Living Literature Camille Laurence

Women's destiny, feminism, identity, love in all its forms, even those bordering on hatred, toxic and manipulative relationships, examination of language and its possibilities, are just a fraction of the literary world. Kamij Lorans (Camille Laurens), one of the most important contemporary French authors.

She made her first guest appearance in Montenegro last weekend, as part of the Francophonie Days program. She presented her work on Saturday evening at the Matica Crnogorska, as part of a program organized in cooperation with the French Institute and the French Embassy in Montenegro. The day before, she participated in the first edition of the Goncourt Prize selection in Montenegro.

A contemporary French writer, professor of French literature, member and general secretary of the Goncourt Academy, Camille Laurence is the author of a large number of novels, essays, criticism, literary chronicles and columns, forewords, radio, theater and film adaptations. She has won significant awards and recognitions, and her novel "Love" was included in the selection of the 100 most appreciated novels by Le Monde magazine since 1944, she reminded at the beginning of the evening Jasna Tatar Anđelić which is together with Jasmina Nikčević led and translated the conversation with Lorans.

Love was a major field of interest for Camille Laurence, the writer confirmed, which further led to the topic of women's destiny and experience.

"And that is love in the broadest sense, and especially when it comes to researching relationships between men and women. I have always been interested in the difference that exists in the concept of love on one side and the other. Fascinated by these differences, researching women's fate also came to mind, because during my 60 years or so, I have been following the development of feminist ideas and relationships towards women, I have witnessed how much women's fate or the women's issue has evolved, developed and changed, during all those long years. And I was in a position to witness the birth of feminist movements in France, and later movements that dealt with specific issues, such as resistance to the abortion ban, all the way to recent, let's say newer and more modern ones such as Me Too, which I discovered thanks to my daughter," Lorans stated and revealed that her interest in the position of women is conditioned not only by her as an individual, but also by the fact that she has a daughter.

"It's interesting that, if you're raising a daughter, you don't experience a woman's destiny just as an individual, not just from the maternal side, but also from another female side," she added.

The female experience is deeply woven into her books, but also into herself. Lorans as an author often starts from the personal, as is the case with the novel "Žensko" or "Djevojčica" (depending on the translation). Tatar Anđelić shared one of the striking moments in which she sees a similarity, almost the same reality of the Montenegrin and French contexts, both literary and social, cultural... The action takes place in the 60s in France, and a striking sentence is the father of the main character, who is a child at that moment. Asked if he has children, according to the census, he answers that he has no children, but that he has two daughters.

"That father who said that was actually my father. I was aware of that sentence of his, I experienced it deeply," said the author, revealing how the feeling of not belonging and inadequacy is formed from the earliest days.

She added that, regarding the fate of women, she needs to explain, both to her daughter and to other women, that "it wasn't that long ago" when women had no rights and were dependent on the "permission" of a man - a father or husband. That's why feminism is still important today, as is raising awareness about it, among both women and men.

"Many young women in France, and I think in other places as well, think that everything is over, that women have 'gained' rights and that feminism has finished its work. That work is not finished. Some may think that equality has been achieved, but there is still much to be done. However, I also have a special message for men, not only for women. Women cannot fight for equality on their own, without the participation of men. It is men who, through mutual respect, attitude and love for freedom, can help to truly establish equality and gender equality in some way. So my message is for women as well as for men," said Lorans.

The theme of identity also runs through her work.

"Identity is not something fixed and unchangeable, on the contrary. Identity is fluid... The question of identity is very broad and I don't think there is a definitive answer, but rather it is what everyone personally feels in their own way," Lorans said.

Nikčević added that one of the key points of literary research for Camille Laurence is language, which the writer confirmed by explaining that writing for her is not just about expression.

"I must say that literature and language have saved my life several times in my life. In that sense, my mother tongue, although practically an everyday expression, is literally that - my mother tongue for me, because I feel like it is a mother who hugs me and gives me love. I love words, and I also have the impression that words love me, and that is why I try to reciprocate in an appropriate way," Lorans stated.

Between the personal and the universal, love and suffering, language and experience, the literature of Camille Laurence finds its meaning and its way to readers.

The beauty of form, style, language, but also the importance of the topic - femicide

As part of the program "Montenegro and France - Literary and Cultural Tendencies and Comparisons", Lorans shared her experience working with students of the Francophone jury of the Montenegrin selection of the famous French literary award for the novel of the year.

"The Goncourt Academy has had a practice of working on the expansion of Francophonie for decades. Hence the awarding of the Goncourt Prize abroad. It was first organized in 1998 in Krakow, Poland, and today it is implemented in some fifty countries around the world, in cooperation with French embassies and institutes... In working with your students, I felt the joy and importance of this undertaking in Montenegro as well, and how much joy it brought the students to recognize the beauty of form, literary style, language, manner of expression and of course the theme, because it is obvious that in this case they were 'warmed up' by the theme," she said, recalling that the Montenegrin winner was the novel "In the Heart of the Night" (La nuit au cœur), by the author Natasha Apane (Nathacha Appanah).

The novel follows the stories of three women who are victims of intimate partner violence.

"On the fine line between strength and humility, Nataša Apane explores the unbearable enigma of femicide in partner relationships, when the black night replaces love," the description states.

The event will be organized every year in the future, the Embassy of France in Montenegro announced.