Writers from broken democracy don't have luxury of being apolitical: Turkish novelist Elif Shafak

Staying inside one's own imaginary world might be an option for other novelists, not for Turkish-British author and campaigner Elif Shafak who said storytellers coming from a ''broken democracy'' like hers cannot afford the luxury of being ''non-political''.

Speaking on the inaugural day of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) 2022 on Saturday, the celebrated author, who has often drawn the ire of Turkish authorities for addressing taboo topics, said writers cannot be silent on core issues like human rights, women empowerment, LGBTQ+ rights, rule of law, loss of media freedom, among others.

''Like many novelists, I do not like public places so much and would rather stay in my room with my books and notebooks, inside my own imaginary world... but at the same time, I have understood early on in my literary journey that if you happen to be a storyteller from a broken democracy such as Turkey or Brazil -- and the list is getting longer today -- then I do not have the luxury of being non-political.

''... When so much is happening outside the window, you cannot say 'I do not want to talk about what is going outside the window, I only want to talk about my poetry, my fiction','' she noted. Shafak (49), who has authored several books, including 11 novels, was at JLF for a session on her latest novel ''The Island of Missing Trees'' which was released last year. Several of her books like ''The Bastard of Istanbul'' (2006), ''The Gaze'' (2000) and the last novel ''10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World'' (2019) had landed her in trouble with the Turkish government.

A staunch feminist who learned many ''wonderful things'' from feminist movements of past generations, Shafak stressed on the need of ''redefining politics'' and the significance of ''personal is political''. ''Politics is not what (British Prime Minister) Boris Johnson said today or what happened in the parliament in the United Kingdom yesterday. Politics is more than that, wherever there is power imbalance, there is politics there and in that regard, the personal is also political.

''So you might be writing about sexuality or gender discrimination, that too is political. Now defined in such a broad way, writers, especially novelists, who deal with a bigger canvas of ideas cannot be apolitical,'' she reasoned. The bestselling novelist also clarified that though writers have to ask political questions, the answers must be left to the readers.

Set in Cyprus of the 1960s when the Mediterranean island was caught in a civil war between Turkish and Greek Cypriots, the 350-page ''The Island of Missing Trees'' revolves around Defne and Kostas whose love beats the odds to find a ''happily ever after'' nearly half-a-century later.

In the novel, Shafak uses a fig tree to reflect on the political happenings of the past, the aftermath of the Cyprus crisis of 1963-64, and also seamlessly weaves in contemporary issues, including displacement, mental health and climate change.

Describing literature as a ''guiding light'' which pays more attention to periphery than the centre, she said the medium should help in ''rehumanising people who have been dehumanised''.

''... The story of the empire changes depending on who is telling the story, and who is not allowed to tell the story. If you ask women in the empire, they will tell a different story, and it will be different if you ask the minorities, the people whose voices we almost never ever come across in written culture.

''Literature should bring the periphery to the centre, and rehumanise people who have been dehumanised,'' the Booker Prize nominated writer said. Talking about a ''pluralistic inclusive democracy'', Shafak said, ''... Where there is a pluralistic inclusive democracy, you can easily walk into a book store and come across many books that question the official historiography and narrative, and the authors of those books are not arrested or prosecuted.'' The London-based novelist gave the example of Turkey and how a person challenging the ''official narrative'' there is labelled a ''traitor''. The 15th edition of JLF will be held online till March 9, and on ground — at its new venue of Hotel Clarks Amer in Jaipur — from March 10-14.

2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist Jonathan Franzen, 2021 Booker winner Damon Galgut, Australian author and 2003 Booker winner D B C Pierre, Hollywood actor-writer Rupert Everett, and eminent Jamaican poet Kei Miller are among the 250 authors participating in the festival this year. PTI MG SRY

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