Are Writers Responsible For Their Readers' Actions?
SALMAN RUSHDIE AND THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF WRITERS
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet by a rapper named 21 Savage.
This tweet was interesting because Savage is a gangster rapper. A lot of his lyrics talk about using guns and his fans were quick to point that out.
I mention this because as an artist (writer, musician, etc.) you want to connect with your audience on an emotional level. There’s no bigger compliment than when someone tells me they read one of my pieces and it moved them in some way.
Yet this connection can work on multiple levels. Someone can listen to 21 Savage, take his lyrics to heart, and feel like they can do some of the gangster stuff he talks about in his songs. Another listener can hear the same songs, understand that it’s entertainment, and go about their life like it’s just another Tuesday.
Point is, great art is absorbed into the audience’s soul. That’s why institutions ban or celebrate books. We know how life-changing it can be to read words on a page and feel like those words were meant only for you. It’s a transformative experience.
What about Salman Rushdie?
Salman Rushdie knows the power of words all too well. He’s endured a decades-long threat against his life, a threat that culminated in a recent attack while on stage in New York State (Rushdie is in stable condition as of writing this).
Words from The Satanic Verses are apparently the reasoning behind this attack. Words that enraged extremists, who may or may not have even read the text, to take violent action all these years later.
Rushdie’s words have transcended literature and permeated popular culture. Its story is tragedy in Shakespearean hand, except the scenes were acted out in real life, with real consequences - this is the power of words.
I can’t help but wonder what Salman Rushdie is thinking right now. Does he feel responsible in any way? Afraid? Angry? The thought of being responsible is most intriguing. I don’t personally think that Rushdie should feel any responsibility for what has happened to him, but I do think about this:
How responsible should writers be for the way their writing is interpreted?
There are laws in place to confine expression away from the extreme. Most of us never get there. But when we write our opinions in articles, our full thoughts in fiction or non-fiction novels and books, are we supposed to write with a certain amount of consideration for how readers could potentially respond?
I think about school and the massive amounts of reading that’s expected, particularly throughout the later grades and into college and university. These stories shape the perspective of a generation, and the generation after that, and after that.
Texts are also used to validate actions based on religious grounds:
“This is what it says in xx holy book so this is how it should be.”
There are texts to support racism, texts that substantiate oppression of women, texts that both praise and ridicule capitalism - all written by someone or multiple someones’ who wanted their ideas to be followed.
So it’s clear that in most cases, our intention as writers is to connect and impact our readers emotionally. It is not, in the vast majority of cases, our intention to incite violence. But when our words are twisted into scenarios and versions of itself that we didn’t intend and then justified as a means of violent action, we, at the very least, begin to question our role.
The Salman Rushdie example may feel extreme, but that’s because we actually witnessed it play out. The same way we see school shootings in the U.S play out because of some people who believed the words they read in texts, group chats, and other sinister spaces across the internet.
But what about that article we wrote describing a suicide attempt? What about that essay we put together about the Israel/Palestine conflict? What if our words were the final straw in pushing a single reader to act in a way we would never approve? How would we ever know unless we were famous enough for this type of story to be made public?
Our stories are no longer ours
I’m someone who believes that once we share our stories with the world, they no longer belong to us. Not exclusively. They are property of our readers and those readers are free to interpret those stories through whatever lens has shaped their experiences.
Aside from those relatively rare instances where the intention of the text is clearly nihilistic, our responsibility is to the quality and creativity of the story. Our responsibility is to write what fills our hearts and guides our souls. It’s not possible to know how our words will be interpreted, but still, the question of accountability remains hitched to the back of my mind.
This was shocking. I haven't read his work but no amount of words could make me kill someone or to attack them. I hope this never happens with me. I get scared while sharing words at times because I am not sure who is reading me and with what kind of intention.