Zülfü Livaneli: Cruelty Never Ends

Michael March:  It feels as though we are going backwards.

Zülfü Livaneli:  Not in the long run—but in the shortness of our lives.

MM:  What have you seen?

ZL:  Turkish society—my society—went backwards. I grew up in a secular Turkey, with secular traditions—a more or less free country—without the dominance of Islam.

In my youth, I was faced with military takeovers—I was in a military prison. Now we face the backward pull of Islam. So, I'm not optimistic about the present situation in Turkey.   

MM:  What brought you to the free space of literature?

ZL:  Love and ambition. I was like a small Don Quixote in Ankara—ten years old, mad about books. Now, I am known as a composer—having initially earned my living in exile as a composer—but my first love and last love is literature.

MM:  What brought you to prison?

ZL:  False accusations. As you know, the military is allergic to thinking. Turkish prisons specialize in Turkish literature.

MM:  Music is much more popular than literature.

ZL:  Songs are much more popular—they go beneath the skin—describe our feelings. But to analyze—to create a character—capture a time or to relive your thoughts—you need novels.

MM:  The courage to write?

ZL:  Concentration and enjoyment.

MM:  Cruelty never ends.

ZL:  But the end remains mysterious. 

Istanbul | February 2011