After the coup in 1971, the military holds not only the lives but also the dreams of the people of Turkey captive. Artists, leftists and intellectuals fear for their existence, including the narrator, who flees from Istanbul across the sea to Europe. In her luggage: the desire to become an actress and the unconditional desire to make known and keep alive the cultural wealth of her country elsewhere, which has been so abruptly cut short, without allowing herself to be limited to her mere origins in the "zoo of languages". And there, in the middle of divided Berlin, on the boulevards of Paris, in dialog with admired poets and thinkers, she finally finds herself in the "pause of hell", in which art, politics and life seem to be fully compatible.
Emine Sevgi Özdamar's new novel is a polyphonic song of praise to a post-war Europe in which it seemed possible for a short time to break down borders with the means of poetry alone. It is a longing obituary for the friends, artists and acquaintances who accompanied her on her journey. Above all, however, it is the eloquent opening of a space between threat and security, a space bounded by shadows.

"I was very unhappy in my Turkish at the time. My words were sick. In 1971 there was a military coup. People were tortured, killed and imprisoned because of words. Only a dream could help me during this difficult time. Brecht's words helped me back then in Istanbul and promised me a utopia: Big things don't stay big, small things don't stay small. Brecht had had a physical experience with fascism before us." Tagesspiegel 2011

© Fabian Schreyer

The literary program of the Brechtfestival was realized with the kind support of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.
Recording and streaming as part of BRECHT DIGITAL. Funded within the framework of "dive in. Program for Digital Interactions" of the German Federal Cultural Foundation, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) in the NEUSTART KULTUR.&quot program;