Social Issues as Literary Citizenship

For many people, books aren’t a top priority.  Not even close.  Reading, really, especially for fun, is a privilege.  I think that’s something that many of us don’t consider.  But books can be an important forum for discussing social issues and talking about difficult topics. 

As a literary citizen, engaging in these social discussions can be an effective way to not only better the literary world but the non-literary world as well.  By talking about social issues, literary citizens can involve people who might not otherwise be interested in literature. 

For example, on the topic of discussing domestic violence, I recently wrote a blog post talking about domestic violence in the literary world and a couple of books that I feel approached the subject very well.  Reading these books can be a good start to facilitating understanding and compassion between readers.

Which is something Brittany Means talks about in this blog post.  So much of literary citizenship focuses on making the world a better place for books and writers, but it should also be about making the world better for readers.  She talks about how books shape us and help us understand the world, and how good books can teach important lessons and encourage respect.

Books can provide opportunities for discussing difficult topics, but so can comics, as Elisabeth Wilkes discusses in this post.  Comics and books can make issues more approachable and help people understand things that may be uncomfortable to talk about.

Books have long been a place for writers to discuss social issues often addressing political changes and satirizing reality, as Eric Long mentions in his blog post on dystopian fiction.  He talks about why we like dystopian fiction so much, and why it makes such a good format for discussion political issues.

Literary citizenship isn’t just about engaging people who already love to read or write and talk about books, but also about expanding the literary world.  Books can change lives, and influence attitudes for good or ill.  

Literary citizenship should also be about making the world better for readers, and making books more appealing and accessible to those who don’t already read.  Teaching literacy is vital to a society, but so is finding books that appeal to young and old people who haven’t had an interest in reading or haven’t had access to books.  

The world of literature shouldn’t be an elitist one, in which literary citizens look down on those who don’t read.  We should be thinking of ways to include them, to engage them, and to get books in as many hands as possible.

If you're interested in getting involved, check out places like these near you:

http://indyreadsbooks.org

http://www.nwiliteracy.org/index.htm

http://www.in.gov/fssa/dfr/2679.htm

"We all hit each other"

Loteria cards

A fantastic recent novel that deals with childhood trauma and domestic violence is Mario Alberto Zambrano’s Lotería.  The novel is beautifully narrated by Luz, an eleven-year-old girl in state custody.  She uses a deck of Lotería (a Mexican version of bingo) cards to work through her childhood, dealing with domestic violence, her father’s alcoholism, and the death of her sister.  Zambrano deals with trauma tenderly, yet realistically, and shows how Luz works through her past and finds the humanity of her father despite the violence.

In the realm of memoir, Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls focuses primarily on her rootless childhood.  The memoir itself sometimes takes the form of Walls working through the challenges she faced growing up, how she survived and moved to New York at seventeen to get away from her parents.  Yet again, through all their difficulties and abuses, Walls never loses sight of her parents’ humanity.

Both of these stories follow young girls with alcoholic fathers, and in each case the girl is doggedly loyal to her father, in spite of temper and tragedy.  Something about the complexity of that relationship creates so much emotion and depth within these stories, and hopefully brings awareness to the problems that many young girls face.  As much as Luz and Walls work through their pasts, domestic violence still affects their lives significantly. 

Writing can provide a way for childhood abuse victims to work through their past, and a way for writers to bring awareness to an issue that will likely always be around.  Stories can bring powerful change, and these are only two examples of serious books with deep takes childhood forged in a crucible.

Three quick tips for job interviews

I’ve never done a legitimate job interview.  Neither of my majors put any focus on interview preparation either.  But thanks to my literary citizenship class, I had the opportunity to do a practice interview on campus.  Here are three quick bits of advice:

Be early.  

I got there about fifteen minutes before my appointment, and my interviewer came to get me less than thirty seconds after I walked into the room.

Set yourself apart. 

Interviewers are sorting through any number of candidates, likely with similar qualifications.  Make sure they remember you, in a good way.  For me, it was a personal connection to the company, and how their work had influenced my interest in the area.

Bring questions.  

This shows them you mean business, you came prepared, and allows you to find out what you want to know about the company.  They spent the last hour interrogating you, now it’s your turn.

Me before my practice interview.  (Bonus advice:  dress up!)