Amélie Nothomb talks about mythology
Amélie Nothomb is well known in the literary world but has exchanged her pen for a microphone to talk to us about mythology. Co-written with Laureline Amanieux, this 11-episode series is a fascinating journey through different traditions, including Japanese (Amélie's country of birth), Greek, Latin and Scandinavian.
"La divine comédie d'Amélie Nothomb" is available on the Audible audio book platform. The first episode of the documentary explores the theme of the descent into Hades in the adventures of Orpheus, Dante's "Divine Comedy" and the works of Rodin. The basic principle is respected from the start, namely to discover mythological themes and characters through different arts, in particular tales and legends, music, painting and plastic arts.
The best-selling novelist says she has always preferred radio to television. She is certainly not the only one, because in radio, the listener is inspired to imagine for themselves what they hear, whereas television imposes a predetermined vision. As for mythology, it has always permeated Amélie's life since her childhood, "Japanese mythologies from my early childhood, the Catholic religion in which I was brought up, the Greco-Latin myths I learned in my early teens, and those I learned later," she confides. This documentary can thus be considered a happy encounter.