Author on identity and resistance: “How loud should my scream be?”

taz: Mr. Halimi, what does home mean to you?

Aidin Halimi: For me, home is actually a place where there are people who mean something to me and whom I love. For me, this is less of a geographical or physical location and more connected to the people that surround me. Since I've been in Germany, I haven't been to Iran. But I'm sure that if I went back now, I would immediately feel at home with the people I interact with there.

Born in 1981, is an author, poetry slammer and comedian. He came to Germany from Iran at the age of 16.

taz: How did growing up in several societies shape you?

Halimi: I see it as a great privilege today. I had the opportunity to compare two cultures and cherry-pick from both. I learned that we have much more similarities than differences. Being stuck between two cultures or languages ​​also comes with its own rules. You first have to find your way around. It also takes a few years until you realize: Okay, maybe I'm neither German nor Iranian, maybe I'm both German and Iranian. This in-between world may be a new home.

taz: What role does language play for you?

Halimi: Just as I see my current life as a privilege, I also see it with language. This is closely linked to my biography. My native language, Persian, is very figurative and poetic. The German language is much more precise. I tried to bring them together and combine the strengths of both languages. As a result, I developed a kind of language of my own.

“The light in the wings”: Thursday, October 29th, 8 p.m., Kukoon, Buntentorsteinweg 29-31, Bremen; as part of the Global Literature Festival from October 26th. until 01.11.

taz: What influence did current protest movements in Iran have on your work?

Halimi: That didn't directly lead to me writing the book. Above all, it was my family history and my father's story that I wanted to tell. The book is very autobiographical. What the protest movements and the book have in common is that you keep fighting and don't give up, no matter what happens to you. I know that dealing with trauma can be very difficult, but what is more difficult is giving up.

taz: You still take up the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement again and again.

Halimi: The “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement particularly influenced me. Your youthful and progressive spirit makes me proud. It is a slogan that I fully support. I experienced what women have to go through in Iran. For me personally, this was the most important movement in recent years.

Halimi: For me, resistance begins in everyday life. Especially in an authoritarian system. This is very closely linked to courage. You first have to figure it out for yourself: How far do I want to go? How loud should my scream be? In my own circle in Iran, I have seen how women, for example, resisted and pushed the boundaries further and further. Ten years ago I couldn't have imagined that today many women could walk around on the street without headscarves or veils. But they fought for it. It was a long process, but in the end such changes are much more sustainable than if they were imposed from outside. Wars do not bring freedom.