Singer and writer Zülfü Livaneli on Poet Yaşar Kemal скачать в хорошем качестве

Singer and writer Zülfü Livaneli on Poet Yaşar Kemal

Turkish writer and composer Zülfü Livaneli reflects on his decades-long friendship with the celebrated novelist Yaşar Kemal. Speaking about one of the towering figures of modern Turkish literature, Livaneli recalls the writer’s global reputation, his distinctive literary voice rooted in Anatolian storytelling, and the political pressures faced by writers in Turkey. Livaneli describes Kemal as both a literary giant and a close personal companion. “He was my best friend for 44 years,” he says, recalling the years they spent together in Istanbul, Paris and Stockholm during periods of exile. For Livaneli, Kemal stands at the center of the Turkish literary canon: “He is the greatest figure in Turkish literature. He was like our Gogol, our Tolstoy.” Kemal, who was of Kurdish origin, achieved international recognition with novels such as Memed, My Hawk, which became widely read across Europe and the United States. Livaneli notes that Kemal’s work drew deeply on the landscapes and oral traditions of southern Anatolia, particularly the region of Çukurova. “First of all, he has his climate, he has his own people,” Livaneli says, comparing the novelist’s fictional world to the imagined geography of William Faulkner. The richness of Kemal’s language, Livaneli explains, came from his use of regional dialects and a vocabulary rooted in nature. “There is a dictionary of Yaşar Kemal — the names of flowers, the names of the nature, birds,” he says, describing the writer’s unusually vivid lexicon. Livaneli places Kemal’s storytelling within a broader epic tradition, tracing a line back to classical literature and oral epics such as the Iliad attributed to Homer. Kemal’s work, Livaneli argues, rejected melodrama in favor of restraint — a quality he associates with the greatest literature. “Sentimentalism is not the way of the literary tradition,” he says, noting that tragedy can be conveyed more powerfully through understatement. Despite Kemal’s international reputation and frequent consideration for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Livaneli believes that a writer’s deepest recognition ultimately lies at home. “Your real value can be understood in your own language for your own readers,” he says. Livaneli also shares personal anecdotes that illustrate Kemal’s fame and character, including a chance encounter with a Parisian street wanderer who unexpectedly recognized one of Kemal’s fictional characters. The conversation also touches on the political risks historically faced by Turkish writers — a theme Kemal addressed publicly during a literary conference alongside the American novelist Kurt Vonnegut. “Turkish prison is a school of Turkish writers,” Kemal once remarked in a speech, Livaneli recalls. Vonnegut responded with dark humor, congratulating his colleague for living in a country where writers were taken seriously enough to be imprisoned. For Livaneli, the memories remain deeply personal. “Yaşar Kemal was my best friend,” he says — a final tribute to a writer whose influence continues to shape Turkish literature. Christian Lund interviewed Zülfü Livaneli in his home in Bodrum, Turkey, in September 2024. Cameras: Rasmus Quistgaard Edit: Roxanne Bageshirin Lærkesen Produced by Christian Lund Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2026 Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Subscribe to our channel for more videos on literature:    / thelouisianachannel   FOLLOW US HERE: Website: http://channel.louisiana.dk Instagram:   / louisianachannel   Facebook:   / louisianachannel