Using Social Critique In Your Writing
Social critique (also known as social commentary) is an important feature of the literary genre, but it also has an important role to play in other genres. Here are just a few examples of some popular works of fiction you might not think of as “literary” in the strictest sense of the word, but that make some relevant social, political, or cultural observations.
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is a young adult, dystopian series. Despite being written primarily for teenagers, the series has also enjoyed success with an adult readership. The Hunger Games series makes some fairly adult observations, exploring the use of propaganda in political campaigns, advocating for an individual's social responsibility to the collective, and posing what are arguably anti-capitalist sentiments.
The His Dark Materials saga, by Phillip Pullman, sits firmly in the fantasy genre. This trilogy encourages readers to think about their perceptions of childhood, innocence, and freedom through knowledge.
Lastly, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, a mystery thriller novel, observes the false conflict between faith and knowledge, the intersection between religion and secular society, and the subjectivity of history.
So, we have a young adult series, a fantasy trilogy, and a mystery thriller novel. Three entirely different genres, and yet each of these examples is known for their social, political, and cultural observations—proof that you don’t have to be writing in a particular genre to leverage social critique in your writing.
But why should you? What’s the benefit of social critique to a reader?
Social critique, when executed well, shouldn’t leave your reader feeling like they’re sitting in on a lecture. It isn’t a vehicle for teaching, but poses the opportunity for readers to dive a little deeper into the world you’ve created and draw comparisons between it and our own world. Social critique creates layers and invites readers to peel them back, providing depth that can make a novel more relevant and memorable.
Reading can be a demanding activity, requiring concentration, imagination, and commitment. Social critique contributes a new challenge to the experience of reading, like a puzzle lurking between the lines waiting to be solved. And when solved, it can be not only satisfying but can enrich the reading experience. When a social observation dawns on a reader, it can create a sense of participation in the author’s world, like a shared secret.
If you’re not yet convinced by the value of social critique in writing, try to think back to a time when you’ve recognised a new layer of meaning in a book, and how it felt to make that discovery. It’s that feeling that we are trying to awaken in readers when we leverage social critique.
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