PATRICIA DUNCKER
Patricia Duncker's first novel was the acclaimed and award-winning Hallucinating Foucault. Since then she has published two collections of short stories as well as several other novels, most recently Miss Webster and Chérif, a comedy of errors set in the post 9/11 world with an indomitable leading character. She is currently Professor of Contemporary Literature at the University of Manchester. Find out more from the Contemporary Writers website.
This interview took place in June 2007, with questions contributed by EnCompass readers, and Reader in Residence Susan Tranter.
Susan Tranter: Patricia I'd like to start, as I usually do, by asking what you've been reading lately, and whether there's anything you'd especially recommend to EnCompass readers?
PD: I am reading two very different fictions. One is The Swarm by Frank Schätzing. This is an oceanic science fiction disaster blockbuster - 800 pages of science information thrillingly presented. Humans have been destroying and polluting the oceans and at last the depths fight back. It is utterly plausible, convincing and full of great horror action sequences involving killer whales, wise Inuit, the CIA and a tsunami to die for. This is one of the entries for the Tieck-Schlegel translation prize. A strong contender.
For literary form and intellectual ideas I am reading The Cleft by Doris Lessing - into an Amazon Utopia a boy child is born and disaster follows.
Sarah: I have just read Miss Webster & Cherif after seeing it recommended on EnCompass, and I really enjoyed it. Did you start off just wanting to write about a woman like Miss W, or was your initial impetus to make a larger point about modern day culture clashes, post 9/11, and all that?
PD: I usually begin with the plot. In some ways I am a very 18th century writer. I like to create my meanings in the shape of the plot. I wanted to write a comedy that had Shakespearian elements: mistaken identities, errors that turn out well. Miss Webster developed out of a huge affection for all the women who taught me and brought me up. They are listed at the back of the book. I am a political writer in that I care about ideas; I don't just write domestic fiction. But the ideas must be part of the intrigue of the book.
LW: Patricia I am interested to know whether you will publishing any more short stories in future?
PD: Yes. I'm working on a ghost story at the moment. My most recent story is in Safe World Gone (Honno, 2007). I edited the volume with my colleague, the writer Janet Thomas. My story is called 'How to Murder Your Mother'. My mother likes it!
Joe2: I have seen that Patricia is also a lecturer in creative writing. I would like to know whether this academic work feeds into her own writing, or whether she keeps the two areas of work separate?
PD: I don't separate the practice of writing from the study of literature. I am actually Professor of Contemporary Literature at Manchester. And I teach a hybrid critical / creative course with lots of set texts called The Art of Short Fiction. We'll never write well if we don't read well. I learn a lot from my students - both about reading and writing. So in fact it's all one project: my writing and the reading I do with my students. I learn a lot from their enthusiasms.
Anu: When Hallucinating Foucault first came out, did anyone believe that Paul Michel really existed?
PD: Goodness yes, dozens. And some readers went so far as to RING UP the hospitals to find Paul Michel. The phone numbers in the book were real. Lots of readers ordered his books at the bookshops and were enraged when they weren't in the catalogue. I even received angry letters from people who were angry because he wasn't real. But in a sense he is. He's Foucault's double. Paul-Michel Foucault was Foucault's real name.
Marta: It seems to me that your work is very varied, both in style and in subject matter. I'd like to know firstly if you see it this way, and, if so, whether it has been a conscious decision?
PD: Yes, the books are all different. And yes it is a conscious decision. I want to stretch myself, find registers and structures I haven't yet tried. Writing is the hardest thing I have ever tried to do. I find it really difficult. So I push myself to do different things. I just hope the readers enjoy them!
DXN7: As a novelist, are you more interested in relationships, or individual characters?
PD: I think the ideas in the books fascinate me most. Many of my characters are intellectuals of various kinds. I put a lot of energy into their passions. And their engagement with their ideas, objectives, obsessions. I like characters who are obsessed.
BookWorming: Hello Patricia! The books I've read of yours I have enjoyed very much, but it seems to me that there is a lot of darkness in your work. Does this stem from a conscious interest in the shady fringes of society, or is it an inevitable aspect of a honest novelist's work these days?
PD: Feel the power of the Dark Side! You are quite right. I am interested in the shadow side of human beings - even if I oppose those values. I had a scary religious upbringing and the fascination with evil is therefore inevitable. But I do have a strong sense that there is an ethical imperative in my work. Literature cannot turn us into better people, but it can make us think.
Michael: What do you think should be the most important role for the modern novelist in today's society?
PD: We should be warning voices. And we should have a strong political and ethical commitment to the kingdom of this world. And if we are brave enough to be fearless as well, that's the best thing.
David: Do you have a favourite among your own books Patricia?
PD: I think you always love best the one you are working on at that very moment you are asked. See below!
Susan Tranter: Many thanks for taking part Patricia. May I ask what you're working on at the moment?
PD: It's a new novel now going into the third version entitled The Composer and His Judge. And, amazing to relate, it is about a German composer and a French judge! It's an exciting plot. And hard work.
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