The hero in her new novel “Felicita” (published by Pataki) decides to live, following a family crisis, as a homeless person, feeling deep down that life has not treated him well. But has Sambo treated himself or his wife and children well? The important writer Maro Doukas talks to “P” regarding her book, which is a vivid picture of the harsh, inhumane, modern social reality, and the characters she created, whose psyche she analyzes in depth.
-Was it Konstantinos (not Kostas, nor Kostis) Kavourakis who whispered to you to anoint him the hero of your book or the current social situations (domestic violence, homelessness, lack of empathy/solidarity) that motivated your mind and hand?
Certainly the social reality, as much as I might hire it, influenced me to imagine a man who ends up homeless without owing money to the banks and without being unemployed. But with many problems psychologically and with a character that made him feel constantly at a disadvantage. And it is no coincidence that this invented character insisted on being called Constantine, referring to Constantine Palaiologos, his tragic hero… Why and how, is explained in the book. He wanted his baptismal name with all the gravity it contains, and it is important that he wanted to recall Constantine Palaiologos with his tragic grandeur and not Constantine the Great…
– When Konstantinos Kavourakis gets angry with his wife, he “pulls” her by the hair. And when the glass overflows and his eldest son reacts violently, Konstantinos ends up homeless. What intrigued you, from then on, in the confessions of each member of his family?
From the moment I had slowly begun to imagine my story, it began to be revealed to me the way I would set up the case, that I would bring the characters to life, that I would destroy from chapter to chapter the development of the plot, the thoughts of a they come to expand or illuminate each other’s thoughts, so that the family story is captured through the perspective, memories and psyche of all five characters, the parents and the three children.
-Felicita, the black and white cat who brings peace to Kavourakis. Why did you choose to associate this particular quadruped with happiness?
Let me first say that the cat in my story is black and white because felix cat food has a black and white cat as its logo. From “Felix” I remembered the song “Felicita”. And so the cat got this name, since Constantine and his wife Eleni, when they were young, loved this song by Albano and danced to it. And now with this black-and-white cat, Konstantinos remembers and reminisces regarding his happy years, so he leaves himself at peace in the caresses of the cat that has singled him out and loved him…
-Your narrative flows seamlessly. Only one, at the end of each chapter. Asthmatic. The reason;
The reason is contained in your question. The narration is asthmatic, but it is also quiet, peaceful from paragraph to paragraph. What is it like when we remember without speaking, when we think in mugas, sometimes calm, sometimes irritated? And here I must say that this long-term speech, the speech “from within us” came and found me obeying the needs of the text…
-“What regarding the fear of non-existence?” your hero wonders, not caring regarding the answer. Indifference to this question what consequences can it have on an individual level as well as on a collective level, do you think?
The hero here is desperate and at the same time feels liberated, “with no identity anymore” as the song says. Deep down, if we want to be honest, we rarely ask ourselves this question, as long as we have health, we don’t have insurmountable financial problems, that all our people are well. Therefore, the indifference to this question shows a quiet, satiated, shallow society…
On an individual and collective level, let’s say that life continues with its ups and downs, of course there is always the fear of death, destitution, illness, but for each one separately.
-In your story, the verbs “I love” (the couple Konstantinou-Helenis once loved), “I can’t stand” (Helenis Constantine), “I’m sorry” (the three children their father) appear. How close and how far apart are these feelings?
I would say that these feelings have the characteristic of being momentary, at the same moment that we love, the moment will come when we cannot stand it or feel sorry for it… But let’s say that the love that tolerates and forgives everything tends to disappear in our days… other the priorities of today for most people and others the priorities of yesterday.
-How does the state “within you” affect your writing?
I have said it many times, I will repeat it, without intending to, when I write, that is, when I have slowly brought my characters to life, I begin and act them out, but without forgetting for a moment that I am the one who directs, I am the one who is responsible, I get sad or sad or emotional, but I don’t let myself get carried away by the emotion that will take me away from the deeper cause of the book. Here, too, the deeper cause was to highlight the pain of the man who feels that his life has slowly deteriorated, that he has failed, without seeming to have failed, and this is exactly the hardest thing.
-Your book is regarding abusive behavior. Your comment on the recent – yet another – femicide?
A few days ago, a young woman was stabbed outside the police station of Agios Anargyro, while she was asking for help from the department. In front of the watchman’s eyes the man bled the woman and the watchman motionless in his post. What does this tell us? That a man’s right to kill his girlfriend or wife is deeply rooted in men… but also in society is something of an unacknowledged right. That is why the State does not like the term femicide. And then we cry for the poor woman… Can we be honest? The very structures of society are macho, as we used to say, and this structure, I dare say, is supported by women themselves…
-What saddens you, what angers you and what makes you smile, today?
The simple, the beautiful, the flowers, the children, yes, they make me smile, I am saddened by our intemperance and our insensitivity, I am enraged by the revival of fascism and the modern local wars.
Instant update with all the news now and via WhatsApp – See here
#structures #society #macho
