Yasmina Khadra: "Writing under a woman's name was a revolution in the Arab world"

BarcelonaThe writer Mohammed Moulessehoul (Kenadsa, Algerian Sahara, 1955) used a pseudonym to publish while fighting in Algeria: Yasmina Khadra. Under this name, which she has never abandoned, she has written works such as The swallows of Kabul (Alliance), The Sirens of Baghdad (Editions 62/Alliance) or The Algiers Trilogy (Alliance). Khadra, accompanied by his wife, received the Pepe Carvalho award from BCNegra on Thursday. The writer, who lives between France, Algeria and Alicante, spent almost four decades in the army. In many of his novels he focuses on terrorism and also in the consequences of colonialism.

One of his first great successes was The Algiers Trilogy (1997). You used the police plot, with Commissioner Llob as the protagonist, to talk about Algerian society. Why did you choose the crime genre?

— While I was writing, I was fighting. I was in a war, and war is very traumatic. I had written two novels before, and I was devastated. Writing crime fiction was much less stressful. The characters in the novel helped me a lot to keep calm in the middle of the war.

Why the name Llob?

— Because in Arabic it means "lion heart". The lion is the bravest animal, the strongest. It is the king of the jungle.

To what extent has the place where you were born influenced your work?

— I think it's the same for all writers. We are a product of the place where we are born. I have inherited from my ancestors a reverence for the word and poetry. All my ancestors were poets.

Is it more difficult to make your voice heard because you come from the other side of the Mediterranean?

— No, no. My voice carries far and wide. I am the most widely read living writer in French. I have readers all over the world, who pay attention to my work. There is only a small elitist group in Paris that wants to stop me, but I am not going to do that.

And why do they want to stop it?

— Because they prefer mediocrity. It is a narcissistic group that is jealous of what others do.

You have dealt with the subject of terrorism in many of your novels. What drives someone to commit a terrorist attack?

— A great frustration, the feeling of being invisible and of being left aside and marginalized, of feeling unhappy, hated for being a foreigner, for being poor, for not fitting in... And when this happens to someone and they receive a speech that is useful for some cause and can change the course of history, they automatically become a terrorist. And that is the tribute that society must pay for not being attentive enough.

There is a rise of populist leaders. You have also portrayed some in your work, such as Moammar Gaddafi. If you had to write about a tyrant now, who would you choose?

— Donald TrumpHe will make a big mess around the world. He is incompetent. He knows nothing about politics or diplomacy. He behaves like a gangster, convinced that his power gives him total impunity. When the alchemy between power and impunity occurs, what emerges is tyranny. No state does anything and we will all end up doing a lot of harm to each other. There is some perplexity now, but there will be many conflicts. Someone should tell him that he is the president of the United States, not the owner of the world.

Racism has always existed, but now it is more explicit and expressed more openly.

— There is too much frustration in a society that is becoming impoverished, which creates a feeling of revolt. Because we have the wrong enemy, instead of targeting the states we attack the most vulnerable.

He decided to adopt his wife's name to write in secret. However, when he became known, he continued to use his wife's name. Why?

— Because the world knows me as Yasmina Khadra. If I had Mohammed Moulessehoul on the poster for BCNegra now, no one would come to see me. Writing under a woman's name was a revolution in the Arab world.

And why did you choose your wife's name?

— Because I write and she follows suit [laughs]. It's a tribute, she is still my mentor.

How do you think your work is read in the Arab world?

— There is not much reading, I don't have many readers... Only a snobbish minority who read me in English. Many people don't know that I have been translated into Arabic. In fact, the Arabic press has not helped me much. Rather, it has attacked me because I write in French and that is the language of the colonizers.

And do you feel comfortable with French?

— It's my language, I write in French but not like the French.

You spent almost 40 years in the army. How has this influenced your work and your vision of the world?

— I am a great connoisseur of people. When I build a character it is authentic, and this is thanks to my life in the army, surrounded by people, and to discipline.

How has military discipline helped you?

— It doesn't let the text get away from me. I'm a poet and sometimes my lyricism takes me too far. Discipline is what decides when to eliminate the text because, although it is beautiful, it is not useful for the book.

And how has the army helped you get to know people better?

— When I was in the army, I lived with hundreds of people 24 hours a day. I shared a room, dangerous situations... I saw people in all possible situations and how they reacted. The army is an extraordinary laboratory.

And doesn't it give a pessimistic view of humanity?

— No, I am very optimistic.