Question for Writers

Quote by LYFBUZ
I pretty much agree with Weiwei. The politics can be subtle or not. For example; writing on an erotica site is an act of political rebellion in itself though thankfully less so each day and the degree of rebellion may be dependent on your geographical location. The content of your work may or may not be political in itself but chances are, somewhere on planet earth it will be deemed as such no matter how innocuous. I would think it near impossible to create art that is 100% neutral to all things political...could be content, your choice of tools/materials (e.g. petroleum based products vs natural), where it is displayed, did you accept a government funded grant or prize..the list goes on and on...

Quote by avrgblkgrl
Considering the current political climate and with ethical dilemmas constantly challenging us as individuals, I was wondering how you as a writer feel about the following quote.

To be an artist and to be political is the same thing.
-Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei #WritersLife #AmWriting

Quote by PervyStoryteller
I suppose it depends firstly on how you define politics, and the relationship of politics to the personal and to ethics and morality. Nevertheless, I offer these long-winded thoughts.

I incline to the view (it’s not my own idea, but I forget where I got it from), that artistic endeavour of all kinds (and in this I include entertainment) is a way for society to discuss itself. I think it’s quite clear that contrary to the belief of some, an interest in high art doesn’t necessarily make you a good person (the Nazis were pretty keen on high art) and liking low art doesn’t necessarily lead you to indulge in base and ignoble acts.

If this idea of art as a way for society to discuss itself stands, then yes, all art is political by virtue of its relationship to society. However, I do not believe that it necessarily follows that art should have an intentionally ethical dimension – that artists have any business telling us how to live. Art is an arena for discussion, not for decision-making.

The trouble is that the political has a habit of impinging on art (and on the personal), and may have a huge effect on the art being produced (if it gets produced at all). When art is regarded as a political act, it can have the effect of closing down discussion rather than opening it up. Any author who is not a hermit in a cave cannot help but be aware of the social and political context in which they’re writing, and must reflect on how their work might be received, whether they want to or not. And of course there’s no easy way of navigating the socio-political arena.

Most often you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t, particularly in a highly volatile, polarized atmosphere where people are more concerned with divining (and commending or condemning) an author’s political intent than with engaging with the text; using it as one of many perspectives on the muddle that is life. Art works best when it’s used for reflection, and the best artists are those who allow the recipient to reflect. What I think is to be avoided at all costs, unless you’re a satirist or extraordinarily gifted, is overt political writing, which all too often comes out as mere agitprop. If I wanted to be told what to think, I’d go to a political rally – or move to North Korea.

Erotic fiction as a genre of its own has its own in-built problematic. I think one of the reasons why religious and political authorities have always been nervous about sex is because lust creates its own morality. In this it always exists in some sense in opposition to power structures – this I think is one of the neglected facets of Orwell’s 1984.

This anxiety about sex has traditionally been dealt with by confining lust-morality exclusively to marriage, to the private sphere. And when the marriage ideal fails and lust-morality rears its head outside of marriage, the aim has still been to at least keep it invisible and private. You can see this at work if you study the trial of Oscar Wilde.

From this point of view, the position of erotic fiction is profoundly ambiguous. Publishing erotic stories is a potentially subversive political act, because in doing so, one has refused the idea that lust-morality must be kept in its “proper” private place. But at the same time, the erotic story is its own self-contained space, where lust-morality can be explored on its own terms, without necessarily being constrained by other forms of morality; in other words a private space that is simultaneously highly visible.

To me this idea of the erotic story as a self-contained space within which to explore lust-morality is often overlooked. It harks back to my contention that the function of works of art shouldn’t be to offer guiding principles for life. I think it’s a grave mistake to make analogies between erotic fiction and the wider public sphere. Erotic fiction tells us that the body wants what the body wants, regardless of whether society at large approves or disapproves, and regardless of what political opinions one may hold intellectually oneself.

Lust-morality is singularly useless as a platform for organizing a society, but at the same time the ethics of everyday life are often disconnected from what lust demands. If the two can be kept in their “proper” places, all is well, but the visibility of erotica pushes it into the public arena, the socio-political realm, where it is often discussed on terms that are not its own. So the author of erotic fiction is forced to take into account two separate moral codes that are not easily reconciled (if at all).

So the short answer, I suppose, might be that the artist cannot help but exist in a political space. Regardless of the artist’s intention, any work of art is open to political interpretation. Unfortunately such interpretation and discussion is often nowhere near as sophisticated as it might be, especially in today’s excessively polarized climate.

Quote by PervyStoryteller
I suppose it depends firstly on how you define politics, and the relationship of politics to the personal and to ethics and morality {snip}

Quote by avrgblkgrl
Considering the current political climate and with ethical dilemmas constantly challenging us as individuals, I was wondering how you as a writer feel about the following quote.

To be an artist and to be political is the same thing.
-Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei #WritersLife #AmWriting

Personally I don't write intentionally with an agenda. But with the emotionality of my characters and the "why"of it, I do at times tackle relevant issues that can be an indication of my personal politics. The fact that I always include racial diversity in my writing is an example. Not all writers of color do. I've been criticized for including interracial relationships. Or, I've been told that removing either would help me have more of a mainstream audience. So I agree with the quote.

Note: Please answer the question presented; this is not a forum to debate your actual political views.

Quote by Adagio
Is anyone have any problems submitting a story. I'm in frenzy.