THEY SAY READING IS POLITICAL: WHAT’S REALLY AN HONEST ANSWER?
Politics has been at the forefront of conversation or headlines in the year 2024. No one can dispute this or honestly say it hasn’t been a whole thing this past year. Of course, it’s actually been longer, but it’s been twenty-four amping things up. This even spills over into other faucets of our lives. One of them being the bookstagram part of Instagram. The place people go to find fellow readers and people who enjoy talking about books. It was once a chill place. Now the world of bookstagram gets dramatic, and it again stirred up trouble. This time it’s an argument, at least in part, over whether or not books are political. So that’s the question I’m posing today.
This argument that politics and books cannot be separate stems from some form of statement by group A saying that bookstagram shouldn’t let politics affect how people interact with each other and everyone should just go back to talking about books. Of course in response to this, group B says it’s ridiculous because books are political. I think it is fair to say that yes, books do have political inklings. Sometimes.
But I also think it’s accurate and fair to say that there is a disconnect in books. By this I mean, while there are novels (and for the purpose of this discussion, I am using fiction only) that are set in modern times with politics, but it’s still not real. Authors take liberties and create fictional worlds and silliness inside the pages. Does this mean nothing is real in the book? Of course not. But while we cannot escape the politics of our reality, books, even political ones, can be an escape.
So is it honest to say “books are political”? At the end of the day, I don’t think this statement holds as a clapback to those who suggest everyone leave politics aside and just talk about books.
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THEY SAY READING IS POLITICAL: WHAT'S REALLY AN HONEST ANSWER? #PoliticalReading #ReadingPolitical #Bookstagram #Reads #Reading #Reader Share on X
Books and the stories inside are art. Some are less about analogies, and some are just about laughter, but no matter what you pick up, I think books are here to provide an escape. So, I think it is fair for people to say that talking about books doesn’t require or need to be political. Though it also is true, that culture does influence stories heavily.
Enjoying one book doesn’t mean you agree with everything inside its pages. Same goes for the author. Just because you enjoy a book by someone doesn’t automatically mean you endorse or agree with every public statement the author has made. Through the years I’ve read many books by authors who have posted an Instagram statement I didn’t agree with. But that’s okay because I find value in their storytelling and rarely (if ever) is my psyche “threatened” by what they write.
Something I repeat often is to say that disagreement can be good, and I don’t wish for some kind of world where everyone agrees on everything. That would be quite boring. But I do think we, as adults, should start to either learn to deal with the idea that we all differ in our cultural and political viewpoints (and the reasons for them) or begin to have actual conversations that don’t evolve into childish spats.
It’s exhausting to realize that social media has helped create this world while also recognizing that irrespective of its existence, some people just love to create drama. I am not one of these people, and in the last four years I’ve come to realize just how true this is. I’m of the opinion that fiction and politics can be separate. We can enjoy things by people who we don’t culturally “click” with. Just as we can chose to only read books by people who could live inside our head.
Whatever we choose, this is part of the beauty of having so many novels. When we start to box ourselves or our imagination in, no matter our political “side” or perspectives, that’s when we loose our ability to actually have perspective.
What are your thoughts? Do you think books are political? Have you seen all of this bookstagram drama? Share all of your thoughts below.
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Closing note: a rundown of the original drama is given in this article, which is something I found when working on this.
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