Literature & Democracy - The Writer's Perspective

Literature is the arena through which I first became an articulate participant in the affairs of the world. I wrote, and became part of public discourse.  And then there is the notion that literature is, in many ways, a potentially perfect form of democracy, in which all ideas and possibilities are open for debate, and that it allows for ideas to be created, without being hindered at the very outset, by practicality.

The written word, like any other form of art, allows an immense freedom and opportunity to the artist, transcending all boundaries of age, class, colour and faith, to have a message heard and a perspective understood. And it is therefore, one of democracy’s most necessary and significant pillars.

There are some in every generation who fight their wars in ink. And it makes the arena of war more democratic. When I wrote my book, Wish Upon a Time, it was never purely intended to be an adventure fantasy for the young adult audience. It was always going to be embedded in the world from which it emerged – the world of the young adult faced with a horrific kind of violence against which she has no legal, coercive instrument.

It could not just have been about a treasure hunt, or superheroes. It had to reflect the way young people yearn to take it upon themselves to fight the worst crimes their world is subjected to – and therefore the antagonists of Wish Upon a Time became terrorists, criminal politicians, and the demon of violent ideology.

It was the platform I had, as a young citizen of the world, to put forth what I thought about injustice and political violence, and more importantly, that world peace to me, meant the equal freedom of people, to express themselves diversely, in non-violent ways.

Literature about democracy, literature as a component of democracy, literature as an arena of democracy and literature as an instrument of the advocacy of democracy, are all the different kinds of relationships that exist and endure between the written word and participatory polity.

Whether it was against colonialism in India and other former subjects of Imperialism, protests against discrimination, slavery, racism, and exclusion in societies around the world, revolutionary notions of the equality of all human beings, philosophical fiction against tyranny, ideas of feminism, socialism, the free market, civil rights, multiculturalism, and the freedom of expression itself, literature has been the mirror to society. It is in being read as a story that people are able to see themselves outside of their lives – and though literature is never neutral, it is a narrative, about real life and the way real life is perceived by different kinds of people and writers, even when this reality is hidden behind symbols, chimeras and parallel worlds.

Entire cultures are empowered through the development and emancipation of their unique literatures, and civilizations are brought together seamlessly when shared ideas resonate between novellas and poems across the borders of identity.

Breaking away from the canons of tradition has been a way towards freedom and personal identity for writers in every epoch of history. And often it is the resurrection of these very canons that grant power to communities to become part of a democratic cultural world.

Narratives not only furnish the opportunity to attempt answering questions about ideals, more importantly, here is the chance to ask the right questions. A character in my book, for instance, is asked if she has any right to be hero seeing how her conception of what is ‘good’ and ‘right’ can be very different from that of many others. As a writer with an idea of my own, I make her an advocate of the freedom to choose, not an advocate of a particular kind of good.

Literature lays out the language of the discourse more clearly than any other form. And it is important for democracy to not only know what is being said, but also how it is being said. The words and phrases and concepts used to articulate conflict and peace are not neutral, but these are the way in which individuals, groups and states communicate. Literature provides the democratic arena to re-examine the very language in which inclusion and representation is presented.

Literature enhances the democratic process by being a carrier of knowledge. Not merely the knowledge of things, but of varied conscience and opinion. It is the carrier of perspective, across political and chronological borders.

For the young in society, literature is one of the ways in which they can conceptualize the nature of democracy, and a way in which they exercise democracy, even before they are old enough to cast a vote.

I write, and am instantaneously made part of the structure of discourse. A writer is an audible representative of some interest – the same way in which a politician is. The writer is a political representative, without meaning to be one. The writer does not only participate in democracy as a citizen and an interest. The writer is one of the political manifestations of democracy – with a message that reaches out to millions, a perspective that becomes part of public discourse and a platform from which citizens reap opinion.

Literature, therefore, has not only a function in democracy, but is an avenue for movements to be waged and the most fundamental questions to be raised.

Ultimately, democracy is not just about representation, the same way literature is not just about creativity. Both are equally and profoundly about being aware and translating awareness into a reality that is more desirable than what was and what has been.

In literature lies the power of revolution – because in it are worlds without limits, possibilities that can be measured outside the constraints of the real world. Every idea is open for debate in an imagined world. And to me, in this is the power of the platform. To be able to use stories to tell tales of ideas and structures. To express an unspoken grievance. To throw up for deliberation, radical and different notions that challenge conservative and deeply embedded systems of society. And the acceptability of the improbable, even if it is momentary and fictional – everything must begin somewhere. And so, the last function of literature – as being itself a potentially perfect form of real and direct democracy.