I take six or seven years to write really small books. There is a kind of aesthetic of leanness, of brevity.
Mohsin HamidRead
I think if you say that art and politics, or religion and politics, mustn't mix, don't mix, that is itself a political statement. Even if you are writing a 19th-century novel where the money comes from a plantation in the Caribbean and you don't talk about that, that itself is a political thing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that separating art from politics is itself a political act.
Mohsin Hamid suggests that claiming art should not intersect with politics ignores the inherent political implications of such a separation. By example, even creating art that doesn't explicitly address political issues still engages with the underlying socio-political contexts, thus making a political statement in itself.
Themes
ArtPoliticsStatementSocietyContext
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the intersection of culture and governance during a public lecture.
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Part of the reason people abroad resent the United States is something Americans can do very little about: envy. The richest, most powerful country in the world attracts the jealousy of others in much the same way that the richest, most powerful man in a small town attracts the jealousy of others.
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