OK, good people. I'm giving a talk on political novels/art. So questions:
Do you think political novel in general are bad, and if so, why?
What makes a novel political and another not?
Can art and politics be separated, and if so, should they be?
Hit me!
Conversation
Your second question is the one that immediately came to my mind after reading "Do you think political novel in general are bad, and if so, why?"; and I'm struggling a bit (more than that) with an answer to it.
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I have a few answers but I'm interested in finding out more. And just as important, it seems to me that writers are indoctrinated with the idea that politics has no place in lit, and I want to know why.
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Just a thought: Soviet propaganda inspired/shaped some of the greatest films in the history of cinema, from 'The Earth' to 'Battleship Potemkin' - all of them overtly political. But try and find a literary equivalent - impossible.
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But what are the great British novels if not British propaganda? American novels? They promote a way of life, a political system. We just don't see them as political because we're in them.
-- Off the top of my head: Moby Dick? Lolita? Two Serious Ladies? Sleepless Nights? Jesus' Son? These promote a way of life or a political system? I don't see it, unless you define 'political' to be so broad as to have no real meaning.
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