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Alicia Giménez-Bartlett meets with the Courmayeur public |
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| 07/12/2008 |
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The day of the Raymond Chandler Award ceremony has arrived. For Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, it was a marathon. In the morning, at the Centro Congressi, she took part in the conference Women and Noir and later took questions from Loredana Lipperini in the traditional Q&A that precedes the evening awards ceremony, which the Spanish author faced with the same astute warmth and humor that we have gotten to know these days.
What follows are excerpts of Giménez-Bartlett’s answers during the Q&A at the Centro Congressi.
Petra Delicado, a woman in command
I wanted a female character in position of authority. Usually, women in noir novels are crime victims, the wives of cops or partners to male detectives. I did not want Petra Delicado to be anyone’s “vice” or in a subordinate position.
Methodical doubt
I’m part of the doubt generation, to the point of exasperation, which is transformed into an excess of self-analysis. Petra is the expression of that generation and beside solving crimes is constantly reflecting upon the view she has of herself.
The cruelty of power
As a writer, I feel a certain amount of pity for criminals, I always bear in mind their social condition. In Empty Nest Petra acts cruelly when she takes advantage of her culture in order to humiliate an alleged criminal during an interrogation. In this case, she has no doubt, she knows what she wants and wields her power in order to get it.
Young people represent envy and curiosity
Petra has a double-edged relationship with young people. On the one hand, she’s tough, also because she’s envious, but on the other, that same toughness manifests itself as affection. She is tolerant and compassionate, and curious about young woman who are different from her, who are symbols of an evolution. It was important and necessary for me to introduce young characters into the story because without them it would remain shut off a kind of inactivity and would relinquish an open and surprising world.
Men and women against the dictatorship
In effect, Petra’s subordinate is nicer and more amiable than she is because he has weaknesses that make him human. He is a man who changes over time. Personally, I’ve been lucky in that I’ve met interesting men with whom I’ve gotten along very well. I must add that I belong to that first generation of Spaniards who began fighting the dictatorship openly. This experience made me feel no conflict with men, we were all united in a common cause.
The battle of the sexes
The squabbling between Petra and Fermín is ironic and is a tribute to Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It is a fun battle of the sexes that is full of friendship. I believe very much in friendship, the kind that brings together people who are very different in terms of culture, social class and economic conditions.
Choices
Dias De Amor Y Enganos was very much criticized in Spain for the relationships between the book’s main characters. For me, it a novel about passions, about emotional and financial balance. A story that speaks of a group in which someone must make a choice and break the order of things so as to create a different order, thus causing the others question their own lives.
Points of reference
If I had to cite authors I liked, then I’d say the generation of Jewish American writers to which, for example, Philip Roth belongs. These novelists reflected upon mankind and constantly questioned themselves, their relationships. Their writing only seemingly alluded to small stories, but actually examined and redesigned contemporary society.
Wake up Italy
Of the Italian writers, I really admire Niccolò Ammaniti. I’d like to say one thing about Italy: I hope you Italians pull yourselves out of this depressed state. In terms of a balance in Europe, Spain needs Italy. We are the south and we must be strong together. So wake up, we need you!
Humor
A sense of humor is fundamental, is a weapon for survival and for drawing other people to you.
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