Politics in Print: Analyzing the Political Spectrum through Literature

What is Politics? It is difficult to define ‘Politics’ as it is a loaded term and the definition varies from time to time. Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, said that Man is a political animal. Charles de Gaule defined Politics as ‘too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.’ Bismarck once told Reichstag, ‘Politics is not a science but an art. Politics is the art of government.’ Jacques Ranciere defined Politics as, ‘Politics is commonly viewed as the practice of power or the embodiment of collective wills and interests and the enactment of collective ideas.’1

The present anthology is divided into two sections comprising twenty-seven articles contributed by eminent scholars as well as young and enthusiastic researchers.  The first section deals with the impact of politics on Literature .The political context in Literature helps in understanding the effects of political events on the lives of characters. Understanding literature and society is an important issue writers address. We all know that art is not separate from society. Writers have been often using their pen to address or influence social change. Take for instance, Charles Dickens (1812-1870) wrote about the poor and the downtrodden in workhouses and prisons exposing the cruelty of the practices in the Victoria era in novels like Oliver Twist and Little Dorrit. Similarly Rabindranath Tagore’s (1861-1941) autobiography .Jiban Smriti (1911) and Nationalism (1917) combine political issues along with tracts of education and art. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) in his pamphlets Glimpses of Satyagraha in South Africa are works where art and politics merge, where art and politics coalesce.

Krati Sharma’s paper titled Political Narrative through the Lens of Autobiography: A Study of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s The Stories of my Experiments with Truth defines autobiographical writing and how Gandhiji believed that his life was a series of experiments that taught him important lessons about truth, non-violence and the pursuit of justice. The paper also helps us understand the personal and the political dimensions of Gandhiji’s life. Defying Destiny: The White Tiger’s Quest for Power by Ruchi Goyal showcases the social inequality prevalent in society. The paper addresses the complex issues surrounding social inequality and the divide between classes in contemporary India.

Sarveen Kaur Sachdeva in her paper titled The Role of Politics as Suppression in The Kite Runner looks at how the Afghans have suffered throughout their country’s history both at the hands of foreign invaders as well as members of their own people. The paper focuses on the stages of cultural resistance experienced by Amir, the primary character in the novel. Depicting Resistance through Life-Writing: A Critical Analysis of Shivani Gupta’s No Looking Back by Madhumita Kundu and Manish Shrivastava addresses Disability Life-Writing which has emerged as one of the prominent genres of critical attention. The paper also discusses how the protagonist chose to champion the cause of the disabled in society.

Shivani Sharma’s paper titled Political Trauma as the Core-Affecting Constituent in the works of Amy Tan explores the political aspects in three novels by Chinese-American author, Amy Tan. The paper addresses the generational conflict between Chinese born mothers and their American born daughters and how their togetherness is proved by overcoming the barriers of culture, geography and their ethnic identity. Pooja Joshi in Politicising the Hills: Indian Narratives of Cultural Resistance discusses the tenets of Resistance Literature. The paper explores how some North-East (India) writers like Temsula Aao, Easterine Kire etc.  Deconstruct the concept of power and how their works are a testimony to the different forms of cultural resistance.The Politics of Censorship in Children’s Literature by Dr. Susan Lobo states what dictates censorship in Children’s Literature. When it concerns children there is a continuous debate between opposing factions as to what is in the best interest of the children. Anuradha Nandkumar Ghodke’s paper titled Role of Language in the Shaping of Cultural Identity defines the importance of language and how language plays a pivotal role in shaping and moulding cultural identity. Deblina Bhattacharya in her paper titled The Political Implications in Speculative Fiction: Analysing the Role of Literature as a Tool of Political Critique defines and describes Speculative Fiction which is a super genre including science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism, utopian, dystopian as well as post-apocalyptic fiction. The paper further explores how a world outside of our own is described where it does not try to imitate real life. Srikant Ghaduri’s paper titled Narratives of Change: Exploring the Influence of Literature on Political Movements discusses how literature has been a powerful force in in shaping political movements and beliefs. It also analyses how the themes of injustice, inequality and liberation depicted in literary works resonate with the readers. Khushi Swami and Karan Swami in their paper titled The Role of Literature in the Re-Imagination of the Partition of India examine the outburst of literary works with regard to the cataclysmic Partition of India. History is just the record of Partition but how literature represents the violation, exploitation, humiliation etc. due to Partition is further discussed. In Power and Resistance in Narrative: A Critical Reading of the Epilogue in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Asima Walia discusses how women have been reduced to their biology in the future dystopian world. The paper also analyses the problem of power and resistance and whether resistance is possible for women. Clara Ijeoma Osuji’s paper titled Politics, Male-Power and Hegemony in Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People and Anthills of the Savannah examines the intersection of politics, male-power and hegemony in two later novels of Chinua Achebe. The paper is a re-reading of the two narratives from the angle of politics and how the political unrest in an African nation that only recently got its independence from political corruption and underdevelopment is examined here. In Historical Evolution of Libraries as Custodians of Literature, Suman Jain discusses how libraries have always remained repositories of knowledge since times immemorial, how they have stood as watchdogs of human civilization. How libraries underwent transformation in the different eras be it during the times of the Romans, the Europeans, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance etc. has been explored in the paper.