Leila Slimani talks about her fictional novel imagination

Leila Slimani was at Porto Book Fair to talk about "the dark side of the human soul", in the context of her novel "Chanson Douce" [Lullaby], for which she was awarded the Prix Goncourt, in 2016.

The Franco-Moroccan writer and journalist left Morocco at the age of 17 for Paris to study political science and media studies at the Sciences Po and ESCP Europe.

After a short career in film, and a full time job as a journalist for the magazine Jeune Afrique, Leila decided to became a freelance and write novels.

Slimani grew up in a Moroccan bourgeoisie family in Rabat and "there was help in the house". Leila Slimani herself had a "nounou" [nanny], and although her nanny has nothing to do with the nanny in "Chanson Douce", it was one of her starting points for writing the novel, in the context of the relationships of her infancy: young girl and caretaker, and caretaker and her mother.

"All these aspects have a novel side to it and they were extremely important as of writing the book", states Slimani.

When asked if she wrote the novel as if she was writing a film script, Leila admitted that "maybe a little", but it was not purposely done.

"That may also have been the same process when writing "Le Jardin du Ogre" - "The garden of the Ogre"- as I write, I observe the characters, describing their actions. It is a rather visual writing. What I want and what I like is that the reader sees things, that he sees the character's actions. This is not so much about psychology but rather what people do, the way our actions define us", Leila explains.

About her novel, "Chanson Douce", the writer claims that she would be incapable of defining her own work. "I believe that is up to the reader. Once I finish writing a novel, it no longer belongs to me".

The topic of this novel is the primal fear every parents feels, the fear of losing a child. It is the classic directive master/slave, which often times has an unexpected twist.

"This represents an ambiguity because the one that holds power may not be the one holding it forever, hence the good vs evil tension", Leila enthuses.

Talking about the Moroccan society, Leila Slimani says that it mirrors a "social hypocrisy, on account of the double standard language and the double standard speech. People lead a double life".

Slimani says that she was raised in the western culture, although she lived in Rabat till she was 17 years old.

She is a feminist and she "will fight for women's rights wherever it may be".

The book " Sexe et mensonges: la vie sexuelle au Maroc (Sex and lies: sexual life in Morocco)" is about the interviews that Leila Slimani did in Morocco, where dozens of Moroccan women talk about sexual repression in Islamic countries, it addresses the taboo subject of female sexual desires, and affirms that millions of Arabs (men and women) are confined to sexual anguish in a sex-obsessed Arab world.

Leila Slimani believes that the task of changing society must be undertaken by everyone: writers, journalists, teachers, women at home, not treating boys and girls in a different manner.

"This is a cultural revolution, as this type of revolution takes time", but "women in Morocco are very strong, they yearn that their daughters live in a more equal society, with less violence".

The writer shares the feeling of "not belonging to a particular culture, not that it means not to have any culture or one's own culture" but rather as "belonging to the human race, to the world".

"I feel I am a foreigner everywhere and nowhere, at the same time. It is strange but I may travel to China, to Brazil or the United States and I feel at home or abroad. I could live no matter where", Slimani concludes.

In 2017, Leila Slimani accepted the invitation by French President, Emmanuel Macron, to play a diplomatic role as the Ambassador for the Francophonie, whose main goal is to promote the French language in the francophone countries and worldwide.