Throughout history, one of the main purposes of literature, especially evident in recent history, has been that of critique. Critique of society, critique of authority. A method of voicing one’s concerns, or opposition of the current establishment. In a world in which established systems and hierarchies often aren’t designed to serve everybody, resulting in oppression of their subjects or certain groups under which these hierarchies hold sovereignty, literature and storytelling in particular from members of these groups has consistently been a method of voicing their oppositions and woes. Whether through fictional scenarios reminiscent of current issues, or through biographical accounts of experience, storytelling can be an extremely effective yet often subtle way of standing up against the current establishment, and spreading thoughts of resistance and discontent.
In this exhibit, we will be travelling through both space and time, across different continents and time periods around the globe, exploring texts in chronological order in which narrative and storytelling is used in this way as a form of social and political protest against oppression and against the establishment. Follow this journey by clicking the boxes to the left of this section, in vertical order.
First, we will be visiting present day Athens, Greece, the birthplace of ancient Greek playwright Sophocles’ Antigone, one of the oldest and most famous preserved pieces of literature and art in which storytelling was used for this purpose. This will be our core text from which the rest of the literature we will survey stems. A literary and performative piece first performed all the way back in 441 BCE, Sophocles’ story depicts a young woman, Antigone, standing up against the immoral and tyrannical rule of Creon, king of Thebes. A tale of resistance against immoral authority, and against the establishment through personal sacrifice, who’s critique of authority is not only relevant in the story itself but also to the time and setting in which the piece was written in ancient Athens.
Next, we will be visiting present day India, and the works of one of the most notable and defiant feminist anti-establishment figures of the 16th century, Mirabai (1498-1547), one of the pioneers of the revolutionary Bhakti religious movement. We will go over a compilation of her works, titled “The Devotional Poems of Mirabai,” and how both her, and her poems and literary mediums of devotion, showed resistance against the patriarchy and other social hierarchies of the area and time period.
We will then travel to the 18th century, and the Kingdom of Benin, in present-day Nigeria, during the era of the atlantic slave trade; the origin of “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,” by Olaudah Equiano. This was one of the first, and by far most influential autobiographical works pioneering the “slave narrative” story that began to spread in significance across the Atlantic beginning around this era. These narratives became one of the biggest drivers towards abolition of slavery across various nations, spreading critique of and resistance towards the entire system amongst the educated public.
Next, we will be travelling back towards the Middle East, and now into the 20th century, to visit one of the most important novels by Palestinian writer and political activist Ghassan Kanafani, “Men in the Sun” (1962). Men in the Sun follows three Palestinian refugees seeking to travel from the refugee camps in Iraq, where they cannot find work, to Kuwait where they hope to find work as laborers in the oil boom. The story represents a critique of various social and political aspects, from gender constructs, to Palestinian passivity following the 1948 Nakba, to dehumanization and unnecessary suffering as a result of the Israeli-Palestinean conflict.
Lastly, we will find ourselves in Argentina, at the height of the “Dirty War” (1976-1983). One of the darkest periods in Argentine history, where oppression was ripe and political dissidents were kidnapped, murdered, and silenced left and right. We will visit Argentine author Luisa Valenzuela (famous for her works questioning hierarchical structures and the Argentine military dictatorship in particular), and her short story “Aqui nace la inocencia (Here innocence is born),” (1979), one of her many works from her famous compilation of short stories titled Strange Things Happen Here: Twenty-Six Short Stories and a Novel. In this brief story, Valenzuela takes a strong jab at the dictatorship and their nefarious practices, showing through irony the self-harm they cause.
Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoy this exhibit.