“ The author is not the protagonist of literature. The protagonist is the reader”

Na conversation with the Colombian Héctor Abad Faciolince, moderated by the Portuguese João Gobern, in Praça Gomes Teixeira, in Porto, in the context of the Babell festival, on Friday night, Cercas stated that this was one of the few certainties he had in life.

“ We live in the midst of big misunderstandings. A fundamental misunderstanding for me is that the protagonist of literature is the author. This is romantic superstition. The author is not the protagonist of literature. The protagonist of the literature is the reader”, said the author of “Soldados de Salamina” before a crowded square.

Cercas stressed that the “magics of literature” involves viewing a book as a “article”, which each reader will interpret in his own way.

“A book without readers is a dead letter. This is not populism, I hate populism in all its facets, but especially literary populism. This is not populism, that is the reality ", said the writer, on the third day of Babell.

For Javier Cercas, who labeled himself “spantly selfish”, the role of a writer must go through his humility: “It is said that to be a great writer there must be much ego, much vanity. The best writers I've ever known in my life are the most humble. And I have seen many writers with a talent that has failed by their own ego.”

“Basic condition for a writer is humility. What's our role? Work hard and when you finish a book pray for someone to like”, said the Spanish, who sometimes interrupted his interventions to ask if the cries of the ‘moved’ that were heard in the vicinity of the outdoor event were due to football.

In a conversation that both spoke about literary concepts and about particular details of the work of the two sexagenarian authors, Cercas emphasized that writers are because “literature is an instrument” that allows them to live, citing the Italian Cesare Pavese: “Literature is an instrument of defense against the offenses of life.”.

“ That is why we are writers, because we have this extraordinary instrument that allows us to defend ourselves,” said Javier Cercas.

The literary festival Babell started on Wednesday and takes place until Monday, with names such as Olga Tokarczuk, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood in a program of literary sessions, concerts, cinema and other performances that in all cost more than three million euros to the foundation of the Lello Bookshop, except for the support of the House of Porto, which co-organizes the event.