Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl, talks to Sunil Sharma, novelist and co- editor, Setu about his book ‘The Dark Republic.’

Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl, talks to Sunil Sharma, novelist and co- editor, Setu about his book ‘The Dark Republic.’
 

Thank you, Sunil, for talking to The Wise Owl about your latest book.
 

RS: The Dark Republic feels driven by a deep sense of urgency. Was there a particular moment, personal, political, or intellectual, when the idea for this novel first took hold of you and refused to let go?

SS: Thanks for this opportunity. A pleasure talking to a perceptive editor who has turned The Wise Owl into a global platform of meaningful engagement and dialogue.

The personal is political. Political systems impact the very quality of existence and overall life of a citizen. The novel is the final product of a long process of thinking and meditation on vital things that surround and make us as Homo sapiens. The manner in which these ecosystems, practices and value-orientations function and determine us, as cognitive beings; decide our actions, praxis, both individual and collective; our initiatives to change human condition for better.

It is also a continuation of my first political novel Minotaur. Some overarching themes and concerns revisited and deeply explored after a gap of almost a decade within a thriller format-to keep it readable and enjoyable. The Dark Republic is a critical-literary decoding of the complexes of the grim realities of the contemporary world; a post-modern, post-colonial world entering a stage of dehumanised development. At the core, this novel is about the alarming rise of the rightist forces, the fascist tendencies, in the developing and developed democracies-a scary development! It is a political-philosophical study of power structures; the crumbling of finer values; the collapse of liberal-humanism as a sustainable framework; ascendancy of a masculine ultra-right nationalism; bigotry, intolerance and reactive religious ideologies across the world. Creating the predatory versions of humanity under the garb of misleading slogans by the selfish leaders obsessed with power, power at any cost. Darkening of democracy as a social institution. The fragile system. Its exploitation by ruthless leaders for personal gains.

RS: Odin—formerly Arya/Icarus Ananta—is a former democrat who becomes an absolute dictator. In crafting this character, were you interested more in examining the psychology of tyranny or the collective failures that enable such transformations?
 

SS: Both. It is a study of a breed of ambitious leaders who begin as democrat and turn despot, due to the manufactured consent of the organic media, intellectual class and silencing of the dissident voices; the voices that question the deterioration of the falling frameworks and foundational value-systems that govern democracy as an enduring political system of governance for the toiling honest millions. It is about the scary corruption of the once-robust political system, and final subversion of the power-structure by a once- popular leader, a charismatic and articulate person, who wants to wield absolute power, all in the name of old and new mythological heroes. A swift descent from Left to Right, very frightening slide, on account of suppression of public voices, by obtaining silence through state violence. This is regularly occurring in so many places. The descent into “madness” that can be very costly for the citizens.

RS: Marco Columbus is a war correspondent, a chronicler of conflict and collapse. What drew you personally to this profession as your protagonist’s identity, and does his way of observing the world mirror your own engagement with history, politics, or reportage?

SS: As a war correspondent, Marco Columbus is a first-hand witness to the global conflict zones and is directly implicated in the wars being waged for different reasons---it provides him a direct, ring-side view of the disturbing violence and suffering; the mass killings being staged by the state actors and their top leaderships for naked power; painful aggression that results in
tragedies overlooked by a helpless international community. Like returning to the Dark Ages again. As a freelance journalist, I am aware of the risks involved in such assignments/beats and have got tremendous respect to this kind of courageous reporting from war zones by these brave souls; the committed seekers and soldiers of truth, thereby endangering their lives, some getting
killed in action--- survivors often come back as degraded and haunted humans. Sadly, this tribe is now in decline, the tribe of fearless photo-journalists and reporters/correspondents. As a protagonist, Marco is an involved and committed participant in the historical -social-political contexts and is eminently suited as a commentator on the ongoing changes within societies; changes that redefine our collective existence in a world filled with hatred and blind rage for the Other. This “othering” gets naturalised and can undermine civilizations as centres of co-habitation and excellence. Reportage is a way of conveying raw reports about spilt blood and deadly mayhem. Marco, as an embedded character/agent, is active, not passive seeker of truth and readily willing to expose the brutalities of a degrading system of governance anywhere in the world. Marco Columbus is the chronicler of the unfolding ugliness of tragic events- the best voice of the author keenly analysing current realities, an alter ego
troubled by the decline of democratic spirit globally.

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RS: Much of The Dark Republic explores how consent is manufactured and realities are controlled. As you were writing, did you find yourself thinking about specific global events or trends or does the book give voice to the long- standing anxieties we all carry about freedom in any political framework?

SS: Part of the answer is already there in the preceding part. It is a deep reflection, meditation on the fate, status of humanism and parliamentary democracy in the last century and the current one, and the erosion of these frameworks that animate our ways of seeing and living productively in an age going toxic and malevolent. The rise of mob; the spread of bigotry, of masculine and dangerous majoritarian tendencies that can turn humans into monsters across the world. Killing is a joy for such a bigoted
mindset and justified for predatory beliefs.

RS: Myth and symbolism quietly underpin the architecture of power in your novel. As a creative choice, why was mythology important to you in telling a story about modern authoritarianism?

SS: The selective use of mythology across time-space continuum, the very symbolism deployed by clever leaders is a clever way of creating mythical stature; claiming of invincibility and divine sanction for their despotic rule. A subtle strategy! This image of being untouchable and blessed by the gods---new or old of a consumerist culture---can serve limited purpose in obtaining general consent but, as the novel suggests, such a strategy, such image-building, ultimately fails to deliver the desired results, in the face of rising and unexpected popular anger and dissidence, triggered by an innocuous event or instance, un- anticipated by the power elites.

RS: As a co-editor of Setu, you engage deeply with bilingual, cross-cultural literary discourse. Did this editorial experience influence the structure, multiplicity of voices, or hybrid genre approach of The Dark Republic?

SS: As a fellow editor, you know that journalism---civic, political, literary and cultural---helps you develop a critical perspective and question the status quo. Your writing becomes better, clearer, brief, precise and analytical. If one keeps on reading and meditating, the style of literary writing also gets charged with the same focus and approach. Many full-time journalists turn to literary writing or non-fictional, documentary genre. The experience helps improve the idiom and grammar of cognitive
expression. In this case, the novel is both journalistic and cinematic in its broad range. A blend of so many styles of narration, communication to convey the felt immediacy for an audience on the go.

RS: The novel suggests that democracy often erodes not through coups, but through consent, fatigue, and fear. After writing this book, are you more hopeful or more apprehensive about the future of democratic societies and do you feel that literature plays an important role in resisting that erosion?

SS: You are spot on. I am very hopeful. History tends to move forward and evolve into progressive social formation only. Civilizations have seen many phases of such dreadful darkness and survived those spells. This will also pass. The Rise of the Citizens can challenge any well-entrenched dictatorship and can be instrumental in restoring democracy and a progressive, younger, better leadership with humane vision. Yes, literature plays an important role-Latin American Literature of the 1960-
80s is a good example of making significant interventions in public domain and altering consciousness; kind of enlightenment; lifting of the veil. For being a change agent, a committed writer has to be political, not narcissistic or self-centred interested in self-promotion only; an escapist or creator of stuff that dumbs, drugs and de-radicalizes the reader who is encouraged to become an avid consumer of fantasies about wizards, magicians, underworlds or other fantastic realms/regions, where killing the opponent is only legit option for survival. Writer should not be an apologist but a subvert. Radical writing is about ushering in changes for the welfare of people; it is about exposing the real face of tyranny, not justifying the status quo or singing praise to the dictator sitting in a palace. It is, I repeat, about altering perspectives and raising of recipient’s consciousness.

RS: The novel blends political thriller, speculative fiction, mythology, and philosophical inquiry. What freedoms did this genre-bending form offer you as a writer that a more “realist” or conventional literary novel might not have?

SS: Time for radical innovation of realism as a literary mode, for a much- needed overhaul of the genre. The dialectics of form and content evolves and dictates the further evolution of narrating stories, epics about lived realities of a dark age, in new syntaxes and idioms. The blend of these elements of story-telling afforded the narrator to expose and unfold newer visions and progressive scenarios. The crossing of boundaries is important for this epic tale---both a utopia and dystopia hinting
towards a new dawn on the red horizon. It is flexi model of narration and suited for such a sweeping vision, of contemporary experience and the possibility of a better future.

RS: Finally, writing a novel like this can be both cathartic and unsettling. After living inside the world of The Dark Republic, what stayed with you the longest—and what do you hope readers carry with them after closing the book?

SS: I worked on this novel for two years. It was living a nightmare. Feeling the pain of the oppressed and suppressed on a personal plain. After finishing the long book, I felt relieved. Then slept on it for long. Finally goaded by alarming developments in the West and East, erosion of democratic values, decided to publish it. My publishers, Penprints, liked the book and went ahead. So here you are. The parting note for the dear reader: Remain invested in History. Future is not that bleak. Things have a tendency to change, and change for better. In the long run, it is public that matters. Popular choices and actions can unseat the
most brutal regimes of the world. Tough! But possible as recent history teaches us.

RS: Thank you once again for giving our readers a deeper insight into your book. We wish your book success.

SS: Thanks for your quality time and for the in-depth questions! Enjoyed this conversation. Your support is highly appreciated!