Meeting Rawi Hage - The Story

Stendhal wrote in Red and Black "Familiarity breeds contempt”. Not always Mr. Stendhal, not always. Meeting Rawi Hage definitely proved it wrong. I am not claiming that I now am familiar with this author, but I did get to know him better when he expressed his opinions on different matters during an interview organized by the "Maison Internationale des Écrivains de Beyrouth".  Here are some of the highlights of the event with focus on the main points which made me appreciate this author even more.

 

There's nothing better than a group photo with your friends and one of your favorite authors

1- He thinks that scientists are the best readers. It's true after all, dare to say the opposite? hehehehe

2- He gave me probably the best dedication ever and one of the most thought ones.
"To Isabelle, thank you for giving books a home and a friend."

3- He saw the state in which my book was and I explained that I treat my books as my friends, I eat with them, drink with them, sleep with them etc. and he actually complimented me on that. Gotta respect such people.

4- He considers literature as a good/great substitute to religion. According to him, Lebanon is hijacked by religious leaders who partner with politicians to keep the people divided. This coalition is dooming the country because Lebanese have nothing to hold on to, or fight for. But there is one thing worth fighting for according to Rawi: culture (arts, literature etc.). I realized how true Rawi's vision is after he told us an anecdote about Winston Churchill (who by the way was a passionate painter). In the story, it is said that a minister came up to Churchill asking him to cut off the budget for the ministry of arts and culture in order to limit war expenses and that Churchill refused the suggestion replying that if he does so then what are we fighting for?

4- He highlights the importance of open endings as a means to escape grand morality which is a religious structure. Also in this line, he admits proudly that his aim is to write everything in opposition to Paulo Coelho. This was probably the best part about the whole interview for you ought to know by now how much I hate Coelho's writings!

5- He knows his limits and doesn't pretend to be able to pull out something he cannot. For instance, when my friend pointed asked him whether he is capable of writing from the point of view of a female protagonist (all his previously published books protagonists were men), he humbly admitted that he doesn't have the confidence to do so. Thank you! I mean I have hated many books written by male authors because they really couldn't grasp what women were about and never convinced me once that the protagonist thoughts, words or acts could have been those of a woman.

Other than that, the interview allowed me to discover how Rawi Hage became an author. He wasn't a good student at school but he has always been a secret reader. And then he was encouraged to write but he was mainly trying to write short stories and then ended up with his first book. In addition, many had comments about the fact that he is Lebanese writing in English i.e. not his mother tongue and questioned him about how he sees himself from an identity point of view. To this he answered that English may have helped him find his writer's voice and that he considers himself as a Lebanese Canadian author writing in English who is a little bit of the two types of writers that exist:
- The Socrates ones, the ones that rely on the inside, their lived experiences mostly. "I cannot get away of myself" he joked.

- The ones that rely on the exterior using their research to build a story. He admits that he enjoys this part a lot and overall he simply loves the cathartic process of writing.

Finally, I noticed that Rawi constantly mentions Lebanon and the Lebanese in his talk and his books. Sometimes he does it from an observer point of view, others from a critic point of view like when he claims that education in Lebanon unfortunately focuses mostly on financial success. After all an intellectual is someone who mostly criticizes his own community explains Edward Said. One of the interesting observations was his envisioning of the Lebanese people as existentialist kind of people, Camus-ian in a way, and this is why he justifies the strong Camus presence in one of his books. Another example was the comparison he made between Lebanese and great Russians authors whose works he admires but cannot help to point out how they lack humor unlike Lebanese.




To sum it up, this was an unforgettable encounter, and I hope this post conveys the essence of the interview to you.


Enjoy
Cheers