I have always been particularly drawn to literature that gives the reader a sense of autonomy and makes the reader feel like part of the author’s world. Examples include novels that use the second-person perspective and those charming “create your own adventure” tales (which I could not stop reading as a kid). I love stories with these characteristics because I feel directly addressed and involved by the author(s), but to an extent, these stories still force the reader to be a passive observer of the print. The author might not write in the second person for the entire book, or the writing might just become too un-relatable; with a “create your own adventure” story, the adventure ultimately ends, and the reader is forced to confine their eager imagination within the book’s closed cover with a sigh. The two examples I have given might constitute engaged literature, but in my opinion, they are not quite socially engaged literature.
I think that socially engaged art and literature gives the reader or viewer the same autonomy and involvement as a “create your own adventure” story, but it takes things a step further by inviting readers or viewers to reevaluate their place in the world and consider making changes to their lifestyles or perspectives. I am fascinated by the Key to the City Project because participants had the opportunity to literally unlock “sites that are normally hidden” and “meet the New Yorkers behind the doors” individually, giving them the freedom to explore and create memories on their own time. Additionally, participants were compelled to pause and reevaluate their ideas of what New York City means to them. If you initially have strict ideas about what is “worth visiting” in NYC and then participating in an art project prompts you to see that you’ve overlooked other locations, perhaps you have just participated in socially engaged art!
On the more “literary” side, I am very interested in the “Six-Word Memoirs Project” and the “Favorite Poem Project.” People who view exhibitions for either of these projects are offered the independence to pick and choose which poems and memoirs resonate with them, but once they have absorbed a poem or memoir, they are not just passive observers—they begin to think about what poem they would choose for the “My Favorite Poem” Project or what six words they would use to write their own memoir. Because both of these projects are intended to give a voice to numerous contributors as opposed to expressing one particular artist or writer’s thoughts, there is a sense that people who read these memoirs and poems are being empowered and inspired rather than merely being fed a specific individual’s perspective. Something as simple as creating a writing prompt, like “What do you fear most?”, asking people to submit answers to this prompt, and compiling all of these answers together in a visual display would achieve the same effect. If I coordinated a project like this, I would want to move beyond the “literary magazine” approach and find away to compile contributors’ writing together in a space where it can disrupt, inform, and inspire—much like the poetry in zoos that is featured in “The Language of Conservation.”
Caroline,
I, too, loved the choose your own adventure stories as a kid. And when you think about socially engaged literary art, think about how it’s “published” as much as anything else. How is it experienced. Can that/does that change a person’s alignment with/relationship to…. something? In many ways, the examples (from six word stories to Language of Conservation) are as much socially engaged literary art because they are pushing agains the idea of singular authorship. Those six word stories are most effective in aggregate. It is the visual display of so many lives and stories co-existing that makes the project meaningful. And the “editor” there had to consider outreach and engagement as much as literary merit. Beyond the codex (the bound book). Beyond singularity. It might be too much to ask that people reevaluate their places in the world or change their actions — but perhaps there is an invitation to step beyond convention…..