SOURCE: An interview with Marguerite Duras, translated by Katherine Ann Jensen, in Shifting Scenes: Interviews on Women, Writing, and Politics in Post-68 France, edited by Alice A. Jardine and Anne M. Menke, Columbia University Press, 1991, pp. 71-8.

In the following interview, Duras remarks on feminism and how the response to her work has differed in France and the United States.

[Jardine:] Question 1: What does it mean to you to write at the end of the twentieth century?

[Duras:] Writing … I've never asked myself to be aware of what time period I was living in. I have asked myself this question in relation to my child and his future activities, or in wondering what would become of the working class—you see, in relation to political considerations or issues. But not as concerns writing. I believe writing is beyond all … contingency.

Question 2: Is it valid/of value to write...