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Salient. An organ of student opinion at Victoria University, Wellington. Vol. 23. No. 7. Monday, August 8, 1960.

Cant Stand Criticism

Cant Stand Criticism

Artists try to deal with what they feel are radical social problems of their times, and society bans their literature because it cannot stand criticism and realism over the point where strong tension arises, as in sexual and political relationships in the present age. There lies a difference, said Prof. Stevens, in the use of words: certain ones may be used in private, but never in public. This is the concern of taste, not morals, although it is often used as grounds to attack a book.

The concern of literature is with life, character and morality, and the artist must handle them with realism. Concern is for human behaviour, feeling and thought, not for the particular immoral practice under fire. Literature does have a social implication, and so a writer must have both freedom to write and responsibility for what he writes.