IN DJ BambiIn the new novel by Icelandic writer Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, we meet a heroine who has long hidden her true identity. To discover!
In Iceland, transgender women do not roam the streets. In fact, there are so few of them that on average only two gender reassignment surgeries are performed each year… provided that a specialist from the continent agrees to come to Reykjavik.
“The result could be a waiting list,” adds Icelandic writer Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir, in perfect French. Therefore, a woman who has waited a long time to come out and is now over sixty will not necessarily be a priority.”
This non-priority woman is Loughn, 61 years old.
Heroine DJ Bambia new novel from the one who also gave us Pink Candida etc. Miss Islandin fact, she waited six years for the phone call from the hospital that finally told her she could have surgery on her lower body.
In fact, Loughn realized at a very young age that she was born in the wrong body. But not everyone is ready to accept this state of affairs – starting with most of her own family – she chose to remain silent for decades and blend in with the crowd, learning to behave like a man in order to be accepted.
She even went so far as to become a husband and then a father. Except that one day she couldn't continue to act like that anymore, being something she wasn't.
At the beginning of the novel, Loughn is on the verge of suicide. However, a small, very small detail keeps her from acting: she refuses to die and be buried in a man's body!
Woman in the wind
“DJ Bambi “This is a novel about the body, but also about female identity, because I have always believed that femininity and its many faces are given very little space in the media,” explains Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. A former DJ turned scientist specializing in cell and tissue analysis, Loughn dreams of becoming a completely ordinary woman. In other words, she dreams of being invisible, like the vast majority of women her age. And that's what I found interesting. I wanted to write about an elderly woman. I’ve written quite a bit about young people before, but I’ve never written about people my age before.”
In Icelandic, logn means complete absence of wind, complete silence of the air.
“We really like this word because on a windy island like ours, it’s Icelanders’ favorite weather,” says Áudur Ava Ólafsdóttir.
Even if it is a temporary name – the flesh-and-blood Logn would prefer to be called Gudridur, like her grandmother – it fits very well with the profile and aspirations of the person who bears it: not to make waves and remain unnoticed, carefully observing the world around her.
Loughn has already had breast augmentation surgery, and since she started taking female hormones and male hormone blockers, her sensitivity has increased significantly. So yes, she is more sentimental and more emotional now. But his observations are also more detailed, and his view of the world more accurate.
Room for variety
During his slow transition, Loughn will recount every interaction, every detail of his daily life. And often she will do this touchingly, refraining, however, from falling into pathos. This is the strength of the novel: at times, a difficult topic is treated with endless delicacy, without ever falling into melodrama.
“At first, I didn’t know if I had the right to write these kinds of stories without being a trans woman myself,” says Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir. So before I sent the manuscript to my editor, I asked a transgender friend to read it. She loved very much and cried a lot. The issue of transformation is addressed, but I am not limited to the transgender experience, and the book also deals with many other topics such as nature, family, a couple being separated, memory, new beginnings, rebirth… So, there is a lot going on with people who are not transgender! I've tried to be kind about all this, but I think it's important for literature to address diversity. It's important to include all kinds of characters. I don't understand people who have a problem with this, so if I can use this book to get those people to think differently, I'll be happy. As I've gotten older, I've realized that you don't always have to have a strong opinion about everything…”
Zulma Editions
DJ Bambi
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Éditions Zulma, 208 pages
