tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429622050595420464.post7499135805621021534..comments2013-01-02T13:10:29.586+00:00Comments on Under the Influence: Writing and PoliticsEmma Pookahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00189624032449848082noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429622050595420464.post-661707069928083142010-04-08T01:15:05.586+01:002010-04-08T01:15:05.586+01:00Thanks for the comment - I entirely agree with you...Thanks for the comment - I entirely agree with your first point, but then my only problem with the original criticism is that it's stated in terms of how consistent the theme is with the writer's politics, rather than how inconsistent it is with the story.<br /><br />On the second point...What my characters <i>say and do</i> should reflect their own politics, certainly - no character should be a simplistic mouthpiece for the author. But it's still me who decides what will happen as a consequence of what they say and do, and how they will change because of this, and those are the most politically-charged decisions of any narrative. That's what I mean by stories reflecting the author's politics - I can leave the characters to draw their own conclusions on what to take away from their experiences, but in the end, I'm the one who decides what experiences they get to draw those conclusions from. I think the balance is probably in recognising that they might draw different conclusions than I would, and the readers may draw different ones again. Ambiguity isn't quite the same as neutrality. I suppose what the author does is leaves conclusions open to interpretation, but not so open that the story seems completely pointless. It's pinned down to a limited range of conclusions, and right in the middle of that range is the author's politics, but the readers and characters may fall a little way to either side.Emma Pookahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00189624032449848082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429622050595420464.post-60024522126922606832010-04-03T06:17:15.501+01:002010-04-03T06:17:15.501+01:00Great post. I agree that politically neutral fict...Great post. I agree that politically neutral fiction is unfeasible. However, I would add 2 caveats.<br /><br />The first thing, if someone accused me of writing something "just" because of my politics, I too would consider it a grave insult to my writing. But then, I would also double-check to make sure that whatever I wrote really is necessary for the story.<br /><br />The second thing was your rhetorical question at the end of your post. "Whose politics were you expecting it to reflect?" I would like to ignore it's rhetorical intent and answer it literally:<i>I was expecting it to reflect your character's politics</i><br /><br />I think in most places in a book, it's usually the focal character's politics that should be coming through. Granted, the Author's politics can(and should) still be found, but it should be in ways more subtle than a character's. An author can use things such as setting, plot outcome, and the consequences of the focal character's outcome to express their theme(or "politics" as you say).Dustinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03281139322075488545noreply@blogger.com