"Allotment holders? Pigeon fanciers? Give me a break, please!"

Feridun Zaimoglu’s new novel „Ruß“ is a melange of a social and a crime story. His hero, Renz, a disillusioned kiosk owner, only finds back to life when starting to investigate the murder of his wife. His hunt takes him to Warsaw and to the Austrian Alps – but the actual „main character“ of “Ruß” is the Ruhr area, or to be more exactly: Duisburg-Ruhrort. Marcus Römer interviewed the 46-year old writer.

Feridun Zaimoglus new novel „Ruß“ is a melange of a social and a crome story.

Feridun Zaimoglu: A very good one. I’ve been there very often within the last 17, 18 years, mostly as the result of invitations to readings. I have many acquaintances in the area and have stayed for longer periods now and then. And my sister worked at a children’s theatre in Dortmund for four years.

What would you consider a characteristic feature of the Ruhr, compared to other regions, or – if you want to put it like that – metropolises?

Zaimoglu: First, the cities are very close to each other. You drive through Mülheim – and without even noticing it, suddenly you’re in Duisburg. I like that very much.

Do you think there is a special „breed“ of people in the Ruhr area?

Zaimoglu: Definitely. But please don’t tell me anything about allotment holders or pigeon fanciers – those are nothing but stupid clichés. And don’t tell me about this “rough outside, soft inside” thing either. People here are no do-gooders, but many of them care for good manners, for some etiquette. And they have this culture of taunting, which I like very much. And they don’t like bragging. Plus, the women here are real women, not girls. I also noticed a certain pride, a dignity of the former workers.

Have you done any field research for „Ruß“?

Zaimoglu: Yes. I was out and about in Duisburg for weeks, walking mile after mile. I’m a man of details. Sometimes, I sat for hours in cafés, pastry shops, or pubs. And if you’re not behaving too stupid, you get tot talk with people. I’m a well-informed tourist.

Feridun Zaimoglu (c) Bettina Fürst-Fastré

A big part of your new novel is set in Duisburg-Ruhrort. Why, of all cities, there?

Zaimoglu: Essen was a no-go, Bochum’s too nice. That is related to the programmatic misjudgement which wants to disguise an actual landscape of ruins as industrial culture. I wanted a location which still works a bit like in the past, in which you still can see the traces of a formerly thriving industry, or in which the traditional blue collar industry is still existing.

Be that as it may, the language of your characters – apart from Renz who is actually a smart man - reminds me strongly of the cliché image of the Ruhr worker. I, for instance, don’t know anybody who says things like: „Die Schippe hatse uns allen vorgezeigt, dann hat sie was von gesprochen, dass sie wullacken muss wie blöd.“ („She showed us the shovel, and said she had to work madly“ – in German, the sentence is written in the typical Ruhr idiom.) But maybe it’s just me...

Zaimoglu: That’s right, in this case, I have used the language cliché. Of course, that is an artificial language. It was all about a bizarre exaggeration which was meant to produce a recognition effect. But basically, I’m interested in the intonation.

Did you consider writing a novel with the Ruhr as its setting for a longer time?

Zaimoglu: On the one hand, yes, but the creative history of „Ruß“ is another one. Once, I told a friend what I’d do to a child murderer – I said some really tough things. So, there was this idea of revenge as a starting point. Then, the Renz character turned up. I’m like a method actor concerning these things – I became Renz, dressed like him. I’m like a dog which roams the field and comes back with burweed and straw in his fur. Finally, my idea of the Ruhr setting occurred again – the result was a perfect match.

When you became Renz – did you take off all of your rings?

Zaimoglu: Yes, and also the necklaces. But now, I’m wearing all of my jewellery again. When I’m writing a novel, I have bad dreams, and I lose about 6 or 7 kilograms of weight each time.