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Afgelast: Sign of the Times: Édouard Louis

Een gesprek over de scheidslijnen tussen elite en arbeidersklasse, tussen de oppositie en het establishment

in cooperation with
Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
language
English
programme editor
Sinds Édouard Louis in 2014 doorbrak met zijn autobiografische roman Weg met Eddy Bellegueule zwengelt hij discussies aan over klassenverschillen, racisme en homofobie. Aan de hand van theaterscènes gaan we met hem in gesprek over de scheidslijnen in de samenleving. Hoe blijf je als schrijver radicaal en onafhankelijk als de wereld je werk omarmt en op een voetstuk plaatst?

*** This programme is in English ***

This edition of our series Sign of the Times, in which De Balie and ITA combine debate and theater, features the influential young writer Édouard Louis. On the basis of stage scenes, we will speak with him about division between the elite and working class, between opposition and the establishment. As a writer, how can you stay radical and independent when the world embraces your work and places you on a pedestal?

At 27 years of age, Édouard Louis is a worldwide literary sensation. Since his breakthrough in 2014, when he published the autobiographical novel The End of Eddy (En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule), he is an important political voice in France. The book, about his experiences as a young homosexual in a crude, poor, and homophobic working-class family in northern France, starts discussions about class differences, racism, and homophobia. Louis is not afraid to take political standpoints: he supported the Yellow Vests movement (Mouvement des gilets jaunes) and voiced his opposition to Emmanuel Macron: “My book opposes who you are and what you do.”

Sign of the Times

In the event series Sign of the Times, De Balie and International Theater Amsterdam explore the social themes of today through theater and debate. We start a conversation, bring groups of people together and create space for multiple perspectives, even (or especially) when opinions differ. In previous editions, Femke Halsema and Thierry Baudet debating about identity, we spoke about the anger of the Catalans with Carles Puigdemont, and Kabel Daoud contributed to a discussion on colonial identity.

With i.a:

Édouard Louis
ITA-ensemble

Anyone who is a writer today must radically deal with the present

– Édouard Louis