Writers Role in Society and Protest Literature - Term Paper Example

Freedom, the individual, Writer’s Role in Society and Protest Literature A writer is actually the intellectual leader of a social establishment, who draws out colorful depiction of the norms, values, mores, traditions, cult, customs and conventions prevailing in the culture of his contemporary society through the magic of his words in the form of poesy or prose or both in order to highlight the cultural traits of society on the one hand, and chaos, disorder, evil and perversions prevailing in society on the other. Hence, it is writer, who serves as the guiding star for his nation’s journey towards the political, social, religious, economic and cultural uplift, progress, prosperity and development at individual and collective scales by applauding righteous deeds and criticizing the wrong policies, schemes and strategies for the benefit of his community and nation. By analyzing the history of the world at large, it becomes crystal clear that the writers and philosophers have played pivotal role in the awakening of their nation from the deep sleep of ignorance and unawareness, by infusing the sheer yearning for winning freedom, equality, justice, liberty, truthfulness and prestige by breaking the shackles of exploitation, slavery and discriminative behavior inflicted upon the weak and deprived individuals by the powerful stratum of society. Thus, all the evolutions and revolutions, freedom movements and demonstrations for the achievements of human rights, and from the removal of dictatorship and the elimination of gender, racial, ethnic, religious and sexual discrimination, are directly and indirectly dependent of the valuable and precious jewels produced by the mighty pens of the freedom-loving, nationalist and humanist writers, which wide open the horizons of social and natural phenomena before the masses by dint of their innate talent and gifted abilities. Had there been no Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire in eighteenth century France, there could have taken place no astonishing revolution worthy of the exemplary French Revolution of 1789. Similarly, it were the alluring verses created by John Milton which filled spark in the minds of the British masses in respect of creating religious and spiritual awareness in them. Furthermore, Marx’s splendid work under the title Das Capitale showed the proletariat new ray of hope and urged them to strive against the social injustice, and also paved the way towards the establishment of socialist societies and governments even in different parts of the globe at large. The revolutionary and enlightened writers, thinkers and philosophers refute to bow before any authority that had its foundations on the nefarious designs of despotism, cruelty, social injustice and inequality. Medieval and classical writers including Descartes, Machiavelli, Kant, Hobbes, Marx, Hegel, Locke, Voltaire, Nietzsche, Rousseau, Mill, Strauss and others had great contributions in respect of illuminating the world by their valuable works, thought-provoking ideas, magnificent intellect and remarkable foresight. All these philosophers and thinkers have focused their attention on human liberty, freedom and equality, and strived for individual respect and equal chances of growth for all members of a society. Though every writer has not been blessed with the same talent; nor do the works of all the writers leave indelible impact on the very minds and actions of the masses at large. On the contrary, there appears to be a small proportion of the literary persons, who establish high goals and invite revolutionary changes in society for the collective welfare of their community members, tribes, race and nation. These dauntless writers stick to the noble principles and golden rules of morality, justice and equality, and dedicate their energies, time and concentration to the nation building activities, during which they have to undergo the unpleasant trials and severe opposition from the exploiters and traitors of society. However, their feet never waver or tremble in the face of hardships, and they successfully offer sacrifices of wealth, comforts and life even, just for the implementation of these noble principle of equality and fair play within society, where the people could obtain equal chances and opportunities of growth and development. Since these patriotic, dedicated, committed, loyal and revolutionary writers produce various pieces of literature as a protest against the prevailing social malpractices, inequalities and exploitations, their works and writings are taken as the protest literature. Protest literature is actually the poetry and prose work created by the authors for the protection of human rights on the one hand, and for raising protest against the injustices being committed by the haves upon the haves-not within a social set up. Moreover, protest literature claims facilities and privileges on equal foundations for all existing communities, races or genders, and subsequently demands for the same treatment of all socioeconomic groups, through writing. Such type of literature is sometimes produced for the members of one specific gender, age-group, race, ethnicity or religion; and many a times the protest literature represents the entire nation in general. It is therefore the pieces of literature, produced by the African American authors, in memory of their actual motherland, comes under the definition of Harlem Movement representing the protest literature of the USA. Protest literature is the reaction of cruelties and treacheries applied by the powerful on the weak. Actually exploitation and social injustices prevail everywhere in the world; it is therefore celebrated French writer and philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau had commented on his book Social Contract that: “Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains.” (1762: 1) By this very statement, he simply indicates the injustices, inequalities and bounds humans have to face during the course of their life. Hence, he stands for the preservation and implication of the human rights, which portray the need, popularity and universality of human rights. There was a time when the African Americans used to be treated like animals. They were captured by the Europeans and were brought as captives far from their motherland. The members of their unfortunate families spent their entire life in wait of their freedom and subsequent return, but of no avail. These Black individuals were sold in Europe and America, and their masters kept them in shackles. Since serfdom prevailed in all parts of the world from sixteenth to the first half of twentieth century, every type of cruelty was regarded as fair on these Black slaves. In Russia, the slaves were not allowed to marry the person of their choice even. (Mahajan, 2002: 531) The Black population led a very miserable and pathetic life from 16th century onward. However, they were able to seek little education in 19th century. Consequently, they started creating literary pieces in different genres, topic of which used to be almost one and the same, i.e. the utmost desire of returning to their homeland Africa. By going through the literary pieces produced by the African Americans, it looks crystal clear that racial and ethnic hatred and discrimination had been the order of the day for several decades in the western societies, where the women and African blacks were looked down upon. Women and the blacks had to make a long and exhaustive struggle to win their freedom and rights on equal foundations. They produced protest literature, organized demonstrations and articulated social movements for the protection of their rights. The literature produced by the African American writers and poets, gave birth to the famous Harlem Renaissance Movement. The motive behind these writers was not mere expressing of their grief; rather, the aims of such writing material appeared as receiving additional gains out of the so-called miseries their previous generations suffered for decades. During nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the White Anglo Saxon Population (WASP) was reluctant to accept the equal status for Blacks at all. The writers played the most significant role in this regards. The distinguished writers including Malcolm X, Margaret Drabble, Toni Morrison, Betty Friedan and others performed their ethical obligations by producing outstanding protest literature in the wake of discrimination being exercised upon them by the dominating white racial group. The literature was also produced during the Modern Age to depict the discriminative behavior on the basis of gender. Hence, feminist perspective came into being that demanded equal rights as individuals of society as well as freedom from men’s domination in their individual and collective life. The theory is based on the views of renowned Marxist feminist human right activist Shulamit Reinharz, where she looks for bringing positive social change in society by representing human diversity and revealing the fact that Feminism is a perspective like structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism and Marxist conflict perspective. Though famous social activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton had presented the case of observing of equal status for women in her address at the eve of Declaration of Sentiments (1848) in New York, the radical feminist movement started during the first quarter of twentieth century with the assumption that the sexes are adversarially poised, that men have power over women, and that society and its various social relationships can be best understood in terms of their relationship to that situation (Eisenstein, 1983). Twentieth century feminist writers including Virginia Woolf, Mev Miller, Betty Friedan, Margaret Drabble, Dorothy Alison and others maintain valuable contributions in respect of producing remarkable pieces of protest literature. New classic approach is also one of the most influential theories of modern times. It was the movement that started in the late 1920s and 1930s and originated in reaction to traditional criticism. Drabble has portrayed the contemporary world and society especially in her famous The Ice Age (1976), in which she has narrated the significant role played by women within the changing scenario of modern society. Dorothy Alison, the victim of six-year long rape at the hands of her stepfather from the innocent age of 5 years only to 11 years, has also produced magnificent literary pieces including Survival (2005) and others, which reflect the abhorrence of the author for the sexual and physical exploitation of females at the hands of male exploiters. The Indian human rights activist and feminist of contemporary era, Arundhati Roy has also earned great respect and fame by producing distinguished pieces of protest literature. The remarkable works created by this courageous young lady of south Asia depicts the beginning of change even in the most backward and male oriented societies of the world. Roy vehemently condemns the western ways of democratic governments, which are mere exploiting the third world countries in the name of equality. Modern democracies have been around for long enough for neo-liberal capitalists to learn how to subvert them. They have mastered the technique of infiltrating the instruments of democracy-the “independent” judiciary, the “free” press, the parliament-and molding them to their purpose. (Roy, 3) To Roy, the contemporary western democratic system serves as a snare to entrap the culture and civilization of the poor developing states of Asia and Africa, so that the western powers could find the markets for their finished goods in these regions of the world. Additionally, their stress upon the observing of political, social and judicial systems of the west are meant to enforce the western cultural traits on these countries for the economic and technological expansion of European products. The inclusion of western culture and politics is really challenging for the freedom of the independent states. It is important to remember that our freedoms, such as they are, were never given to us by any government, they have been wrested by us. If we do not use them, if we do not test them from time to time, they atrophy. If we do not guard them constantly, they will be taken away from us. If we do not demand more and more, we will be left with less and less. (Roy, 17) Roy also laments over the pathetic condition of the Indian women, who have been the prey to the male exploitation since the known history of India, and looks for their stand against the domination of males. Roy has also raised her voice against the cruelties committed by the Indian army in the Indian occupied Kashmir. Moreover, she also stands for the cause of the Indian Muslims, who are being murdered and tortured at the hands of extremist Hindus. Roy also protests the violation of human rights in the Israeli prisons, where the poor Palestinian men and women are leading the pathetic and wretched life under the domination of ruthless Israelis. The Russian protest writer and novelist of contemporary era Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has also expressed the similar views in his “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by condemning the infliction of punishments and confinements upon the political rivals and opponents. Solzhenitsyn’s novel draws out the miserable state of affairs Ivan Denisovich Shukhov experiences during his confinement in the Russian prison. His imprisonment was based on the allegation of spying for Germany during WWII. However, his anti-Stalinist views dragged him behind the bar for several years. The author records his strong protest against the severe judicial trials of the political opponents, which is strictly against the democratic principles and human rights as well. Solzhenitsyn had to bear the brunt of raising voice in favor of human rights. Consequently, he had to spend many years in exile for writing such a piece of protest literature in favor of the political rival of Soviet Russia. The author has pointed out towards the most ignored aspect of life, where the political rivals become the direct victim of the hatred of the powerful rival authorities. Consequently, they have to spend precious years of their life in imprisonment that turns their life gloomy, non-productive and futile. The same opinion has been elaborated by Roy while portraying the obnoxious picture of third world countries of the world. Roy is of the opinion that weak fabrics of Indian social establishment are responsible for crushing the justice in the name of abiding of so called statutes of law, which are introduced and implemented just for crushing the political opponents. To conclude, it becomes evident that the writers acting upon the very advice made by their conscience are the intellectual leaders of society, and play decisive role in determining and deciding the war against the exploitation and discrimination. Protest literature is always created against the prevailing discriminative behavior towards minority and weak strata at the hands of the majority and powerful groups. However, contemporary era has witnessed the end of such exploitation in the aftermath of civil rights movements launched and organized by the human rights activists in the wake of revolutionary writings created by the true and patriotic writers. The Marxist, feminist and anti-racial discrimination movements of modern age are examples of such imperative alterations being made by the people in all parts of the globe in general. Works Cited Allison, Dorothy. “Survival is Least of My Desires”. An Extract from “Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature”. Firebrand Books 2005 Eisenstein, H. “Radical Feminism, Humanism and Women's Studies”. Volume 14 1983 Mahajan, V. D. “History of Modern Europe since 1789” S. Chand & Company New Delhi 2002 531 Rousseau, Jean Jacques “The Social Contract” 1762 Retrieved from http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/economics/rousseau/social-contract/index.htm Roy, Arundhati “The Ordinary Persons Guide to Empire” South End Press 2004 Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” Read More