Harold Pinter, 1930-2008

Harold Pinter, the Nobel-honored playwright, died 24 December. Mr. Pinter was a conscientious objector who also rejected racism, torture, and political oppression. Although he received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to literature, perhaps he should have had one for peace, too.

Mr. Pinter strongly and clearly noted his concerns about peace and justice on many occasions. In his Nobel lecture, Mr. Pinter extensively discussed ambiguity in truth-falsehood in several of his plays, then he segued to a discussion of truth and falsehood in political language, objecting to the US and Britain prosecuting a war in Iraq and later indicts other US actions (e.g., the overthrow of governments in Latin America, Asia, and elsewhere), in which democracy prevails.

Here’s an excerpt of his views from the speech he delivered (by video, because he was unable to travel) on receiving the Nobel award:

The justification for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45 minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq had a relationship with Al Quaeda and shared responsibility for the atrocity in New York of September 11th 2001. We were assured that this was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq threatened the security of the world. We were assured it was true. It was not true.

The truth is something entirely different. The truth is to do with how the United States understands its role in the world and how it chooses to embody it.

On the Nobel Web site, there are multiple links to other content (interview, video of acceptance speech, etc.) about both literature and politics; set aside 45 minutes and watch the entire video of the acceptance speech. On Mr. Pinter’s Web site, Daisy Evans assembled a catalog of his political views. There is also a QT video of Mr. Pinter expressing concern about the moral authority—a term he characterizes as a synonym for “power, bombs and power”—evoked in war and killing. One can also learn more about Mr. Pinter’s views from The Artists Network (“a group of artists and arts presenters who create and promote art that contributes to a culture of resistance”), which reproduced the Nobel lecture as well as other documents; and from the Harold PInter Society, where there are multiple links to video and other sources. For other particulars about Mr. Pinter, see the Wikipedia article.