Literary Text as a Source for Understanding Conflicts in Contemporary Reality (Political Violence and Terrorism)

Abstract

Political violence in the modern world is developing in many ways and in forms that are more radical than ever before. In the second half of the last century, and the start of this current one, the ethno-social conflicts (terrorism being the most extreme) have been one of the most pressing global issues of our time.Various aspects of ethno-social conflict, with terrorism as an extreme form of political violence, are now the subject of artistic interpretation for contemporary authors. The study of literary text for understanding conflicts in the contemporary reality is significant, since writers consider certain factual material in their works. These writers strive to emphasize and describe personal and social layers of ethno-social conflicts, to reveal their peculiarities and consequences.This study compiles a theoretical framework for the study of literary text as a source for understanding the conflicts of contemporary reality. It uses a complex approach that provides a profound analysis of causes and effects, and the nature and content of political and ethno-social conflicts, including the principles of political studies and comparative literature.The authors of this present study conclude that the great concern of the world’s writers about ethno-social issues and conflicts is the inter-ethnic and inter-cultural contradictions that closely connect to the crisis of multiculturalism in the USA and Western Europe. Contemporary writers focus on themes, like the islamization of Europe, inter-confessional conflicts, total changes in inter-ethnic relations, fragmentation of the single universal cultural space, and social and cultural transformation leading to conflicts. Examples include Andrei Volos’ Maskavskaya Mecca, and Elena Chudinova’s The Mosque of Notre Dame. Some authors ponder over the terrorism as an extremist reaction to social injustice or inner personal, cultural, and religious contradictions, as seen in John Updike’s Terrorist and Don DeLillo’s Falling Man.