Novelist in exile
UNESCO Courier, Jan, 1998
L.S.: I am not a city person. I like to spend a certain time in towns, but I need to come face to face with the elemental forces of nature, to prove to myself that I can survive on my own, relying on myself, and also to prove that the individual can live without being dependent on the state.
* Or on other people?
L.S.: No, not on other people. We always need other people. Humans are social animals, but they oughtn't to get involved in relationships based on dependence or domination.
* You are internationally famous. How does that affect you?
L.S.: Success came as a pleasant surprise, but my character hasn't changed. I'm happy to have freedom of movement and be free to decide what to do with my time, but it is above all a great responsibility to bear. I have an ethical position in relation to life and an aesthetic position in relation to literature. I would like the distinction to be understood, so that readers could say "I like Sepulveda's books but I don't agree with his views" or "I like what he writes, so I would like to know his views". Literature is a means to an end.
BERNARD MAGNIER is a French literary journalist who specializes in African literature.
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