Onus on authors, journalists to counter xenophobia, fake news — US writers

AMMAN — As xenophobic speech continues to be heard louder around the world, sometimes aided by the proliferation of outlets promoting “fake news”, writers and journalists, particularly, have the daunting task of ensuring that the truth prevails, say award-winning US authors and journalists.

“Writers are obligated to be even more vigilant than usual, documenting lies, bearing witness to abuses of the body politic, recording the contours of experience in all of its complexity, illuminating the dark corners of existence and finding ways to persist in what will surely be a difficult passage,” poet Christopher Merrill argued.

In an interview via e-mail with The Jordan Times after a three-day visit paid to the Kingdom earlier this month — where Merrill, along with four fellow writers, led workshops for aspiring Jordanian journalists and authors — the director of the International Writing Programme at the University of Iowa said, “writers are — first and foremost — truth tellers”.

Despite the current prevalence of a “post-truth” world where facts are being disputed and underestimated, journalist and researcher Kathryn Miles said the truth will prevail, noting that journalists must respect their audience.

“The truth always has a way of revealing itself and, in so doing, revealing the deception of others. In the meantime, we can build a relationship of mutual respect and trust with our readers,” Miles, who currently serves as writer-in-residence for Green Mountain College, told The Jordan Times.

During their visit to Jordan, which was a follow up on a residency programme funded by the US government for Jordanian writers and filmmakers, the writers conducted “lectures on contemporary American literature and storytelling in the media” at several universities in the Kingdom, according to the US embassy.

The authors extended their programme at Yarmouk University on their last day due to the students’ enthusiasm, embassy officials said.

“We were impressed by the enthusiasm of the students and the sophistication of their questions,” said Merrill, who had previously been to Jordan.

Miles agreed.

“It was a real gift to meet with so many dedicated young journalists and teachers… and I found that I learned at least as much as I was able to share,” the author said, saying that she has “a great faith in the future of writing and journalism”.

“The passion and commitment of these students are a real testament to their dedication to the craft,” she added.

Novelist Cate Dicharry said the attendees at the lectures also talked about the everyday lives of professional authors, what it is like to work as a creative writer.

“The students… wanted to talk about the social, cultural and political responsibilities of the creative writer, and how one can act on moral duties and also enjoy the work of creativity,” Dicharry, who has worked at the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History, said.

“It is our duty as writers to respond to the world we live in, and to take seriously threats to humanity,” she said, commenting on the spread of xenophobia and bigotry.

“For journalists, I think the obligation is to adhere to facts, and to expose fake news. As consumers of news, it is our job to be vigilant and careful with what we read, and what we believe,” Dicharry added.

Tom Sleigh, a poet and essayist who has also worked as a journalist in the Middle East and Africa, said in one of the classes he led that he was asked how the election of Republican Donald Trump will affect American writers.

The award-winning author said that some writers in the US are showing “a resolve to respond to the pressure” of reality — in the form of the new administration — but stressed that this should not entail expressing “your political convictions in rhyme”.

“Instead, you have to find a way into the material such that the language itself gives pleasure to the reader, even as it faces difficult truths,” Sleigh said. 

“I think that all of us have agency to think and write what we want to write, no matter if there’s a publisher or a public willing to listen. The act of writing has its own rewards, even as it serves as a counter-pressure to the pressure of reality,” he added.

Politicising art and banning books

For forms of creative writing, the authors said assuming a politicised, preachy tone kills art. Instead, the depth of the work lends it several layers on which the audience can reflect their political views.

“The fact is, there are two lives that art leads: the moment of creation, and then the moment of its reception: it’s during the reception that politicisation occurs — and woe to the writer who tries to be ‘with it’ and anticipate that politicisation, so as to make the work conform to a certain set of political imperatives,” Sleigh, a Distinguished Professor at Hunter College, said.

Dicharry had a similar point of view.

“Art and entertainment are politicised, whether they intend to be or not,” she said, explaining that “what we put on the page is not ever disconnected from things that take place in the real world. However innocuous and non-political we may think we’re being, we are making a cultural comment and contribution.”

That being said, the politics expressed, or perceived to be expressed, in some books led to their banning in certain countries.

“I am certain that book bans and cultural restrictions still impact readers, and make it difficult to access certain material.... I do hope that readers can, one way or another, find their way to the work they wish to read,” Dicharry said.

Miles acknowledged the need to respect some readers’ decisions not to read books that may be against their religion or values, but stressed the importance of enabling “all readers to choose the texts with which they want to engage”.

On the other hand, Sleigh said the Internet makes censorship “much more difficult”, since readers can simply access books on their mobile phones.

Merrill believes banning books “is always a bad idea, even if they can be downloaded”.

“Any act of censorship cripples the freedom of thought integral to human experience. Better to make all books available, regardless of their content: who is to say which book will help someone through the dark night of the soul, spark new ideas, or change one’s life? Certainly not a censor.”