Tunisian writer Zied Bakir talks about his Francophilia

Zied Bakir is the author of The Love of Invisible Things. His novel is “of autobiographical inspiration”. Tunisian, like his hero, he leaves his country for France where he will live “without papers” from 2009. “I was born in a country that doesn’t match me, like a transsexual born in a body that doesn’t match him, explains the writer. So I made my transition by coming to France. ”

Zied Bakir also explains “to have caught an incurable disease, which is called Francophilia, therefore the love of French literature, language, culture”. “I lived under the dictatorship of Ben Ali, he continues. It was political and religious dictatorship (…). “ He adds that the French language has it “pulled out of this”, and has it “open to other horizons”. “I was, between quotes, a fertile ground for this French and French-speaking seed to germinate, and for it to disorientate my life. Subsequently, I oriented my life according to that. I said to myself, I will go to France to live there “, he says, specifying that he studied French language and literature which enabled him to obtain a visa.