I don’t know; that’s the only honest answer to the question above. That’s also the reason why I phrased it as a question. Do writers have any social responsibility? I will try to get a bit closer to the truth during the process of composing this post. If it can help you, too, in some way, all the better.
As a first thing, we would need to lay down some important theoretical foundations. When we wonder whether writers have social responsibility, there are two elements we need to define or clarify:
- What do we mean by “writers”? Fiction writers? Nonfiction writers? Artists (who, remember, are not the same as writers)?
- What on earth is “social responsibility”?
Most misunderstandings arise from using the same word but meaning different things – think of “love” or “success” – so being as clear as possible about our definitions is important. So, I’ll begin with trying to clarify these terms in my own head first, and then I’ll try to see how (if at all) they play ball together.
