Literature and human rights: a study on the role of literature in promoting human rights

Abstract

Human rights are one of the factors that ensure the hopes of the common man. Sadly, however, it is not uncommon to see these rights violated by dictatorial regimes. When this happens, literature must take the initiative to bring light to such violations and help people sympathize with those whose rights are abused. This article explores the relationship between literature and human rights. It argues that literature can play a paramount role in promoting human rights in two ways. First, literature, being a reflection of reality, can expose the various human rights violations and abuses happening across the world and this will help people to be more aware of these violations. Secondly, using its unique power to touch the hearts and minds of people, literature can make people more sympathetic towards those who suffer and live in pain as a result of violations of their human rights. Two African short stories—The American Embassy and Sola—written by the Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, have been analyzed to substantiate this argument. The analysis revealed that Adichie shows how the basic human rights articles in the UNDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights), including freedom of expression and the right to work and to work in safe and favorable conditions, are ignored and violated in the two stories set in two different African nations—Nigeria (during General Sani Abacha’s years) and Gambia (under Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorial rule)