“I want to make clear that we are also here in solidarity with the people of Palestine. And I want to urge you all, just as I also urge myself, not to turn away, not to give in to despair or fatigue, to keep protesting, to keep speaking out, to keep demanding an end to this horrifying war.”
In the release of “Intermezzo” held at the Southbank Centre on the 25th of September, Sally Rooney opened and closed her speech by promoting solidarity efforts with Palestine in light of the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel.
This is not the first time Rooney has highlighted Palestinian rights in public. In her magnum opus “Normal People,” Rooney mentioned a protest against the war in Gaza, in which her characters attended the event. Earlier this year, Rooney also wrote an op-ed article in The Irish Times commenting on the hypocrisy of the Irish government in speaking about Gaza when then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the White House for St. Patrick’s Day. Rooney wrote, “To this collage of moral depravity, we may soon be able to add a photograph of Biden and Varadkar smiling together over the customary bowl of shamrock. If so, it is an image that—to use Varadkar’s own words—‘will haunt us forever.”
In 2021, she refused to have her work translated into Hebrew, stating, “In the meantime, I would like to express once again my solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.” More recently, on the 28th of October, Rooney signed an open letter in conjunction with the Palestine Festival of Literature. The letter, signed by thousands of other notable writers, represents a commitment to a boycott by the global literary community, condemning the genocide that happened by isolating global interaction with the Israeli cultural sector.
Rooney has previously stated that it is a responsibility for someone such as herself to raise socio-cultural issues around her: “I feel that I have been given a very privileged position in public discourse, particularly in Ireland. I feel that I have the power to intervene in public conversations, and I still feel disinclined to do it unless I feel that there might be something I could contribute that I haven’t seen said elsewhere.”
Rooney’s statement brings back to the table a discussion on how we as a literary society engage with a writer’s political views in both their narrative world and the real world. How can writers utilise their platform as a means to voice humanitarian messages and invoke readers’ awareness of certain events? How can the writer show their identity, a kind of autobiography of their own thoughts in their works, and should we perceive the two elements as inseparable? Or the opposite — are we supposed to separate them?
In a modern context where social media and digital platforms give writers a bigger stage and a greater voice, personal views and work tend to merge and become more challenging to separate. Using one’s work as a platform to voice one’s political views should be—must be—commonly appreciated. Rooney and many other writers are well aware of this, and by deliberately raising various social issues in their works, they spread awareness to their broad audience.
And Rooney has always raised social issues and humanism in her work. The housing crisis in Ireland, abortion, gender and masculinity in society are just a few examples which she explores in “Intermezzo.” In her previous novels, such as “Normal People” and “Conversations with Friends,” besides emphasising the human persona and the need for social connection, she also addresses the immense social inequality that afflicts her characters from a young age. Rooney shows how external pressures from society colour personal choices and human relationships. As such, her works offer deep and emotional stories and sharp critiques of the existing societal structures. By this, Rooney invites readers to reflect on the social conditions around them and question the norms that are often taken for granted. Her work does not capture social issues through an abstract prism—her work delivers the reader to the here and now.
Rooney’s consistency in voicing the issue of humanism, both through media platforms and her work, is something that other writers and cultural actors should emulate. After all, the fight for human rights must be pursued in all possible ways.
Since its release in September, “Intermezzo” has quickly become a worldwide success, holding a lasting place on the New York Times Bestseller List. This achievement confirms that speaking out about humanity does not make one less popular but strengthens one’s voice and influence in one’s field.
By Imtiyaz Putri—Features Contributor
