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AS CLEAR AS MUD
Dear Abrar, Thank you very much for inviting us
to your place for a delicious dinner and a
passionate dialogue. I thoroughly enjoyed the
evening. Extend my thanks to Roohi. Since we
could not conclude our discussion I want to
share some comments and ask some questions. Your
literary piece
Confessions of a Religious Fundamentalist (On a
gun point)
was a wonderful piece from a creative writing
point of view but from a conceptual point of
view it was as clear as mud. I felt
utterly confused because it seems to me that you
wanted to challenge the more traditional or more
conventional meanings of certain terms without
giving your own meanings or new interpretations.
In my opinion as a reader your creation was
successful as a creative expression but
unsuccessful as creative communication. Since I
am one of your readers and always interested in
your poetry as well as philosophy, I would like
to initiate a philosophical dialogue with you so
that I can learn from your experience, knowledge
and wisdom. This letter is not to criticize,
rather to understand your point of view. It is
inspired by friendly affection.
In think for any meaningful dialogue we need to
agree on some basic definitions or terms so that
the message given is the same as message
received. I would like you to share with me what
you understand by the terms
Religion
Fundamentalism
Communism
Secularism
Humanism
and how your definitions are similar / different
than the conventional understanding of these
terms. My concern as your writer friend is that
your creation might be communicating a very
different message than what you had in your mind
because words have their own mind and meaning
which might be different than what the writer
had in his mind. I would like to know not only
WHAT YOU SAID but also WHAT YOU TRIED TO SAY
because if someone asked me what was the message
in Abrar’s creation, I would say, ‘It was as
clear as mud”. In creative writing ambiguity or
willful vagueness is welcome as it adds multiple
layers of meanings but in essays and
philosophical writings we need clarity of
thought. In your mind were you writing as essay
or a short story, a piece of creative writing or
a philosophical writing?
Affectionately,
Sohail
August 1st, 2009 |