Women of words eye space to tell stories that matter

The theme of the ongoing EU-China literary festival is women.

Dozens of female writers and poets across Europe and China are appearing online for the sixth edition (Nov 27-Dec 19) to discuss their craft and inspiration through sessions that cover literature, poetry, identity and so on. The event is being hosted by the Delegation of the European Union to China.

Is the space for women's writing growing or shrinking? I asked the question to two prominent participants from Portugal and China.

Portuguese author Lidia Jorge, a literary figure in Europe, said attention to the narrative of women's lives and views of the world is growing on her continent, where the silence (of women's voices) was broken after World War II.

"Remember that the most famous narrative about what the terror of that war was in Europe came from the hand of a girl named Anne Frank. She is a symbol that has educated and moved millions of girls."

Jorge said European women today have a showcase for their stories, and their space has not shrunk. "But this positive outlook is not homogeneous. Even in the European space, there are regions, still strongly patriarchal, in which women are left behind and not encouraged to find their own expression."

Many female writers have emerged in Portugal since the 1980s. She attributed it to rising educational and academic levels, and better legal provisions.

Jorge is considered a representative writer of her country's "post-revolution (1974) generation".

Referring to the larger world, she said, women have difficulty finding their own voice "where there is war, poverty, totalitarianism, paternalism, archaic laws and the lack of education for women".

Their voice is important, she said, not only because it gives them autonomy, value and the possibility to create fantasy and beauty, but they change society as a whole by contiguity.

Veteran Chinese author Xu Xiaobin, whose novel Feathered Serpent is a story spanning five generations of women, said the space for women's writing is not uniform. The space for some is becoming narrow, with writing styles and subjects getting limited. "But in the small space, it might not necessarily be hard to write, and it is possible to develop the story of the small space into something extremely artistic."

She said the space of some others is growing.

"But whether it is shrinking or expanding, basic narrative skills are required."

Xu said current trends in storytelling are diverse.

The festival seeks to show the audience the value of women's writing－long ignored and only gradually recognized over the past century, according to the organizers.

Continuing with my question, Jorge said the economic and civilizational levels of a country are understood through women's writing.

"If women do not have a written voice, it means they are not literate. If women still only talk about their life at home, and their relationship with food, clothing and the neighborhood, this means they have not yet become autonomous. But if women write about themselves as part of society, and write fables about changing the world, and express concern about the future, and create mythologies that concern humanity and history, then women of that culture show they are educated, autonomous and free."

In this asymmetrical world, that is also true of people's cultural lives and the quality of the stories women write, she said.

"I hope that soon nowhere on Earth will exist a place where the space for women's stories is shrinking. That would be a magnificent sign."

At the event's launch I heard a question from a writers association about the difficulties women face when writing about things that transcend gender. It's something to ponder.

Let's take celebrated Canadian author Margaret Atwood's 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale as an example. Some view it as a feminist story. But the book is as much a comment on politics and society as it is on gender hostility. Its relevance is both universal and lasting.