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The relationship between literature and politics is often underestimated. Through political essays literary authors comment on the state of the world and consciously intervene in a political discourse which in turn shapes politics. This study examines how Arundhati Roy, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Salman Rushdie and Juli Zeh understand their role as authors, the way they view the interplay between fact and fiction and why they write about the current globalisation process. It does this by comparing and contrasting self-reflexive statements in political essays post 1989 and detailed analysis of one essay by each of these authors.

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Born in Germany in 1981, Lydia Malmedie spent two years at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales and went on to study Political Science and Comparative Literature in Germany and Canada. She also holds a degree in Human Rights and Democratisation. Lydia currently lives in London.

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