether it is that which is established between the literary work and the artist, or even that which connects the work generated by the artist to the public present, the question of mediation is moreover at the heart of PME-ART’s approach for more than 20 years, but particularlyAdventures can be found anywhere, even in the rehearsalthe performance that the collective will present at the Leonard & Bina Ellen gallery during the Festival TransAmériques.
Rewrite the diaries and notebooks of the American writer and activist Susan Sontag, those published in 2008, four years after her death and which cover the period 1947-1963, this is the mission that Burcu Emeç, Marie Claire Forté have given themselves , Nadège Grebmeier Forget, Adam Kinner, Catherine Lalonde, Ashlea Watkin and Jacob Wren.
“In 2014, explains Marie Claire Forté, we chose to rewrite The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. It had given Adventures can be found anywhere, even in melancholy. By changing the work, even if they have in common a fragmentary and posthumous character, the project focuses less on the text, less on the material itself and more on the process of collective rewriting of a book. »
Multiply the voices
For 48 hours (8 days of 6 hours each), the performers will reclaim Sontag’s words, digging into the substance of the text while making sure to instil their feelings and concerns.
“In English, explains Marie Claire Forté, we say: “Every reading is a rewrite”. This idea that we are already rewriting when we read, it is at the heart of our approach. Each rewritten fragment will be read and screened. “Visitors can interact with the performers,” says Forté. The public brings its relationship to literature, it enriches our prism, nourishes our inspiration. »
We often disagree with each other, we have very different perspectives, especially when it comes to the book market, but we always manage to find common ground. I don’t think it’s possible to come up with so many nuances on your own.
“The collective nature of the adventure makes it possible to broaden the meaning of the texts, to approach the flashes of Sontag as well as its blind spots, affirms Forté. We often disagree with each other, we have very different perspectives, especially when it comes to the book market, but we always manage to find common ground. I don’t think it’s possible to come up with so many nuances on your own. »
Nuances, a multiplication of voices and points of view, this is also what PME-ART demands with Adventures can be found anywhere, even in repetition. “The performance is a declaration of love for what we would like literature to be,” explains Marie Claire Forté. We want more voices and ideas to be heard, for the environment to be more multiple, more heterogeneous, less hierarchical, less authoritarian. »