Europe’s Culture Train: An Interview with Anita Konkka

Literature

Dec 2

The Literature Express 2000 was a train journey where 103 writers from 43 countries travelled across 11 countries, visiting 19 European cities between June 4 and July 16. Many events – readings, discussions, and festivals – were organised to celebrate European literary culture

Anita Konkka is a celebrated Finnish-Ingrian author who has written many books since her debut novel in 1970. Her work often deals with feminist issues, the plight of Ingrian Finns, and the interpretation of dreams. She was a writer onboard the literature express. Interview by Jyry Pasanen

Anita Konkka, early morning notes before the next departure.

JP: When we first discussed your experience on the Literature Express 2000, you talked about how it represented a sort of new era of hope and progress. Can you tell me more about that?

AK: Yes, it was a very idealistic time. Apart from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Yugoslav Wars and the onward march of European integration, there was also great excitement about the internet. We could connect with people around the world, get to know and understand each other. People were so helpful on the internet back then. No one thought it could end up like this: full of hate speech and negativity. Although there were political extremist groups online, it was not like now. But I must say that writers were very suspicious of the internet simply because they feared people would stop reading books. A very correct fear of course. Russian authors were especially suspicious of it. I was asked to speak about the internet in many panels because I had been there for such a long time. I was even involved in pre-internet conversation forums in the 1980s. So, I had to speak about the internet and its relation to literature. I always said that I like to write on the computer. Some people disagreed and – already then – said that writing on the computer killed all creativity. So there was clear opposition, but young writers used computers with ease.

It was the sort of time where you always had to find the internet cafe in this or that city. And even that took time. It was difficult sometimes; I was already tired just doing that. In Poland I found a nice internet cafe in some basement. The caretaker spoke no English and was completely terrified as I asked them to use the internet. One machine was reserved for that; the rest were for games. She did not manage to set it up for me as she was so shaken.

So, these kinds of things. But yes there was a great feeling of hope. A hope that everything would unify. That Europe would become this unified area, not only in terms of the economy or the absence of borders, but also culturally. That was the main idea of this literature train: that literature belongs to the people. And that is why it was organised like it was. That is why the train went to European capitals and other cities. We did readings and discussions at railway stations. There were always lots of people. It was a part of these millennium festivities to celebrate the new millennium, and people were very interested. We believed that a better millennium was starting, as the previous one was a bit difficult [laughs]. Now we could start a new life.

JP: How were you chosen to participate?

AK: There were different ways. Germany had the most complicated process. You had to send sample texts...it was different in every country, but in general, the final decision was made by the literary union of each participating country. There was a guideline that they would choose people who were under 40 -years old. But most of the authors were old! France sent two writers over 70...I was chosen because I was already so “online”.

JP: Were you already writing your blog back then?

AK: No, well actually I did start writing my blog then in English, for that train trip. But it was so difficult and time-consuming that I stopped soon after. And then – that one has disappeared as the platform went under – in 2002 I started my Finnish-language blog that became quite popular.

JP: More about this language issue: is it right that there were authors from 40 different countries? How did you communicate?

AK: I think there were authors from 45 countries – Turkey included. Norway was the only European country missing. But yes, at least 40 languages.

JP: So did you all speak in English, or how did it work?

AK: Well, there were three “official languages” in the train: German, English, French...actually four because Russian was also one. And there was one language, I think Spanish, whose absence caused a bit of a ruckus. Some Spanish authors were complaining; they thought their language ought to be one of these main languages in the train. [laughs]

JP: So did “language cliques” form around these languages?

*With Booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo as they travelled through the Baltics*

AK: Yes, mostly it worked like that. And the further the trip went, the further we divided ourselves into these groups. Nordic writers spent a lot of time together. And the Russian were completely isolated because they did not speak other languages. Except for that one Muscovite who was very active in defending all kinds of Russianness. And then, yes, there were these kinds of lonely ones, like one from Malta, who then allied with this or that language group – whichever they spoke best. And this Icelandic writer...ah yes he had this fancy Nokia machine, with a little keyboard and everything. He used it to write articles and send them to a magazine back in Iceland, it was an incredible new technology at the time.

JP: Where was the warmest welcome you received?

AK: In Paris there were lots and lots of people, but I think the most excited were the Germans. The press there had promoted the event a lot. The crowds were huge over there. In Portugal too...the railway stations were always full, but there were also smaller events. I spoke about the internet in the oldest bookshop in Portugal. And we had to speak in English, without any preparation. We were just told: hey now you're going to this bookshop to speak. It was like that everywhere: we just spoke about whatever. In one bookshop in Belgium, I think it was an international bookshop in Brussels, one man asked: “Before you write, do you at all think about what you will write, do you prepare somehow? – And I answered: “No, it's just like in speaking, I do not plan at all.”

JP: I get this feeling when you speak about these language cliques that there was a kind of rift within the group: Russians against the “other” Europeans. Was it like this?

AK: It was more like those Europeans who had never visited Russia or the Soviet Union, experienced a culture shock and were very open about it. Already in Kaliningrad for the first time. But St Petersburg was very European, well, apart from that one thing in the Smolny Institute, where there was a little museum in Lenin’s old office. I asked the guide whether they could tell me where concentration camp number 2 was located because my grandmother was there for a time in 1919. And the guide was flabbergasted and said “we did not have anything like this”. And yeah, there were always journalists around us, making stories, asking questions. This one television journalist came up to me immediately afterwards and asked me about what I had said. So I told her the story of my grandmother and I made an appearance on television that night, but I missed it. Afterwards this young Belarusian writer who spoke Russian and also Swedish came up to me and told me: “listen, you were on the television last night”. So I asked what I had said, and she responded: “Well you were praising St Petersburg and saying how great a city it is” [laughs]. So I don't really know what happened there or how they interpreted what I said.

JP: After St Petersburg you went to Moscow. What happened there?

AK: Yes, that is when we sent this petition to Putin where we demanded the end of the Chechen War. I just checked: 84 authors signed it. We were 107 so there were many that did not sign it. It was a political thing, the others...there was even one who signed it but afterwards crossed his name out. And then there was this extremely active political influencer who also spoke Russian (who by the way opposed everything internet related as well) campaigning against this petition, saying how these Chechens were blowing up our buildings, that they had to be brought to heel and so on...like saying “do you not understand our situation here?” Many Russians are a bit like that; they like to play the victim and then blame others. The same thing...And now this Ukraine situation is difficult...it was already like that back then. This Female Ukrainian writer (whose name I can't remember) started the petition and got the Russians mad at her. So, they don't get along at all, even though they share so much. Ukraine has been so important...it was part of Old Russia, where the [Russian] culture began and grew. They had good writers there, even during the Soviet times, very good writers, especially in Odessa, but also in Kiev.

JP: Did the Russians have anything to say about Finns?

AK: Well, there was a guy from Azerbaijan, who had visited FInland and knew some three words in Finnish and four in English. He was a big fan of Finland for some reason. He always offered this very strong...whatever he had. He was in the Russian speaking group, a very joyous man. He wrote these crime novels and he was very popular over there, selling millions of copies. He did not live with us in the decent hotels we were offered. He always had these – Europeiska in St Petersburg and… well, all the best hotels. He had a secretary who organised all his stays from Moscow. He was the only rich author [laughs]. But he was pretty generous, always sharing whatever he had.

JP: I remember you mentioned there was some Russian author who said Western culture is worthless...can you tell me about him?

AK: It is this same Muscovite who was so negative about everything, let's not speak about him too much. I do recall this one Ukrainian writer, who had been to America on a Fulbright scholarship who said it was so great over there [in the US] as they only had one language, not like in Europe where there is a cacophony of languages – he enjoyed his stay over there. He was a poet, and he said that once the Soviet Union had collapsed, against which he had campaigned and wrote this Samizdat poetry [underground publishing] – there was nothing to fight against anymore, so he became a linguist. He had not written after that. He was a pretty great guy, but even he had this anti-Russian sentiment.

JP: And you wrote something in collaboration with this French author. Can you tell me about that?

AK: Yes! This was also a sort of attempt to unite European languages and cultures, and also inventing ways to communicate. The whole train trip was about finding ways to communicate with each other. And then, this French writer. He belongs to a group of experimental writers called Oulipo. He is called Jacques Jouet. We had to write some kind of travel text: an essay, a diary, a poem, max 15 pages, right after the trip. So, we decided to write a dialogue. He would write in French and I in English. I understood a little French, I had studied it for three years in school. It became quite a funny dialogue. It was then translated into German, published in this 700-page book where nearly all participants had written something about their experience of the Literature Express. That book was supposed to be published in every European language but that never happened: Publishers can't afford every kind of experiment...So yes, we wrote in French and English, and it was translated to German, that's how it went. But it was also published in the US, in this magazine called Context. It was the magazine of a publishing house that brought a lot of European literature over there. So I could read it in English, but they had unfortunately shortened it quite a bit, But this was my experience. It was interesting for sure.

JP: Let's talk about trains for a moment. Do you know why that route was chosen?

AK: Yes, so this route, starting in Portugal and going to St Petersburg. It was important because Petersburgian nobles, writers, and others...Dostoevsky included travelled many times to Europe on this line...all the way to Paris and then on to Portugal. Also, another reason: during and before World War Two, those Jews who decided, and could afford to leave, took this same track to Portugal and from there took ships to the US, saving their lives like this. So, it was a culturally and historically significant route. And every country's train company gave us a special train with a few wagons: outsiders were not welcome. Portugal offered us a fantastic dinner on the train with many entrees and desserts and cheeses and fancy drinks for each part of the meal...white tablecloths and everything. I felt like a fancy Russian writer on the way to Europe [laughs]. Germany had found some ancient, really small train that they had painted yellow and written on the side in many languages – “literature train”.

JP: From all this I get the feeling this trip represents a kind of lost future: trains going across borders, people from many languages getting along, literature is funded etc etc. There is a kind of interaction between people that is really positive. Have you seen anything similar lately?

AK: No, nothing like this. But, of course, it was a special time, Europe wanted to celebrate the new millennium. And every EU institution, as well as UNESCO, national governments and others were funding it.

JP: But not much was born of it?

AK: No not really...other than that book that is only published in German. And now the organiser wants to put together an essay collection or something. But it was so long ago...I think he just liked the train trip so much he wants to relive it.

Although we are again building tracks everywhere, including Finland, and even across borders, Is it [train travel] not reviving again? And there is an extra incentive because trains are a more sustainable way to travel. I think there might be a return to the old ways. But they must be fast, like the TGV.

JP: Do you think as positively of European political integration as you do of this train integration?

AK: It is so difficult these days because of populism...it advocates this national isolationism. No more windows open towards Europe, like it was already in the 1920s, among leftist artists, who hoped and challenged others. But that ended and Europe closed itself in a really bad way in the 1930s. Populism is so strong these days and I am wondering about ways to get through this. And if there is a post-pandemic recession in Europe then we are really in bad trouble – populism will for sure gain even more momentum.

JP: Do you see this kind of populism and nationalism in literary circles?

AK: Not in Finland at least. There is one “True Finn'' affiliated writer but apart from him...writers are not populists, no. And I think it's similar in the rest of Europe, writers are generally more open. In Russia some of the old guard are a bit nationalistic, but the younger writers are again more open. It is important that young people do not become populists. Writers have to think about things, I think they are not so susceptible to becoming populists. At least in Finland populists are generally less educated, it is difficult to speak with them as they do not back their arguments with logic. They do have smart women in that party [the True Finns] and I wonder what they are doing there, how did they end up there?

JP: Their leaders are usually pretty well educated at least, no?

AK: Yes, that's true. Even Halla-aho [leader of the True Finns party] is an expert in Old East Slavic and Church Slavonic.

JP: So, do you see art and cross-border collaboration between artists as a weapon against populism?

AK: It would be really important if we could do it more, yes. To see how things are in other countries...these kinds of common train trips...for the people too! And for sure we left some kind of impression on people. The audiences were so big, and we read these short texts that we had translated for each other. I am sure at least some people got something out of it. But yes, I think it is really important that artists and others in the cultural sector would integrate across Europe, but I do not know how this would be done in practice. It is again a question of funding.

Interview carried out by Jyry Pasanen, with the support of Eurovisie Magazine. Also available to read here as part of the Eurovisie Europe Day Edition – available online (https://issuu.com/eurovisie/docs/eurovisie_-_may_edition)