© Diana Matar
Juan Gabriel Vásquez was born in Bogotá in 1973, studied law in Colombia, and earned his doctorate in Latin American literature at the Sorbonne. He is considered one of the most important contemporary narrators in Latin America. His literary oeuvre, which includes a volume of essays, a biography of Joseph Conrad, two volumes of short stories, and five novels, has been published in 16 languages and has won several awards.
„I imagined him talking to the woman about that boy who wrote books and lived far away. I imagined him, at night, dreaming that the boy was his son, that his son was living far away and writing books. I imagined him fantasising about the possibility of lying, of telling that woman that the boy was really his son, and I imagined him feeling, during the brief moments of the lie, the illusion of happiness.”
Juan Gabriel Vásquez, „The Double“ in Songs for the Flames
In his seminar, Vásquez approaches the novel in the field of tension between history and fiction and questions its role against the background of post-truth discourses.
Further information can be found in the online course catalog of Freie Universität Berlin.
On May 11, Vásquez spoke with former Samuel Fischer Guest Professor Alberto Manguel at Freie Universität Berlin about the place of fiction in an evolving society.
Política de la ficción
Juan Gabriel Vásquez in conversation with Rike Bolte. Talk in Spanish with German Translation.
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