Is Nonkilling Literature Possible?
Since the inception of CGNK we have been seeking to define the meaning of Nonkilling Literature, covering old and new works of fiction and nonfiction by established and new authors. Cultures may be geographic specific, in the post-colonial world with the redrawing of boundaries and ensuing displacements, they have been changing beyond recognition in a lifetime. CGNK founder late Glenn D. Paige once noted, “Nonkilling Culture crosses all the lines”.
Dr. Balwant (Bill) Bhaneja, a senior CGNK advisor, in a recently published essay entitled, Aspects of Nonkilling Literature, using six works of new fiction and nonfiction published over the past decade, examines the possibility of a Nonkilling Literature. The essay was published in the October 2021 issue of the Humanizing Language Teaching (HLT) journal.
Dr. Bhaneja writes: The artist having a principled nonkilling spirit within is of fundamental importance in these artistic creations. These works whether fiction or non-fiction are not written from a place of hatred but with a genuine desire of reconciliation with enemy. Otherwise we just seem to get ‘atrocity- lamenting’ art over the centuries without any principled nonkilling critique.
For full essay, click: https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21
Balwant (Bill) Bhaneja is author of six books on arts, politics and science. His recent work is a literary non-fiction memoir, “Troubled Pilgrimage: Passage to Pakistan” (Toronto: TSAR/Mawenzi Publishing House, 2013), “Quest for Gandhi: A Nonkilling Journey” (Honolulu: Center for Global, Nonkilling, 2010), and also as collaborator with prolific playwright Vijay Tendulkar : “Vijay Tendulkar: Two plays – The Cyclist and His Fifth Woman”, (Oxford University Press (India), 2006), His adaptation and translation of plays from India have been produced by BBC World Service, and his short fiction published in Debonair, Manushi, and Des-Pardes. Since 2012, he has served as the coordinating editor of NKARC, a peace and arts newsletter for the Center for Global Nonkilling, Honolulu, Hawai’i (www.nonkilling.org). A former Canadian diplomat, Dr. Bhaneja holds a Ph.D. from University of Manchester, U.K. E-mail: billbhaneja@rogers.com
“Everyone has the right not to be killed and the responsibility not to kill others.”
Robert Muller (1923-2010), Former UN Assistant Secretary General
