Writing and Political Oppression
Melvyn Bragg examines how two writers’ work have been shaped by political oppression and explores whether writers have a political role in modern society. The connection between writers and politics has its roots in classical times, but in the 20th century the writer has been called on as the witness with increasing frequency and intensity. And many times the price of articulation has been severe. In the century in which saw the execution of writers such as Ken Saro Wiwa in Nigeria in 1995, and a fatwa imposed on Salman Rushdie, Melvyn Bragg talks to two writers who between them experienced exile, censorship and the manipulation of authoritarian states - Ariel Dorfman from South America and Nadine Gordimer, the Nobel Prize winner from South Africa, to discuss the writing of fiction and political oppression. What, if any, is the writer’s political role in our world today?
Guests
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Nadine Gordimer No other episodes
Nobel Prize-winning South African novelist -
Ariel Dorfman No other episodes
South American journalist, scholar and author of Death and the Maiden
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Programme ID: p00545g8
Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00545g8
Auto-category: 320.01 (Political science and literature)
Hello (First sentence from this episode)
Hello, in this century in which we've seen the execution of writers such as Ken Saro-Wiwa in Nigeria in 1995 and a fatwa imposed on Salman Rushdie, we turn to two writers of the century, Nadine Gordimer and Ariel Dorfman, to discuss the writing of fiction and political oppression.