ive been rereading my childhood fave the inkheart series and i just got to the bit where dustfinger [redacted] so here is a little gwin. for my agonies.
Started off this year with a redesign of something I drew a couple of years ago. It‘s basically a book-cover-style artwork in appreciation of one of my all time favorite books: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.
I translated this interview for the discord server last night, so I figured I'd post it here, too. Cornelia talks about the importance of good stories, the meaning of life, politics and once again reaffirms that she doesn't want anything to do with her own villains. Enjoy! :)
Ms Funke, you call yourself a spy for children. What do you mean by that?
The older I get, the more absurd I find the adult world: how much value is placed on what other people think and what society accepts. The way work, money and success have become a religion in itself. Many adults have forgotten what life is really about.
What is life really about?
You're happiest once you find out which tools you have in your toolkit. When you recognize your own talents. When you understand what you're good at and live your life accordingly.
First you were a social worker, then illustrator, started writing in your late twenties. Does your own story show how difficult it is to know one's own talents?
Yes, it's not easy. We're taught early to stop searching for our talents. Instead we are told to accept that life isn't the way we imagined it as children. I think that's absolutely wrong. It's important to protect this childish delight and curiosity about the world.
Is that why you tell fantastical stories instead of realistic ones? Because you reject the adult world?
What does realistic mean? Is it reality that we're sitting on a globe that's racing through space and illuminated by a fireball? When you tell stories in a fantastical way, it's possible to hint at how layered and complex the world really is.You can say: Someone's growing fur, growing wings. Or you can personify evil - the way fairytales and myths have always done. Fantastical storytelling is closer to reality in many ways.
Imagination can be an escape as well.
The great writer J R R Tolkien once said: "The only one who opposes escape is the prison guard."
For a long time your books were not considered for the "Spiegel"-bestseller-list. You already lived in the USA and had been included in the "Time"-magazine list of the 100 most influential people in the world when that changed in 2007. Why are people in Anglo-Saxon areas so much more open to your fantastical stories?
Fantastical literature in England and America follows a different tradition. The borders between literature for children and adults aren't as strict as in Germany. Which is a shame, because fantastical narratives have a rich tradition, from E. T. A. Hoffmann to the brothers Grimm.
Why did we lose that tradition?
Fascism probably plays a central role in that. It claimed myths and fairytales for itself and left brown fingerprints on all things fantastical. It left us with a deep-seated scepticism towards anything irrational - a German fear of myths and fairytales. Part of that fear is justified, surely, because stories can be used to manipulate. Many of the old fairytales are reactionary and glorify violence. Which is why we need new fantastical stories. There is an incredible power within them. Children who read good fantasy often end up more politically active, because they learned to imagine a different world.
What makes fantastical story for children good?
Good stories are about all parts of life: empathy, friendship, optimism, but also about dangers and evil. They help prepare for life - prepare for the fact that goodness is not promised and that you have to advocate for it. As children, nobody tells us how hard life can be. A lot is kept from us. That's a weakness of our civilization.
In "Inkheart", one of your most successful novels, we meet the villain Capricorn. He feeds birds to cats for fun and enjoys the suffering of others. Is Capricorn a personification of evil?
Capricorn thrives on pain and destroying lives. Yes, he's evil.
Who are the Capricorns of our world?
Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin and many others. We could fill a hall with them. They sow fear, they sow hatred. Thanks to Trump, things that used to be unspeakable can now be declared openly in the USA. Unfortunately the USA isn't the only place where it's become acceptable to openly share far-right and racist thoughts without shame and to attack anything that's different.
You lived in the USA yourself for 17 years. Four of them under Trump. What's your prognosis for Trump's America?
Luckily, the world will never again be the way Trump's propaganda wants it to be - dominated by a western culture that spread unimaginable suffering through colonialism and a falsified Christian ideal. Anyone living in California quickly realizes how diverse the USA are. I loved that 128 different languages are spoken there, that so many people with different stories meet there. The current reactionary situation is a struggle by an old monster facing a changing society. But Trump won't get away with it. Immigration countries like the USA, Canada or Australia are based on a deep-rooted idea: We just keep reinventing the world together.
And in Europe?
The same problem, and national identities are much more rigidly defined here because they have deep historical roots. The image of the USA that Trump is selling was imported from Europe and has nothing to do with the history of the country.
Many see Trump as a strong man. Your books feature strong, sometimes even immortal characters, too. Aren't you concerned that your readers can't resist the fascination with that power?
I try not to romanticize my villains. I'm annoyed by claims that villains are the more interesting characters. It's an absurd cliché. I don't want to celebrate the violence in my stories in the same way so many other books and movies do. Only a few directors, like Guillermo del Toro, show violence as it is: something horrific. Nobody would love evil in his movies.
What does evil look like, then?
Bertold Brecht had a mask of a Japanese demon hanging above his work desk. It showed a contorted, angry face and was supposed to remind him every day how exhausting it is to be evil. To me, evil is something broken, fueled by fear and a lack of empathy, the inability to see and feel others, coupled with the rush of strength that aggression and anger allow us to feel.
Something ugly, too?
Brecht's ugly mask symbolises the inner world of such a character. From the outside, evil can look very beautiful, of course. Plenty of people, animals and plants that are perceived as ugly are only persecuted because people think ugliness equals evil. What an awful and stupid association! I love "Lord of the Rings" and have read the books countless times. But with Tolkien, the evil characters are ugly and the beautiful ones are good. If only the world were that easy!
While writing, you start a dialogue with your characters. How do you talk to a villain you created yourself?
I don't talk to the worst of them. I don't like my villains. I despise them. I watch them from a distance and try to describe them, but I stand on the other side. When I talk to them then only about other characters from their world.
Were you ever in danger of identifying with your own villains?
No, they always seem so empty and haunted to me, it's really not tempting to wear their skin. I've supported Amnesty International since I was 14. The reports of torture I've read made me believe that it's impossible to convince all people of your own ideals or understand them.
Can we all become evil?
Let's be real. We are a deeply aggressive species - full of racist and sexist reflexes. What's important is fighting those every day. There is a beautiful scene in a British show. One protagonist explains to another that there are two wolves in everybody: one symbolizes hatred, anger and impatience, the other light, empathy and love. "And who will win?" one asks. "The one you feed," is the answer.
Many of your characters seem to be torn between the two wolves.
Yes, in "Reckless", for example, I tell the story of Nerron, a Goyl who carries much darkness. There are plenty of reasons for that that I get into. I like him a lot, because he has a caring heart despite it. I can ask endless questions and stay curious with him. I want to understand even a murderer who had an awful childhood and eventually kills, himself. But I have limits. At some point I cannot forgive someone who brings too much suffering anymore.
What responsibility does a storyteller have?
I keep meeting readers who tell me that my books helped them in difficult times - a soldier who read "Inkdeath" during war; parents who had to read "Dragon Rider" to their dying son over and over again; so many people who made it through sickness, depression or other pain with my stories. It always moves me deeply. The older I get, the more I think: stories should always offer shelter and comfort, too.
