Read Emmanuel Idumas conversation with Maaza Mengiste: Mengiste: I think in those moments – especially the moments that were difficult for me to write, as well for the characters to go through – imagination becomes our saviour. Part of the research I did for Beneath the Lion’s Gaze involved reading the testimonies of people who had been interrogated. Many of them talked about times when their body simply couldn’t feel any more pain. The body shuts down and the mind takes over. They would talk about how difficult it was to conceive of what was happening, and that the mind gave them refuge — imagination stepped in. I wanted to develop a little bit of that in the book. Iduma: Hearing you talk about this place beyond the body, once the spirit is broken, is fascinating. I want to know where you think the logic of torture breaks down.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:50:38 +0000