Does Fiction Have The Power To Sway Politics?
Does Fiction Have The Power To Sway Politicsbymohsin Hamidandfranc
Does Fiction Have the Power to Sway Politics? By Mohsin Hamid and Francine Prose · Feb. 17, 2015 (New York Times) Each week in Bookends, two writers take on questions about the world of books. This week, Mohsin Hamid and Francine Prose debate literature’s influence on politics. By Mohsin Hamid Fiction can say publicly what might otherwise appear unsayable.
The line between fiction and nonfiction is more blurry than many people like to admit. Sometimes, political writing that claims to be nonfiction is actually fiction. The political power of such fiction-as-nonfiction is undeniable: “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” stoked the fires of European anti-Semitism