Week 4 - Society and politics

Is it necessary for a writer to write about the social/political issues of their time? Without question, all authors are surely influenced by their environment, society and politics being merely parts of a wider cultural web. I seriously wonder if it's even possible for writers to avoid these influences any more than they can avoid their mammalian traits.

But whether something is inevitable and whether it is necessary are two separate questions. After all, works such as The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx have had clear effects on the world, and may not have if their authors hadn't lived in the society that they had. Granted, not all fiction is intended to challenge mindsets or inspire great art, though an author's intentions sometimes have little bearing on the actual reception.

My point is that the world would surely be a different place, for better or worse, had great authors not lived the lives they had. Hitler's Mein Kampf has undeniable historical significance, giving insight into one of the most pivotal figures of the twentieth century, and wouldn't be so if not for the man who wrote it. So in this sense, I would argue that while not every writer needs to include their culture or political inclinations, the ones who do have the potential to die in a different world from that they were born in.