INTERVIEW Štiks: I believe in the fundamental function of literature

Elijah's Chair", "Citizen, Citizen, Stranger, Enemy", "Welcome to the Desert of Socialism", "Slaughterhouse", "W" are some of the titles known to a more demanding readership, but also to all lovers of the written word, authors Igor Stiks.

This summer, Štiks opened the literary program of the 36th Grad Teatar festival on the Poets' Square, where he spoke about the novel "W", but also about his overall creativity. In his novel, Igor Štiks introduces the readers to a carefully complex and meaningful story world, seductive and clever, as unusual as possible, in a recognizably skillful and in many ways unusually shaped narration. The deceptive identities that compete with the heroes Vladimir and Walter, and Europe, capitalist and (post)socialist, flow into an unexpected and memorable reading of tension, intrigue, power games, but also power itself. Unique as well as playful, Sarajevo and Dalmatian as well as Parisian and Roman and Berlin, radical as well as everyday, "W" seduces with its relationship of simplicity and complexity, it is stated, among other things, in the description of this novel.

Your novels are bestsellers in the Balkans, have been translated into several languages ​​and have been nominated for numerous awards. What would you say, what is the reason for the popularity of your books?

I would like to think that readers read my novels for the same reasons that I wrote them, that is, that they recognize that our motives are similar, that they are interested in the way in which I depict the destinies of unusual individuals that are always immersed in a specific political and geographical context. The tension that is key to what I do is the tension between the character, his character and his past, and his time, environment and ideas. This is where their destinies are actually resolved. They are not autonomous individuals who can do whatever they want, but they are also determined by circumstances, but they can also influence them. There is tension and all the richness of life with all that is unpredictable such as finally love. That's exactly why love stories are the backbone of my novels, not an addition, certainly not decoration or seduction of readers.

How important is the audience's opinion to you, and how much is criticism?

Any writer who said he didn't care about the opinions of others would be lying. Of course, none of us is placed outside or above the very circulation of books and their reception, otherwise there would be no point in publishing them. We want our books to be read and we are looking for communication. However, there is a big difference between so-called professional readers who present criticism, which we have less and less or is reduced to comments like those we read on social networks and the wider readership. There are different motives that lead us to books. It is different to be a reader who is simply interested in a book and will read it if it engages him enough than to be a critic who has to do it for money and sign opinions about other people's books. We writers are always at war with our critics, and again, we can't do without them. I would just like to see good writing returned to us in criticism and for criticism to get a lot more space than it has today. It seems to me that nowadays communication with the reading public is mostly not through literary criticism, but through some other communication channels, in which some are better at it, and some are not.

At Poets' Square, you said that writers have come to a situation where they have to justify writing and literature.

Even convincing readers that they should set aside a few hours for the book. The competition is brutal. A large number of people will prefer to watch the series on Netflix and satisfy their desire for a narrative there. Many will be ready to invest money in some other cultural product. Still others believe, if they are already reading, that it must be during leisure and rest. "Beach books" have become a standard form of book promotion in the summer season. I would never have started writing if I thought I was writing for someone's beach. I have to believe and I do believe in the function of literature that goes beyond free time. I actually believe in the fundamental function of literature in building ourselves and our opinion about ourselves and the world in which we live.

What is the symbolism of the title W? What is this novel about?

I must not reveal that to you because all the meanings of that letter are revealed through the novel itself. Readers will see that this W appears on several levels, it connects, it separates, it is applied to geographical maps, it appears in unexpected places, it also reflects the structure of the novel in terms of its multiple plots. The title was not chosen by chance because it has a direct function with regard to the story itself, the characters and the ups and downs of the fights I wrote about.

You write about society in this area and beyond...how do you see our current society? What are the similarities and differences of Balkan societies?

Having the good fortune or misfortune to know life in the post-Yugoslav states very well, I can clearly see general trends that are similar, including the recognized or suppressed heritage of the former joint state. But strong local differences can also be observed. Simple comparisons are no longer enough. A little better knowledge of local dynamics, social and political, is needed, regardless of the fact that the general trend over 30 years has turned us from a highly modernized society on the threshold of the very capitalist center into an ordinary capitalist periphery. In the best case, and only in some sectors, we are semi-periphery when we communicate with the center, knowledge and skills, but I fear that we are increasingly falling into the periphery whose natural potentials are being exploited. Whether it is the sea, as here in Budva, or the lithium that Serbia had the misfortune to discover in its soil, or the rivers and forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It seems we are now reduced to mere geography with fewer and fewer people. And all these facts are not enough to create an alternative and a different idea of ​​how local societies could survive, which would not necessarily be very rich, but would prevent poverty and in which people would have at least equal opportunities. That would be a big improvement compared to our today's deeply class-divided societies, where only 1 to 5% of those at the top have a chance and are the only ones who can realize their aspirations. All others are condemned to live in a harsh reality that will mark them in a very cruel way.

The guest of Poet's Square during the promotion of your novel "W" was the director Boris Liješević, we heard that you are already working on the next project. How would you describe your collaboration with Liješević in the theater?

Boris and I made three plays and working with Boris was always an adventure. It's a process that can even be creatively frustrating because it never ends and there's always something to discover. I come out of those processes enriched both humanly and artistically. Now we have some new ideas that we will develop and try to put on stage. There is no guarantee of success, but the process itself is sometimes reward enough.

What are the possibilities and scopes of "transferring" the narrative discourse to the dramatic one. How much is lost, how much is gained and what is your attitude towards it?

I was lucky enough to have my stories travel to different media, primarily the theater, then the radio, and even the screenplay. Those forms speak different languages. Maybe that's why after the play "Brašno u venama", which Boris staged in Sarajevo, I had to write the novel "Rezalište" because I couldn't say everything in dramatic form. As a writer, I am much freer in the novel form, and yet theater has a language that literature cannot replace and that cannot be put into text only because there is an actor, because there is a voice, an object, a moment that is happening here and now in front of the audience. Precisely because of the different languages ​​in which the same story can be told, I like to work in different media and look forward to collaborating with other artists who are able to discover what sometimes even I did not recognize in my own text.