Siri Hustvedt Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Interview

Siri Hustvedt discusses the role of gender perception and feminism in relation to her novel, The Blazing World.

How did you come up with the idea for this novel?

I have been immersed in questions about human perception for a long time, including how works of art are received in the culture. Pseudonyms have also been a longstanding interest of mine, especially Søren Kierkegaard's use of them in his work. By adopting various pseudonyms, the philosopher explored points of view he didn't necessarily share but which nevertheless fascinated him. I knew I wanted to write a story about a woman artist who hides behind three male masks, but it was Harry herself who became the burning catalyst for the book. Once I began to hear her voice, see her, and feel her, I found the heart of the novel. And yet, I did not want the book to belong only to Harry. She is an explosive character, and her view had to be tempered and framed by other perspectives. I knew that an unstable, polyphonic form was the only one that could embody the book's themes as a whole.

While this is a work of fiction, you present it as a true collection of writings on the subject. Why did you decide to present the story in this form?

Journals, diaries, letters, published texts, and art works can survive the person who made them. Once the author/artist is dead, "...