Can politics and literature go together? Can political issues be explored through fiction? This article from The Guardian explores these issues further, considering authors as diverse as Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and David Hare.
I think there are positives and negatives. Perhaps more people will be interested in politics and history due to the glamorous way it is portrayed in films, TV adaptations etc. However, it begs the question does History and Politics need to be glamourised? (The Tudor series is a prime extra of this!) Will it merely dumb down History and Politics? Furthermore, as Historians we can separate historical 'facts' from fiction but can the average person do this? Will this merely cause History and Politics teachers more problems in trying to correct students' knowledge that is based on films?
I think if you are merely looking to be entertained, a source of escapism then it is fine. But I don't feel it is an appropriate educational tool.
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I think there are positives and negatives. Perhaps more people will be interested in politics and history due to the glamorous way it is portrayed in films, TV adaptations etc. However, it begs the question does History and Politics need to be glamourised? (The Tudor series is a prime extra of this!) Will it merely dumb down History and Politics? Furthermore, as Historians we can separate historical 'facts' from fiction but can the average person do this? Will this merely cause History and Politics teachers more problems in trying to correct students' knowledge that is based on films?
ReplyDeleteI think if you are merely looking to be entertained, a source of escapism then it is fine. But I don't feel it is an appropriate educational tool.