Writing in the Guardian on August 24, respected music writer Dorian Lynskey provides an interesting discussion about the purpose of political fiction and its place in current global politics and society. Although he brings an expected British point of view, his points are largely universal and apply nicely to our contemporary American political scene.
Throughout the article, Lynskey explores the breadth of the political fiction genre, from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (1957), George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and some of the finalists for this year’s Orwell Prize for Political Fiction (which will again open for new submissions on September 16, 2019 and close on October 31, 2019). Claiming that the broad genre is united by “a passionate desire to use character and narrative to draw the reader’s attention to some social ill and to galvanise efforts to remedy it”, he contrasts the “urgent, unsubtle voice” of the “campaigning novel” to the less didactic approach of letting the political message float, as Chair of Orwell Prize judges Tom Sutcliffe says, “between the lines, rather than on them.”
Filtering out inherent British preferences for more subtlety, one wonders where the rheostat should be set for current political fiction in the United States. Given the momentum of the American progressive movement (as evidenced in the current Democratic presidential primaries) and the increasing bitterness of American politics, I would posit that the dial should be set toward more vivid exposition of the message. Anything more subtle may well be overcome by the raucous noise of partisanship, both within the electorate and, sadly, within the traditional and social media. Vividness has its place, and this may be one of the times when it’s needed badly.
At the same time, allegory also has value in delivering a broader message about real-world issues and events. Americans have endured non-stop political allegations and the politicization of virtually every aspect of American society since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. The barrage will only become worse as the 2020 campaign launches in full force. Whether in fiction or non-fiction, overtly partisan messages may get ignored as the political bases of both parties move within their respective echo chambers.
In Intentional Consequences, my new novel about a political cyber conspiracy designed to dominate the 2020 election, I used a real-world setting of the early months of the 2020 primaries to paint a vivid picture of the bitter partisanship of American politics. At the same time, I played the plot and the message at two different levels, one a traditional fast-paced political thriller and the other a more sophisticated exploration of socio-political stereotypes, bias and the dangers posed to American democracy by technology and the internet. On the first level, I worked to keep the political point of view neutral, or purple as we say in a country increasingly divided into Red and Blue states. On the second level, I melded in a cry to recognize the threat, understand its causes and at least try to work together to solve it.
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