From Dawn to Dusk: A Conversation with Yasmina Reza

Author(s): Yasmina Reza, Daniela Hurezanu and Raymond Queneau

Source: World Policy Journal, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Fall, 2008), pp. 233-235
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40210166
Accessed: 01-12-2015 02:57 UTC

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is theauthorof Art, whichwon the 1998

and screenwriter,
YasminaReza, a Frenchplaywright,
actress,novelist,
TonyAwardforBestPlay, and God of Carnage,whichis playingin London'sWestEnd. In 2006-07, shespenta
and wrote,Dawn Dusk or Night
NicolasSarkozyon his successful
fortheFrench
presidency
campaign
yearfollowing
(Knopf2008).

^^

^^^m

FromDawn to Dusk

withYasminaReza
A Conversation

David A. Andelman
WorldPolicyJournaleditor
ontheintersection
askedMs. Reza toreflect
ofthe
worldofartandpoliticsin an interview.
World PolicyJournal: I would like to start

offwitha veryinteresting
passagefrom

Dawn Dusk orNight {L'aube le soirou la

nuit):"I am notlookingto writeon power

or on politics,but ratherpoliticsas a wayof
in watchinga
being.I'm moreinterested
manwho intendsto trumptime."Sincewe
areexaminingtheshapeoftheworld25
yearsfromnow,whatwill theconceptof
timelikelybe then- politicaltime,artistic/theatrical
time,social time?Is thespeed
so
ofoursocietyand ourworldaccelerating
different
a
have
very
rapidlythattimemay
meaningor indeedno meaningat all?
I don'tbelieve
Yasmina Reza: Frankly,
thatTime- witha capital"T"- has anyprocess
thingto do withtheacceleration
thatis man-made.The waywe experience
thepassageoftime(theFrenchexpressionI
in theparause in Laube le soirou la nuity
du
is
always
graphyouquote, fuite temps)
runsparallelto humantime.As long as
man is mortal,he will feelthattimeescapes
his control.Today,as well as in 25 years.
WPJ: You say,quite rightlyI hope,
are capableofbendlike tyrants,
"Writers,
ing theworldto theirwill." Will thepower

ofwritersincreaseoverthenextquartercenincrease,or
tury,will thepoweroftyrants
incidenwill one eclipsetheother?Tyrants,
in
the
last
loomed
so
have
quarlarge
tally,
Will theycontinueto do so in
tercentury.
thenext25 years?
YR: The factthatyourjournalis celedoesn't
anniversary
bratingits twenty-fifth
makeme a seer!And thereis somethinga
thattriesto
bit artificialin anyreflection
see intothefuture.But I am quasi-certain
are eternalin
as well as writers,
thattyrants,
humansocieties.So, thereis littlechance
thateitherwoulddisappear.Besides,the
morecomsecondcategoryisn'tnecessarily
mendablethanthefirst.
in yourthoughts
WPJ: I'm interested
to
on power.You ask, "Whyit is so difficult
oftheFrenchReconsiderthepresidency
the
as
supremepower?If not,what
public
else would be? If thatis truenow,will it be
loci of
in 25 yearswhenso manydifferent
powerseemto be developingin sucha multi-ethnic,
Europe.
multi-religious
YR: Supremepowerdoesn'texist.It's a
notion;it survives
completelyold-fashioned
But it'san expresonlyin religiousfantasy.
sion I've heardin politics.Thereis a need in
politicsto mythologize.
it raises
is important,
WPJ: "Literature
yourstationin life,"youquote Nicolas

2008 WorldPolicyInstitute

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233

Sarkozyas saying.Do you believethatliteraturewill continueto be as importantas so

muchnewmediadevelopsoverthe next
quartercentury?
YR: Literature
is relatedto solitude.
The questionis: whatplace will solitude
havein tomorrow's
society?I am talking,of
course,ofthekindofsolitudethatis necessaryand desirableforour being.
WPJ: The FrenchactorFabriceLuchini
respondedto yourapprobationwithnoting
thesize ofhis box officereceipts.Areyou
worriedthatthisis how all theater,
all
will
be
in
creativity,
judged 25 years,since
we can calibratesuch numbersnow to the
second?
YR: It's alreadythecase. Creationis
judgedby its commercialsuccess.It's sad
234

and absurd.Historyteachesus and we can

see everyday thatsuccessis nota good
measureforanything.
WPJ: You seemveryconcernedwiththe
passageoftime.Yourplays,manyofthem,
seemto takeplace in "real"time.What
does theworld25 yearsfromnow seemto
hold foryou?Will timehavemoreor less
meaningforus?
YR: This is theonlysubject.Everything
comesdown to this.Everyeventcan be appreciatedin relationto time.This relationshipproducesthereal.In an olderwork,
I wrotea shorttexton this
Hammerklavier,
Beethovenhad
subjecttitledPoorKreutzer.
writtena sonataforviolinand piano dedicatedto a virtuosoofhis timewho didn't
like it. Shouldwe havesaid poorBeethoven
FALL2008
WORLDPOLICYJOURNAL

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or poorKreutzer?The answerdependedon
thetemporalcontext.
WPJ: You quote Sarkozyat one pointas
saying,"Bowingand scrapingto thepast
shouldnotobscurethefuture....Greatnationshamperedby a long historywill forget
thefuture...
China is weddedto thefuture."
Arewe all? Or arewe prisonersofthepast?
YR: Who is "we" in yourquestion?
Westerncountries?
The citizensofthe
I
think
we are constantly
Westernworld?
faced,by turns,withthisdualism.The past
and thefutureareouronlypointsofreference.I mean,theyare thehighwireson
whichwe walk.The presentis nota ground,
we can'tsee it.
WPJ: You talkaboutA SpanishPlay
The
stagedin New YorkbyJohnTurturro.
in
the
beto
characters,
yousay,"try stay
coming,"whichis theobsessionofall to
whomI havegivena name,a voice,"while
fearingto becomean outcast.Is theworld
changingso fastthatin 25 yearswe will all
be outcasts?
YR: In A SpanishPlay,"in the becomIt means
ing" has an existentialconnotation.
to stayin thebecomingfor-itself
[Sartre].
The speed
To persistin a desiringfunction.
at whichtheworldchangeshas nothingto
do withit.
WPJ: Yourfatherwas bornto Iranian
parentsin Moscow,marriedto a Hungarian,
and recitedpoemsofVictorHugo and La
Fontaine.Youraccentsoundsirrefutably
French.You writeyourplaysin Frenchand
considerthisyourbegottenlanguage,but
yourworkshaveoutstandingsuccessin London,New York,and a hostofotherworld
do youconsider
capitals.So whatnationality

how important
will
Moreover,
yourself?
- nationality
- be in 25
sucha concept
years,especiallyin Francewithits growing
Arabpopulationsthatseemso interested
in
their
own
retaining
identity?
YR: As faras I am concerned,I've said
it and writtenabout it, mycountryis the
countryofmylanguage,thatis to say,
French."Country"is a big wordand
defined,but I feelthatwhenI say
bizarrely
"mycountryis thecountryofmylanguage,"thisis essential.None ofmyancestorswas French.But I am a writerand the
languageofyourwritingis whatmakesyou.
The restofthequestionbringsup thequestionofidentity.
This identitythatseemsso
for
others
isn'tmine.This is a
primordial
It
doesn't
havea simple
verybig question.
answer.
WPJ: You quote wordsfromSarkozyin
his inauguraladdress:"Morality...
dignity
...tolerance..
.love."Will
.justice...fraternity..
thesewordsmeanas much25 yearsfrom
now?
YR: How can I answerthis?Do they
havea meaningtoday?
WPJ: In conclusion,you say,"so trueit
that
is
nothingis sweeterthannativecountryand kin."Will thatbe equallytrue25
But
yearsfromnow?Kin perhaps,eternally.
whatmeaningwill be therebe for"a native
country,"
especiallyin Franceand Europe
broadly?
YR: It isn'tI who said this.It's Homer,
3,000 yearsago.
Translated
byDaniela Hurezanu.Herlatest
translation
is EyeseasbyRaymond
Queneau.

FromDawn to Dusk

235

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