Why are you writing a novel on the Mediterranean renegades today?
To recover a ‘deserted’ story, one which disappeared from collective western memory for religious and political reasons. I see the Mediterranean as a closed sea where one civilisation was born which then divided into two cultures. Open identity is the tool for being able to bring this knowledge to life and to develop discussion.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, 300,000 European Christians converted to Islam. Were they ‘religious’ or ‘political’ refugees?
Some were religious, some political, certainly all were ‘social’ refugees, fleeing from an oppressive system which prohibited them from social redemption. Islam represented a genuine possibility to change the way in which they lived. One can state that it was convenient to become a Muslim, while this did not apply to Christianity. In fact there were very few conversions to Christianity.
Is it possible to use the Mediterranean’s past as a key to understanding our present day?
It’s not only possible, it’s necessary. We westerners cultivate a distorted vision of our history which leads us to perceive ‘the other’ with an unprovoked suspicion. It’s not by chance that in recent years there has been a rediscovery of the so-called rhetoric of [the Battle of] Lepanto, which is referred to as a strategic victory which saved Christian Europe from an Islamic invasion. Nothing could be more wrong, and yet numerous essays have been published in the press which have provided room for discussion.
Is conversion a way to comply with the Other or an act of protest against one’s own religion of origin?
Both. In fact we need to take into account that abjuration was regulated by norms which were recognised by both religions and which dealt with a public and certified act. A conscious and acknowledged choice to the actual community one belonged to.
Your novel is an in-depth critique on the so-called ‘clash of civilisations’. How can we protect ourselves from this media propaganda?
By recovering an aspect of historical truth and laying claim to our own common ‘Mediterranean’ roots, and never ceasing to maintain that behind the concept of the ‘clash of civilisations’ hide political, economic and military wishes for control and predominance.
In the Mediterranean, religion continues to be a tool of manipulation, how can we leave this behind?
Firstly by attempting to rein in excessive religious power in order to conserve a truly secular dimension in the respective societies, and then to fight for a different development in order to get out of this crisis which is assailing both banks of the Mediterranean; to stop religion from becoming a response to people’s needs, especially in young people.
In your novel Algiers is an open city. How did you find it during your journey last year?
Algiers is a city of rare beauty which has been severely tried in recent times. I had a clear perception of a city ‘under control’ yet still deeply divided. At the same time I had the impression of a cultural and civil stability which would do well in hoping for the future.
Translation by Helen Waghorn