But let us not forget that cities are like human beings. They are born, they go through childhood and adolescence, they grow old, and eventually they die
Elif SafakRead
If you are a writer from Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, you don't have the luxury of being apolitical. You can't say, 'That's politics. I'm just doing my work.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers in certain countries cannot separate their work from political issues.
This quote by Elif Safak emphasizes that for writers in countries like Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Egypt, the political climate is inescapable. Their artistic expressions and narratives are often intertwined with the sociopolitical realities surrounding them, making it impossible to claim neutrality or apolitical stances while creating their work.
Themes
WriterPoliticsExpressionArtActivism
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about the role of art in social movements.
More from Elif Safak
All quotes βI like to question cultural biases wherever I go, and I question Islamophobia as much as I question anti-western sentiment because I think all extremist ideologies are very similar.
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Stories cannot demolish frontiers, but they can punch holes in our mental walls, and through those holes we can get a glimpse of the other and sometimes even like what we see.
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What iβm saying is, my friends, one ought to be able to let go. If a path does not please us, instead of insisting on going that specific way, of making our selfishness the guide, we ought to forsake. The books we cannot write, the films we cannot shoot, the projects we cannot develop, the jobs we cannot pursue and the people who no longer love us. Being able to let go, at times, is the most beautiful of all!
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For me, writing stories is one way of feeling connected to the universe and God.
Elif SafakRead
I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition rather than placing myself above my story like a puppeteer pulling strings. For me, it's a scary, chaotic process over which I have little control. Words demand other words, characters resist me.
Elif SafakRead
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