Political Story-Telling by Bronwen Griffiths

 

Political Story-Telling by Bronwen Griffiths 

Humans are natural story-tellers. Politicians know this too and through the ages have used story-telling to gain and hold on to power. Just as writers have to think carefully about their titles – which title will catch the public’s eye and perhaps result in better sales? – the politician and the newspaper also want to catch our eyes with their headlines and slogans.

This is nothing new but with social media it’s easier for politicians to speak directly to voters.   

Pithy phrases such as ‘Make America Great Again’ or ‘Taking Back Control’ and ‘Oven Ready Deal’ (Brexit) pit one community against another. The story is that one side has been betrayed and the politician will be the saviour. It’s the old, old story of vanquishing the monster. For the right-wing the enemy is the ‘metropolitan elite,’ ‘the woolly liberals,’ the ‘woke.’ For the left it’s the rich and powerful. However, as Robert Shrimsley points out in his analysis of Seargeant’s book, The Art of Political Storytelling:

“What has changed is the personal narrative of the insurgent. While Nixon was a conventional politician, today’s insurgents amplify their outsider status. The more outlandish their behaviour, the more convincing their anti-establishment credentials. The outrage at Trump’s various transgressions simply convinced his voters that he would tear down the establishment he was offending.”

 The story is simple. The good guys versus the bad.

 In our post-truth world, tapping into people's emotions has proved far more effective than rational argument. Simple and emotional messages such as Trump’s ‘I will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it,’ are not based on reality. Trump didn’t cost out the wall before he came to power, nor did he have any idea if he could ever force Mexico to pay for it. What mattered was the message.

Playing with people’s emotions is also what we do as writers. In fiction we want the reader to feel the emotions of our characters. However, in fiction, the reader is always aware of the fact that it’s a story, that although it might be based on some reality, it is not ‘real.’

And fiction is complex. A novel isn’t a tweet or a short message. Our characters must have both good and bad in their make-up otherwise they will be mere cut-outs. Politicians and headlines in certain newspapers create one-dimensional characters. The migrant. The terrorist. The snowflake.

In my novel, Here Casts No Shadow the sister and brother who are fighting tyranny commit a heinous act themselves. Their behaviour is the result of a complex interplay of politics, sexual politics and repression. What they do cannot be boiled down to a single reason. The two also pay a high price for what they do.



Recently I wrote a short (unpublished) story based on the ISIS women in the Al Hol camp. In no way do I wish to condone their actions and I believe they must face the consequences of what they have done. However a number of these women were only girls when they travelled to Syria and some may have been groomed by ISIS before they left. I do not pretend that I have the answers to what should happen to these women but newspaper headlines and (some) politicians would have us believe they are all evil and incapable of redemption. Again, the simple message of good versus evil.

‘Swarms’ and ‘hordes’ of migrants coming across the Channel is another story of ‘us’ and ‘them.’ These boats must be stopped. These people should not be coming here. The French should take them. Etcetera. Of course there are no easy solutions but simple headlines and soundbites will never provide that.

It would require another article to discuss conspiracy theories. That’s another story. An extraordinary one and one, that once again, pits the underdog against a mythical monster.

           

References:

Article in Financial Times by Robert Shrimsley June 2020

The Art of Political Storytelling, by Philip Seargeant, Bloomsbury

 

My novel, Here Casts No Shadow is available from:

https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/historical/here-casts-no-shadow/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Here-Casts-Shadow-Bronwen-Griffiths/dp/1789013380

Comments

Peter Leyland said…
I have read the novel featured and know it is about war and its consequences. As I write the Taliban are resurgent in Afghanistan and the war in Ethiopia/Eritrea is having awful consequences for the civilian populations. We can only read, write, talk and listen, and hopefully things will change. Stories are important and fiction sometimes has a way of telling truths that cannot be understood in any other way but by immersing yourself in the minds of the characters in that story. Thanks for the blog.
Wendy H. Jones said…
What a brilliantly written piece. I love the comparison between political speech and writing a novel. I’m going to take a look at the book you mention. Thank you.