The novel’s action will begin with the killing of a journalist in a war zone. What the novel then traces is the ripple effect an event like this can have and the quote above is a great introduction to a central theme I want to explore – denial.
In the face of a disaster, people often resort to various types of denial in order to cope with the situation, either consciously or unconsciously. Of course, this doesn't only apply to people; organisations and governments do it for reasons of realpolitik, to justify an unjustifiable course of action or simply to protect their image with their stakeholders or voters.
I want to write about the different forms this very powerful defense mechanism can take and how damaging it can be for the other elements of the system within which the denial is taking place when it isn’t recognized.
By the way, some people emailed me to say they had trouble submitting comments. If you want to do so, click on the word ‘Comments’ below this post.
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteyou've started with a tricky saying for non-nativ speaker ;-)
I think denial is a good central theme. In my opinion it's within human nature to denial own guilt and reinterpret the reality. You can see this behaviour every day. An in the end the people really beleive this new view as real for themself.
Dirk
You're quite right, Dirk. And after all my reality is also my own construction. Just because it's a different reality to another person's doesn't make it the truth.
DeleteBut what I find fascinating is how sometimes you can compare a number of people's reactions to a given stressful situation and observe the differences. And then you can try to analyse why they behave in this different way. What is the pre-history that leads to this response rather than another?