Trauma remains in the DNA of society.

Irish writer Jen Carson, winner of the 2019 European Prize for Literature for her novel Arsonists, which was published in our country by the Zavet publishing house, is a guest of this year's thirteenth Belgrade Irish Festival. Arsonists are her second novel out of three published, and she has several award-winning collections of stories behind her.

The story is set in East Belfast, in the scorching summer of 2014, on the eve of the traditional parade of the Orangemen (Irish Protestants), on July 12, and the time of the World Cup in football. Fires are raging all over the city, and firemen and police are greeted with stones on the streets. According to Carson, the city is "migrainous", suffering from sirens, and the fires further inflame the simmering political, religious and other divisions.

Using magical realism and somewhat Monty Pythonesque humor, the Irish author writes a very serious story about what we leave as a legacy to our descendants and what it's like to live in a divided society after decades of conflict (between Catholics and Protestants), known as "The Troubles".

He speaks for "Vreme" just before arriving in Belgrade.

"I currently live in Belfast, but I grew up in a much more rural part of Northern Ireland, in a predominantly Protestant, fundamentalist evangelical community. I am grateful that the violence did not directly affect my family, however, the effects of the conflict were felt everywhere through segregation and fear. I went to a Protestant school, lived in a Protestant area and did not meet Catholics until I moved to the city, to university, at the age of eighteen. As you can imagine, this kind of sectarian division can lead to a deep fear and suspicion of others, which often takes decades to overcome.”

"WEATHER" What are the social consequences? "Trouble"?

JEN CARSON: Although we currently live in a period of relative peace here in the North, deep divisions remain unresolved. Some see themselves as British citizens and want to retain their membership in the United Kingdom. Others, on the other hand, feel like Irish people and would like to see a united Ireland in their lifetime. Many divisive structures and systems have not been fully resolved since the 1998 peace agreement. Our school system is still 91 percent segregated. Much of the state-owned housing stock is divided into separate unionist and nationalist areas, and the "Berlin Wall" that divides Belfast is now longer than it was in 1998. Furthermore, we have some of the highest suicide rates in Europe. These sobering mental health statistics testify that, while conflict is no longer as active as it once was, the legacy of trauma remains embedded in the DNA of our society.

How your novels are received by unionists, and how about nationalists?

In Northern Ireland we have two different forms of the word "ignorance". The first is a blind and determined desire to remain uninformed. The second is a genuine lack of knowledge about a subject. I was honored to encounter many of the latter while touring Ireland presenting the novels. The world of unionism is not often presented in a nuanced, critical way and I have had very positive feedback from the unionist community, happy that there is a book that seeks to explore their experience without caricaturing it. Similarly, I have had good feedback from the nationalist community, especially those living in the South who were not privy to many Unionist customs and practices.

One of the main themes in the novel is the relationship between parents and children. Is violence transmitted transgenerationally and how can we break that cycle?

I don't believe that I, as a fiction writer, need to offer advice on how to break cycles of generational trauma. I see my role more through witnessing that it is happening and that it has a huge impact on society. I hope that by writing about how deep the conflict is and how much the trauma has affected the people who witnessed it firsthand, but also the next generation who live with its structural, economic, educational and political impacts, I may inform readers about what it is like to live in a post-conflict society. I may also remind funders, as well as those in the legislature, that we need programs, support, and policies that help those still living with the consequences of violence.

In a specific way, with a grain of magical realism, you look at the problems that women face. For example, mermaid figure, as well as the idea of ​​cutting out the tongue. What does the position of women look like in a patriarchal society today??

In the past, Ireland was not overly kind to or supportive of women. There is a terrible legacy of institutional abuse and misogyny associated with the state, the education system and, of course, the church. In the last few decades, many have bravely spoken out about this legacy of abuse and often artists have been at the forefront of campaigns to acknowledge past mistakes and change systems. Much remains to be done, especially regarding the shocking statistics related to domestic violence and victims among women. However, I believe we are slowly moving in the right direction and it has been wonderful to contribute work to groundbreaking anthologies such as The Female Line i The Glass Shore, which were highlighted by contemporary women writers and resurrected women writers from the past.

photo: johnnatan ryder

Is it possible to be neutral when you find yourself between two opposing sides? Judging by yours and Anna Burns' novel Milkman, it seems - difficult...

Almost everyone who grew up in Northern Ireland in my day grew up in one of two communities. If anything, segregation in the school system gave us a Protestant or Catholic education. It would be naive to think that these prejudices and traditions can be completely set aside when it comes to writing. I believe that artists, by nature, often sit "a little outside" of society. It allows us to gain perspective, nuance and objectivity when we create. I have to write as the person I am, raised the way I was raised, but I do my best to adopt the position of a critical friend: celebrating what is good and valuable in my community and criticizing what is harmful or hypocritical. Also, it is extremely naive to say that anyone in Northern Ireland is between two opposing sides. The division has always been more complex and fragmented than a simple binary approach to the situation. We write from the inside and the outside, through a kaleidoscopic range of perceptions, experiences and beliefs.

Who are the Unfortunate Children from your novel??

The unfortunate children represent the next generation of young people born after the peace accord of 1998. They may not have witnessed the conflict firsthand, but they still bear the scars of trauma. Here they are often called "truce babies".

You once said how reading helped you become more liberal than your surroundings. What is the role of art in that process?

I firmly believe that a single poem, novel, or play cannot accomplish much in terms of changing hearts and minds. However, constant exposure to the kind of nuanced, objective, and empathetic thinking that can be acquired through reading can play a major role in forming active, open-minded citizens of the world. That's why I think one of the most insidious things of the last few decades has been the gradual erasure of art and literature in our schools and the constant defunding of libraries and art projects. Young people deserve to have access to the kind of art and literature that I had access to through school. This kind of thing is vital if we don't want the next generation to grow up narrow-minded and blind to any experience but their own.

The Balkan nations are also extremely divided, as among the countries that emerged after the breakup of Yugoslavia, as well as in each of those societies individually. How it is possible to overcome differences? Have you heard about the big student protests in Serbia??

As for giving advice to other divided communities, I have to be honest: my principle is not to talk about situations or give advice to others unless I fully understand the complexities and nuances of the situation they are facing. After the Good Friday Agreement we had a handful of so-called experts trying to give us advice on how to solve the problems in Northern Ireland and how to deal with a troubled past. Many of them had no real idea of ​​how complex the situation was and continues to be. It can be extremely frustrating, and sometimes insulting, to listen to outsiders interpret where your country and community went wrong. That's why I became a big advocate of first listening, then speaking. When I visit a country with a complex past like yours, I have the honor and privilege to spend some time uncovering the details of the situation in that environment. And then, perhaps, at some future time, I will have answers to what I have learned, probably influenced by my experience of growing up in a complex place.

How do you see the future of Ireland?, Europe and the world after the changes that have occurred since Trump took office?

Who knows what will happen next in the world. Here in Northern Ireland, we are used to history happening at incredible speed. The only certainty we have ever had is that nothing is certain - peace can be threatened at any moment, the possibility of a vote on borders is always in sight. Living in such a liminal state has taught me to be present in the moment. I try not to panic about what comes next and to write as best and as quickly as I can, given the times we live in. I try not to get overwhelmed. I concentrate on writing and changing the things I have the power to change. I know from our context that the more people understand the experiences of others as just as valuable as their own, and the more they can find a part of themselves in the situations others face, the more likely they are to empathize or engage. I believe that stories are a great way to instill a sense of universal concern and as such, our writers and artists are doing important work right now.