An independent journalist living astride two continents, Frédérick Lavoie has mastered the art of journalistic literary storytelling. His fifth book should have flowed naturally. Rather, he plunged him into troubled waters, not only to the heart of his subject (the water issues experienced by the Bangladeshi population), but also to the very depths of the very essence of his profession.
Trouble the waters comes from a journalistic project originally called Tame the waters for which Frédérick Lavoie received a scholarship from the Aga Khan Foundation Canada. The man who today shares his life between Montreal and Bombay (Mumbai) wanted to go to Bangladesh to understand the issues related to water faced by its inhabitants. Contaminated wells, polluted rivers, floods: water is both a source of misery and salvation for the Bangladeshi people. Faced with the climate threat, the fate of the country will depend on its ability to tame the waters, he initially believed.
From his work in the field, from the slums of Dhaka to the floating schools of Chalan Beel, the journalist produced writings and videos which were broadcast in The duty. This book was to be an extension of this work, a narrative and more in-depth putting into words of its subject, as he had done so well with his previous works, notably Fragmentation Ukraine And Before and after: Travels to Cuba with George Orwell. However, it was a reflection on the practice of journalism that awaited him around the corner. Disconcerted, he felt incapable of giving a voice to people whose experience of the world, of their world, he had difficulty understanding.
Ultimately, he spent five years examining these reports, embracing his doubts and questioning his a priori. He questions the financial means available to him and the use of a fixer, “ideal conditions for practicing international journalism” which nevertheless led him to disconnect from his subject.
Rather than making room for improvisation and chance, he focused on efficiency. He also questions this tradition of journalism which asks those who practice it to silence their feelings.
“What my discomfort demonstrated,” he wrote, “was that journalism, as I had been taught to practice it, quickly found itself caught off guard in the face of modes of existence functioning according to other scales of values and other codes than those he wanted to believe universal. » How can this journalism which likes precise and verifiable facts, clear angles and testimonies which come full circle be practiced in a country where the inhabitants are not even sure of their age?
Deconstructing the prejudices that inhabit it and the power issues that underlie this quest for absolute impartiality that traditional journalism pursues, particularly that which is practiced internationally, Frédérick Lavoie offers a relevant reflection that is little heard around the world. media, nourished in particular by the thoughts of the feminist Donna Haraway and the anthropologist Anne Tsing. Realizing that he has approached Tame the waters with an anthropocentric vision of human domination over nature, he calls on journalism to free itself from its view of planetary issues and to redefine the public interest to include the interests of all living things . What does all this mean in practice? Despite the examples given by the author, we are still swimming in troubled waters. But it will be interesting to see how those who are determined to work differently will explore these new ways of practicing the profession.
Extract
“ Tame the waters was it first born from a desire for personal accomplishment, from a desire to conquest of a subject, of a territory and of human voices, or of a professional conviction that water issues in Bangladesh were of fundamental public interest in this period of environmental upheaval? »
Who is Frédérick Lavoie?
Born in Chicoutimi, Frédérick Lavoie is an independent writer and journalist. He notably collaborated with The Press, The duty And The Daily. Sharing his life between India and Quebec, he is the author of five books, including Before and After: Travels to Cuba with George Orwell for which he received the Governor General’s Award in 2018.
Trouble the waters
The People
360 pages