ALL literature is political. Every poem, every story, every articulation of a sentence is political, not in the sense of Democrat vs. Republican, Socialist vs. Capitalist, but in the sense that words create meanings and meanings are politically determined. Loved this discussion. Ver interesting. RT
A follow-up note from Paula, regarding some of what we discussed in the video:
"I was thinking some more about the question, how do you write about politics without writing a diatribe/rant? And I wish I’d added, when you write about an emotional response or experience, start by describing what happened that led to that feeling. I find that if the writer slows down and describes the specifics of a scene or situation, the emotion of it will be conveyed without the emotions themselves being literally described or “over-verbalized” in a way that distances the reader.
That’s what I was getting at when I talked about “feeling language” being distancing, b/c telling the reader how to feel never works very well. But I would have liked to add that piece of advice, that i forgot in the moment…
I appreciate the opportunity to talk about ST; I hope that helps writers and artists to get a better sense of the journal and what we’re looking for. Thank you again!"
ALL literature is political. Every poem, every story, every articulation of a sentence is political, not in the sense of Democrat vs. Republican, Socialist vs. Capitalist, but in the sense that words create meanings and meanings are politically determined. Loved this discussion. Ver interesting. RT
A follow-up note from Paula, regarding some of what we discussed in the video:
"I was thinking some more about the question, how do you write about politics without writing a diatribe/rant? And I wish I’d added, when you write about an emotional response or experience, start by describing what happened that led to that feeling. I find that if the writer slows down and describes the specifics of a scene or situation, the emotion of it will be conveyed without the emotions themselves being literally described or “over-verbalized” in a way that distances the reader.
That’s what I was getting at when I talked about “feeling language” being distancing, b/c telling the reader how to feel never works very well. But I would have liked to add that piece of advice, that i forgot in the moment…
I appreciate the opportunity to talk about ST; I hope that helps writers and artists to get a better sense of the journal and what we’re looking for. Thank you again!"