Everyday Canvas

Writers and Activism

Prompt: Can writing aspire to be a form of activism? Do you think authors and poets have a duty to address political, economic, and social issues?

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Writing can aspire to be whatever the writer wants it to be. As far as activism goes, definitely many an author in the past and present have taken activist stances. Off the top of my head, I can think of James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and Maya Angelou. During the Ancient Roman and Greek eras, quite a few authors were activists for their specific causes. Plutarch, for example, was a priest of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi and was concerned about ethics, religion, and politics of his day. Earlier than Plutarch, Aristophanes poked fun at the leaders, politics, and way of life or the Greek citizens. All these authors are or have been writers first and activists second.

Sometimes, a writer who doesn’t want to mess with activism can be pushed into activism either by the calling of his conscience or through the influence of his countrymen. Writers automatically address the issues of their times, with or without intending to; however, I don’t think any writer has to do so and doesn’t have a duty to do so. Each writer has the freedom of personal choice, and even if the activists of his day would want to influence him, he doesn’t have to do what they want him to do if that doesn’t suit his wishes.

Having said all that, the reason the Nobel Prize is--in my opinion—lower than other literary prizes is because it seems to award the activist-authors worldwide, turning itself into a political machine. The authors chosen to receive this prize are good authors, and I don’t mean to belittle any one of them, but the primary consideration of the Nobel Prize committee has been distorted toward activists and political ideas, especially during the latest couple of decades. I believe, any award for writers and poets should be based on the author’s art, in its totality.