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cover of episode The Writer Katie Kitamura on Autonomy, Interpretation, and “Audition”

The Writer Katie Kitamura on Autonomy, Interpretation, and “Audition”

2025/4/8
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The New Yorker Radio Hour
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Katie Kitamura: 我想让“解读”成为这部小说的中心，甚至比我上一部小说更甚，因为我希望读者也能积极地参与到解读中。我对那些说别人话语的女性角色特别感兴趣，也对被动性感兴趣。在创意写作课上，如果学生们觉得一个角色缺乏自主性，这通常会被视为对角色的批评。他们会说，‘她没有任何自主性’，好像一个没有自主性的角色是不可信的或在叙事上缺乏吸引力。但当然，现实是我们很少有人拥有完全的自主性。我认为我们生活在一种幻觉中，或者认为我们拥有很大的自主性。但实际上，当你审视自己的生活时，我们的选择是非常受限制的。因此，我对描绘那些可能比其他人更能理解这种被动性，并努力应对其含义的角色感兴趣。

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The novel "Audition" centers on a middle-aged actress and her undefined relationship with a younger man. The ambiguity in their dynamic is intentional, forcing readers to interpret their interactions, much like the main character's exploration of her own agency. Kitamura discusses the common misconception that characters must possess total agency to be compelling, contrasting it with the reality of limited choices in life.
  • Ambiguity in the relationship between the main character and the younger man
  • Focus on interpretation by both readers and characters
  • Discussion of agency and passivity in female characters
  • Real-life limitations on choices and the illusion of agency

Shownotes Transcript

Katie Kitamura’s fifth novel is “Audition,” and it focusses on a middle-aged actress and her ambiguous relationship with a much younger man. Kitamura tells the critic Jennifer Wilson) that she thought for a long time about an actress as protagonist, as a way to highlight the roles women play, and to provoke questions about agency. “I teach creative writing, and in class often ... if there is a character who the group feels doesn't have agency, that is often brought up as a criticism of the character,” she tells Wilson. Other students will say, “ ‘She doesn't have any agency,’ as if a character without agency is implausible or in some way not compelling in narrative terms. But of course, the reality is very few of us have total agency. I think we operate under the illusion or the impression that we have a great deal of agency. But in reality when you look at your life, our choices are quite constricted.” 

“Audition” comes out this week.