Argentinian writer M. Enriquez: about the adored MKČiurlionis, horror in books and insecurity in life | Culture

M. Enriquez is called one of the most interesting Argentine writers of our time. Her books have been awarded more than one prize, but the work “Why is it dangerous to smoke in bed” (it was also translated into Lithuanian, translated by Augustė Čebelytė-Matulevičienė, published by the publishing house “Sofoklis”, this publishing house also published another of her books “Tai ko netekome ugnyje” , translated by Laura Liubinavičiūtė) was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

In her works, she conveys the atmosphere of unease, mystery, fear, explores borderline experiences, she is no stranger to horror, gothic aesthetics, she also touches on social problems. Next week, she will attend the Kaunas Literature Week, and before that, she will have a talk regarding what she wants to convey in her books.

– I once did an interview with your compatriot Samantha Schweblin and she said that it is difficult for writers in Latin America to avoid politics. “Sometimes books don’t have political undertones, but reading them does.” We live in Latin America, very politicized cultures,” she said. Do you agree with the idea that politics permeates creativity in your country even on an unconscious level?

– Totally agree. Even if you consciously try to avoid it, sometimes the political context comes out and can be read that way. I don’t think this is a problem. In a sense, literature is a product of the time in which the author lives and its culture. In Argentina, it is inevitable. So it’s better to accept it.

– How much do you think readers in other countries discover the realities of your country hidden under metaphors? How much Argentina is in your stories? And which of those Argentines (I myself traveled around this country a few years ago and realized how different it is)?

– There is a lot of Argentina in my stories. But as you mentioned, the country is very different in many ways: regions vary in size, immigration, native populations, different cultures – it’s huge. There’s a lot of my country in my stories, but I’m not really worried regarding how much readers discover or know regarding it. I just want those links to be impactful, some may be universal, some may not. I myself read books from all over the world and I don’t pretend to understand anything regarding the author’s country of origin, even if the local culture is a very important part of what I read. Let’s say Yukio Mishima, who is emphatically “Japanese,” or Toni Morrison, who is emphatically African-American… I just let them talk regarding their worlds, and that’s the joy of literature—it’s not a lecture.

Sebastian Freire nuotr./Mariana Henry

– Probably one of the most frequently asked questions is regarding the merging of magic and fantasy with reality. Here, perhaps, we have to turn to the traditions of Latin America once more. Why do you think such measures are used so often in Latin America?

– I don’t think that there are so many writers who use such tools, they are only the most famous authors. In addition, there are regarding 20 countries in Latin America. In Chile, there is almost no tradition of fiction. And Chile is a very important country for the culture of the continent. In Argnetina, fiction was popular until the 1960s, with Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar, for example, and then it kind of disappeared, and it still is. In the new Colombian literature, magic does not figure at all, for example in the works of Juan Cárdenas or Margarita García Robayo. It is not in Roberto Bolaño’s books either. I do, but I don’t think I’m influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Juan Rulfo, the classic “magic” writers, I’m more influenced by Jorge Luis Borges, Silvina Ocampo, and the whole southern fantasy tradition, heavily influenced by European (British and French) literature .

– You choose the form of short stories. What do you think this brings as a writer, what is the biggest challenge? I remember Ian McEwan saying that it’s easier to write a long book because a shorter book requires more concentration. And what is the reader’s attitude towards stories of this form? Because it would seem that in these days, when it is more and more difficult for us to concentrate, short forms of literature should be more acceptable, but novels are still considered to be the dominant form.

– I also write novels, but I’m slow, so I write fewer of them – short stories are easier to write. I’ve never understood why writers think it’s easier to write a big book! It’s the opposite for me. But I think every writer is different and has his own point of view. Maybe novels are considered more important because you can’t read them in one sitting. Even if short stories should be more suitable, when it is difficult to concentrate for a long time, they need a lot of attention, you can’t leave them in the middle, no way. And novels can be read in small doses.

– Fear is a common theme in your works. What does it mean for you to immerse yourself in that state of fear? Does verbalizing it make it less scary? What are your biggest fears?

– I think that fear is a very common and normal feeling. I study it probably because it disturbs me more than other feelings, say anger or even love. Describing fear doesn’t make it any less scary, because I’m using it to think regarding other things through the prism of fear, not for some kind of catharsis. I myself am afraid of violence and disease, as I think most people are.

– How did your interest in horror/gothic literature develop in your life? Did you love horror stories as a child?

– I loved horror stories as a child. Ray Bradbury (who also wrote horror), Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, the whole gothic tradition of the Brontë sisters, and Argentinian fiction were my favorite stories. Also an oral tradition of ghost stories and “urban legends”. I was just naturally drawn to them, I picked exactly such books from the shelves, there were no forbidden readings in our house. Those stories never scared me, rather they excited me – it was fun.

I want readers to think regarding what horror hides: the reality that lies beneath the supernatural, the crazy, the brutal.

– Do you try to shock with your stories? What emotions are you trying to evoke in the readers?

– Yes, horror stories must shock, it is inseparable. Shocking should not be an end in itself, I try to make it organic, related to the story. I want readers to think regarding what horror hides: the reality that lies beneath the supernatural, the crazy, the brutal. Think regarding the reasons.

– In your short stories there is a lot of uncertainty, undecidedness, clinging to truth hints. I recently did an interview with GMBurnet who said, that he finds it “an antiquated method of giving the reader the answer they expected at the end” and prefers open endings. Do you also want to involve the reader in the creation of the work?

– Yes, I prefer open endings. I don’t want my pieces to be convenient, where everything is solved. It seems to me that this is imposing one’s own rules. It’s as if the author is telling the reader: everything has an explanation, so everything will be fine. And I don’t think so. I think it’s all open and vague, we’re not guaranteed anything, and that’s not a bad thing. Life isn’t safe and tidy, and I don’t think stories should be either.

Life isn’t safe and tidy, and I don’t think stories should be either.

– You are also a journalist. How journalism works for you creativity? When I interviewed the Mexican writer Fernanda Melchor, who also works as a journalist, she said that “journalism was very useful to me because it taught me to always think regarding the reader first. When you write an article, you always think that someone will read it and have to understand what you want to write.”

– I agree with Fernanda, but I really don’t, although maybe I should! I think for myself, and that, at least for me, is one of the differences from journalism. Journalism has taught me to write clearly when I want to, and I also think I can sniff out a good, real story that I can spin, and I’m not afraid of running out of ideas: they will come. Journalism has learned discipline.

– What were your main bookish inspirations? Although many book lovers around the world admire the work of Latin American writers, the writers themselves who come from this continent often say that they were most influenced by European and American literature.

– The same applies to me. I loved Argentinian writers like Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar, who influenced me a lot, but also Stephen King, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Arthur Rimbaud, symbolist poets, Clive Barker, Shirley Jackson, JGBallard, Cormac McCarthy, Vladimir Nabokov, Ray Bradbury and others who were important to me.

– Which contemporary Argentine writers might you single out?

– Samantą Schweblin, Gustavo Ferreyra, María Gainza, Luciano Lamberti, Diego Muzzio.

– Argentina’s economy is not going through the easiest times recently. Now the post of president has been taken by Javier Milei. How do you see the changing reality of Argentina at the moment?

– Argentina’s economy has been going through bad times for a long time. I didn’t vote for J. Milei and I don’t agree with many of his ideas. But I hope I’m wrong and that he can make things better. So far what he is doing with culture and education seems very wrong to me and I am very worried.

– You will arrive in Lithuania soon. Do you try to learn more regarding that country, its culture before you go there?

– Yes, I adore the Lithuanian artist Mikalojs Konstantinas Čiurlionis, I have loved him since ancient times, but I never even dreamed that I would be able to see his works. I also really like Jonas Mekas – I know that he can be considered a citizen of the world, but his works related to Lithuania gave me great pleasure.

In addition, my godmother’s family is from Lithuania, her surname is Sukevičius. They immigrated to the country in the first decade of the 20th century, so it’s not like I know Lithuanian culture, but it’s not completely unknown and distant to me. Many people from different countries live in Argentina.