The journey, a foundational myth of literature

GironaThe journey is one of the foundational myths of literary history. Literally, it represents the adventure of leaving or returning home, and metaphorically, it encapsulates the full meaning of any form of inner experience involving personal movement or evolution.Odyssey from Homer to theUlysses by James Joyce. From Quixote From Cervantes to the adventures of Jules Verne. From Goethe's coming-of-age novels to Mark Twain's picaresque tales. From Moby Dick Melville's journey through the paradises of Aurora Bertrana...

This vast theme of travel in literature is the focus of the twelfth edition of the MOT literature festival, which will be held from March 16 to 21 in Olot and from March 23 to 28 in Girona. For fifteen days, under the motto Leave, The festival, in addition to talks, performances, and recitals, organizes 14 panel discussions with some thirty contemporary authors who are heirs to that tradition. Prominent names such as Maria Stepanova, Jean Echenoz, Julio Llamazares or Gian Marco Griffi, along with great Catalan writers such as Lluís Calvo, Núria Perpiñán either Irene PujadasAmong many others.

Cultural journalist Eva Vázquez is the curator, in charge of putting together an exciting program that goes far beyond the specific genre of travel books. "We will address traditional travel, understood as adventure, going as far as possible, to the Himalayas, to the antipodes... but also travel, which, as Claudio Magris says, is the simple act of leaving home. This is already travel, because things happen to you as you move and leave your usual place, the space where you feel unexpected, unsettling, and wonderful," explains Vázquez.

There will be a table dedicated to each facet of travel: the journey to the past, the journey through time, the journey of the imagination, or also the political journey or exile due to war or poverty: "Any journey presupposes crossing a border, near or far. As such, the border represents a confrontation. The encounter with the other always puts you at risk," the curator continues.

Reading, writing, and translation are also journeys

In fact, within the almost infinite polysemy of the term, even the experience of reading itself can be considered a journey for the reader. And so can writing, which, in Vázquez's words, is the process of "converting an abstract idea into language." As will translation, which will have special emphasis in two panels, in which the authors will be moderated by their respective Catalan translators: "Jean Echenoz will talk with Anna Casassas and Gian Marco Griffi with Pau Vidal, because we are very interested in discussing the journey of translation to see how an author's cultural background is transferred to another culture."

The program is certainly very comprehensive, but, naturally, also limited, and many names that would be a perfect fit have been left out. Such as, for example, Theodor Kallifatideswho received the ARA International Prize last November, and although he was very keen to participate in the festival, due to his advanced age he has not been able to organize a second trip to Catalonia. Regarding the other guests, the curator comments: "The first name that came to mind was Jean Echenoz. In fact, the title of the edition is taken from his novel, Leave, which won the Goncourt Prize. The other big bet is the Russian writer Maria Stepanova, artist-in-residence at the CCCB, who now lives in exile in Berlin in disagreement with Putin's invasive policies, and who has a phenomenal book, titled In memory of memory, which narrates a journey through the history of the 20th century through the objects found in his house."

Another prominent name in the program is the Italian Gian Marco Griffi, who has recently become famous with an impressive novel, Mexican RailwaysTranslated into Catalan by Segunda Periferia. "Despite recounting very terrible and sordid things about the Nazi occupation, she does so in a state of grace, with extraordinary strength and joy for literature," concludes Eva Vázquez.