"Of course, the invasion of literature by politics was bound to happen. It must have happened, even if the special problem of totalitarianism had never arisen because we have developed a sort of compunction which our grandfathers did not have, an awareness of the enormous injustice and misery of the world, and a guilt-stricken feeling that one ought to be doing something about it, which makes a purely aesthetic attitude towards life impossible."
This was what Orwell had to say about politics in literature in a 1948 essay titled “Writers and Leviathan”. Coincidentally I read this essay right before I watched Mari Selvaraj's Karnan. And I must say that it has given me a lot to think about.
Although all works of art consist of political undertones, some try to propagate an idea or ideology they think needs to be told. These ‘Political’ movies are abundant nowadays. In a political age such as ours, it is not surprising that such abundance is the case.
These movies are quickly boxed as per their political leanings and we know what happens next in today’s polarised world. Praise and hate are spewed at it by those on either side and it is a blood bath on Twitter for a few days.
Although this polarization and frenzy is part of the ‘social dilemma’ age, the practice of judging literature only based on political affiliations is not new. Orwell talks about this in his essay. He felt that literature was ‘judged before they are read, and in effect before they are written’. He went on to complain that one knows certainly ‘what reception they will get from what papers’. It is interesting how this is still relevant.
However, it is not such a bad thing that some reviews focus on the idea of the movie rather than the movie itself. As a matter of fact, these movies are made among other reasons, to stimulate a discussion. But what Orwell finds troubling is that ‘the pretence is kept up that genuinely literary standards are being applied.’
The problem with such dishonest writing is that they are in constant dread of their own group. As Orwell writes, ‘A modern literary intellectual lives and writes in constant dread – not, indeed, of public opinion in the wider sense, but of public opinion within his own group.’ This is natural as all exclusionary identities tend to become more exclusionary with time. We can see this prevalence in the West nowadays. People are getting cancelled by their peers for not being more performative with their beliefs.
Orwell opines that one’s real reaction to a piece of art is that ‘I like it’ or ‘I don’t like it’. What follows is mostly a rationalization of such opinion. In that case, I must say that I liked Mari Selvaraj’s Karnan. And to get more real, I must add that I still don’t quite know how to feel about the problem the movie talks about.
I do not know whom to blame for this inhumane practise of caste discrimination. I do not even know if there is someone or something to be blamed. I do not know how to get out of this mess without any violence and bloodshed. I do not even know if we can end this violence without spilling thousands of ordinary people’s blood.
As mentioned earlier, all identities tend to become more exclusionary with time. This exclusivity will depend on the performative acts of the members of the identity. A certain group within the group will try to assert themselves as the truer version of their group (ideological or racial). Another group will be formed within that group which will take things a little more extreme and so on.
My hope was predicated on the assumption that ordinary people will come to see the absurdity of it and condemn it when groups tend to extremize. So, as the groups become more and more exclusionary, ordinary people will drop out and move away from such identities. Naturally, such a move cannot happen in a day. But I do not know how to think about the people who are being affected by the atrocities of the extremes in the meantime.
I do not think that society can be engineered. These social systems that have been created through generations cannot be made redundant simply through legislation. And as the saying goes, politics is downstream of culture. Meaningful change has to happen in the collective conscience of the people before it can be legislated. That is why ordinary people dropping out of the extremes is important. But what is worrying is the ignorance that ordinary people might sometimes exhibit. This is the thing with identities. It makes ordinary people blind to things that their extremes cause to ordinary people outside their identity.
When thinking of a way to clear up this mess of identities, Dalit ideologue and entrepreneur Chandra Bhan Prasad’s comments in a recent podcast comes to mind. He said that a poor Dalit prefers to leave to the city and work in menial jobs rather than staying back in his caste structured village where he must always look down whenever he passes a Savarna. The city with all its issues can provide anonymity or at least partial anonymity. The market forces people to cooperate irrespective of their background. Although it is naive to think of the city as a caste-less utopia, it provides an opportunity to rise up the ladder.
But I do not know if losing one’s social identity is even desired. It discounts the shared history of identity groups. It discounts the pain and suffering endured by the previous generations as showed in Karnan.
As a student trying to understand society, it is important to try and understand trade-offs and comparisons. We need to ask the basic question of ‘as opposed to what’ when trying to find solutions. The system which provides an opportunity to the largest amount of people is a system that is desired. And I'm inclined to believe that a society that deems the individual as sacrosanct is a society that can provide the maximum opportunity.
That is why films like Karnan are important. Even though it showcases an identity's struggle to survive, it all boils down to an individual's pain and the denial of his/her rights. It exposes the lack of respect for the individual in Indian society. And as far as people are disrespected, it is incumbent upon every one of us to keep talking about it.
As Orwell writes, when on a sinking ship, 'your thoughts will be of the sinking ship'. It is only natural that more such films are made. After all, the ship is sinking and it is our collective responsibility to reflect upon and find a solution to stop the ship from sinking.
P.S: I did not reflect upon the abusive nature of the State and the arbitrary power it holds. Maybe it will be the content of a rant for some other day.
