Literature that is not the breath of contemporary society, that dares not transmit the pains and fears of that society, that does not warn in time against threatening moral and social dangers — such literature does not deserve the name of literature; it is only a facade. Such literature loses the confidence of its own people, and its published works are used as wastepaper instead of being read.
via Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in Wikiquote.
The more I hear about artists and writers who operated inside the USSR towards the end, the more I see the way art in the USSR has things to teach us about the US today. I wonder if The Wire, being so lauded and yet so unpopular, falls into that category. The people may only want to see the facade in their art. This worries me. So how to strive for authenticity and truth?
I know, hard questions. No answers.
Onward.
