WEAPONS OF WORDS
© Farouk Asvat
Authentic literature is the bloodbeat of
contemporary society. It transmits the
pains and laughter of the writer's environment.
It alerts against violations of the Truth.
Literature does not develop in a
void. It is a transformation of the reality
into an artform, utilizing the dialects of the time; getting its shape,
direction and field of concern from the social, political and economic forces
that interact in a particular society.
The creative writer is the conscience of
the people, the interpreter of his society.
His writings must be a subjective-objective representation: an objective
arrival at the facts, a subjective and honest re-creation of the passion and
the pain. His writings cannot be a mere
reflection of the environment - an image as flat as the mirror he uses. Instead, the artist must ‘experience’ the
sweat and the soul of his people; he must burn in the fires of the conflicts,
complexities and contradictions; in the iniquities, intensities and
interactions; constantly waging war between Truth and what is served as truth
in commercialized prepacks. And from such
baptism comes the burning image, the vital living representation of the times,
the fiery sizzling brand on the brain.
The writer must be tuned to the reality:
the subtle effects upon the psyche of the South African variety of oppression;
the inventive manifestations of self-survival; the slang of the shebeen; the
misery of the many, the mansions of the miserly few; the sorrows in the
triumphs of the struggle; the joy of seeing one's beloved alive again in
prison; the lament mingled with the tribute for the manchild confronting the
weapons of barbarism.
Thus the writer must be committed to his
situation: he must foster the unity of his people, the creative unity of the
forces against oppression; and counteract the clan-forming techniques of the
masters of evil and their servile monkey-marionettes.
And under the prevailing circumstances it
is the writer's duty to serve an indictment against the racialism and
atrocities perpetrated in the name of a warped sense of civilization. His writings must be the alarmbell that
awakens the somnambulant creatures from their smug inertia. His writings must be the bongobeat that spurs
the conscious mind towards constructive deeds.
And his writings, to be honest, cannot but serve as a bizarre catalogue
of genocide for humanity and history.
And beside the varied manifestations of
the present, the writer must be aware of his past: not as some romantic paradise
he wishes to return to - for the times have changed - but as a living reality,
knowing the heroes of mankind who had died so that others might live. Furthermore, he must search for the wealth of
his own culture: the oral ‘literature’ of myths and legends, songs and
folktales, poems and proverbs.
But not only is the present and the past
the writer's territory - the future too is his domain: to be aware of the
directions of the paths to be taken; to make sure that the wishes of our
people, our Azania, are not prostituted after independence to serve the gods of
the businessmen; to help prevent and warn in time against imperialism being
replaced by neocolonialism in all its varied manifestations.
But the writer, in spite of his involvement,
cannot allow his commitment to impinge on his judgement or on his creative
prowess. The writer, using Truth and
Justice as criteria, must also possess sufficient courage for honest
self-analysis and even criticism of the very forces that act as catalysts of
the desires of the people. He must
maintain perspective, sensitive to sideshows veering the struggle towards
deadends, or towards the selfish interests of selfglory. The writer must question; for questions are
creative; and creativity leads to the development of the community. Because once a nation has stopped questioning
its own path, blindly following the highway doctrines - no matter what the
philosophy - then the turbulent waters come to rest, accumulating stagnant
filth, ceasing to flow like fresh murmuring streams mounting momentum towards
the rainbow of our ideals.
The writer is the medium of the creative
source, the fountain stemming from underground streams of loneliness, laughter and
longing, into the rivers of everyday struggle, towards the vibrant oceans of
Justice lashing against the stationary statues of suppression. The writer articulates the emotions and needs
of his people, using his powers of fantasy to re-create the breath of society -
delving beyond the veneer of neonlights and glossy magazines to the
subterranean powers that move people to act the way they do.
And men wielding usurped power fear even
the printed letters - the weapons of words -: it disturbs their sleep, makes
them hurriedly gulp another glass of oude meester, makes them buy another lock
to keep the world out, locking themselves in.
No wonder the intensive actions against almost all our creative writers
or their works.
There are none innocent. Not even the deaf and blind can deny knowledge
of the existence of these rife iniquities.
And who can remain silent? Those
who have lost the potential to be outraged by such brutalities have lost the
right to call themselves civilized human beings. "The man dies who remains silent in the
face of tyranny." Thus, the writer
cannot but stir the muddy waters; he cannot but propagate the upheaval of this
reign that violates all concepts of humanity.
And if the pen is to be a weapon in our struggle, if it is to stab like
a dagger, shoot like a gun, if it is to stimulate dull consciences into
reawakening, then the novelist, the poet, the dramatist, cannot but be an
authentic revolutionary.
La Luta Continua!
© farouk asvat
"The man dies who
remains silent in the face of tyranny."
[] Wole Soyinka ("The
Man Died")
_______________________________________________________________________
WEAPONS OF
WORDS
contents:
WEAPONS OF
WORDS
Weapons of Words
Creativity and
Development In Literature:
a critical look at black south
african literature in the context of third world
and world fiction
The Sad Splendour of Latin American
Literature
Modern Arab Literature:
a clash of cultures
Jorge Luis Borges: the
forking paths of the labyrinths
The Power of Words (an
interview)
Black South African
Writing: a critical appraisal
I Say
THE JOYS OF
LITERATURE
100 Best Books of
Fiction
100 Best Books of 20th
Century Fiction
10 Best Books of
Fiction
10 Best Books of Short
Fiction
Best First Lines of
Fiction
100 Best Books of
Non-Fiction
50 Best Books of 20th
Century Non-Fiction
10 Best Books of
Non-Fiction
Senior High School
Reading List
Junior High School
Reading List
Primary School Reading
List
Classics Illustrated
_______________________________________________________________________
[§] Books
by Farouk Asvat:
● Sadness In The House Of Love (novel)
● The Gathering Of The Storm (novel)
● I Dream In Long Sentences (poetry)
● The Wind Still Sings Sad
Songs (poetry)
● A Celebration Of Flames (poetry)
● The Time Of Our Lives (poetry)
● This Masquerade (short stories)
● Bra Frooks … (poetry)*
● The Paanies Are Coming (short
stories)*
● In The
House Of Love (novel)*
● Weapons Of Words (comparative
literature & literary criticism)
¨ all my books are now available on amazon: in
paperback & kindle
_______________________________________________________________________
[] please check out my blogs @:
weapons of words: https://faroukasvat-viewpoint.blogspot.com
piquante: https://faroukasvat-piquant.blogspot.com
streetwise: https://faroukasvat-lingo.blogspot.com
quran lectures: https://faroukasvat-quran.blogspot.com
biography: https://faroukasvat-bio.blogspot.com
books by farouk asvat: https://faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com
[] please join me on:
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faroukasvat
twitter: https://twitter.com/faroukasvat
_______________________________________________________________________
composed: 17 April 1976 [Johannesburg, South
Africa under apartheid]
[] Acknowledgements:
Weapons Of
Words was previously
published in:
Wietie 1 (Sable Press, p16, 1980);
University Students' Bursary Committee (University of the Witwatersrand, p9,
1981);
Vuka (Crescent Publications, p17, 1981);
Weapons
of Words (kindle,
2016);
Weapons
of Words (amazon
paperback, p11, 2016).
_______________________________________________________________________
© farouk asvat. All rights reserved.
Farouk
Asvat asserts his moral right to be
identified as the author of this work.
No part of this publication may
be reproduced by any means whatsoever, or transmitted in any form or any means
whatsoever, mechanical or electronic, including recording, printing,
photocopying, or via any computerised means or media, including the
internet. This publication shall also not
be stored in a retrieval system. And the
writing shall not be sold, lent, hired, resold or circulated in any form or
binding or cover other than that in which it is published,
without the prior permission of the author in writing.
Permission
to publish or reproduce the writings in any format can be obtained from the
author.
Reproduction
of this work without permission, except for scholarly & nonprofit purposes,
is
liable to a payment of 10, 000 ren men bi or US$ 1,500.
_______________________________________________________________________
[] weapons
of words:
amazon
(2016) #: isbn-10: 1537557912
#: isbn-13:
978-1537557915
kindle (2016):
asin #: B01LZTTRDU
_______________________________________________________________________
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
the NOVEL Sadness In
The House Of Love by Farouk Asvat
is now available on amazon: in paperback @ $15 & kindle @ only $5
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