Literature is not a means to bring about political change, but to change people. That is exactly what he aims for with his books, Egyptian writer Alaa al Aswani said yesterday at Winternachten, where his new novel Cairo Automobile Club was presented. This is probably how visitors to the literary festival came out again at the end of the evening: a tiny bit different from before.
An evening of talking about Evil proved not only interesting but also entertaining. Several authors could not come because they were ill, but the programme did not suffer for that. Instead of Jamal Ouariachi, Belgian writer Kristien Hemmerechts entered into a polemic with Abdelkader Benali, who acquitted himself well. The central question was: who is actually the source of all evil, man or woman? Hemmerechts' arguments were stronger, but with his lively and humorous argument, Benali regularly managed to get the laughs - perhaps that is why the battle ended in a draw. A light-hearted start to the evening.
But the other, more serious sections of the programme were also presented with a certain lightness. That again proved the strength of this festival: that it dares to bring serious topics, but does so in such a way that it does not become heavy. This makes the theme all the better.
Slavenka Drakulic and Frank Westerman, who have both written a book on Srebrenica, talked about the war in Yugoslavia. A war that did not arise between different peoples, but was conceived and brought about by politicians, who set the peoples against each other. 'Many journalists, intellectuals and also writers contributed to that,' the Croatian writer said. 'Because many of them were paid by the government. People had to, to make a living.' Even as an independent journalist, it was difficult not to become part of the conflict anyway, directly or indirectly, Wetserman also said. 'Besides being a journalist, you are also just a human being, and you tend to take sides with the underdog. In a war, it is impossible to remain impartial.'
The danger, says Drakulic, is that we tend to portray (war) criminals as monsters. 'We do that from a defence mechanism. If you recognise that war criminals are human, you also have to face the fact that you yourself might end up in a situation where you too could commit such acts. We all have that potential, and it is a heavy burden. But if you are aware of that, maybe you can choose to do the right thing.'
Dictators
Ukrainian writer Andrei Kurchov and his Egyptian colleague Alaa al Aswani also had an engaging and lively conversation about revolt and dictatorship. When the revolution broke out in Kiev, Kerkov put away his novel and wrote a non-fiction book. Turning violent events into fiction requires sufficient psychological distance, he said. 'The pain must first have become a memory before you can write about it. Otherwise, you only react to your pain, rather than its underlying cause and background. Then I would retaliate with words.'
Alaa al Aswani, one of the few writers to openly criticise the regime in Egypt, believes writers have an important job to do and that literature has a great social function. 'Writing is defending human values. Literature is not a means to bring about political change, but good literature is capable of changing people and changing how they look at things.'
And that is exactly what the Winternachten festival is all about.
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