A Conservative Journey Through Literary America – Part 8: The Way Forward

This series of essays was not intended to be a laundry list of conservative literary authors – laundry lists are always boring and never helpful. Instead, they were intended to be an investigation only, examining the dearth of conservatives in literature with an eye toward discovering the reason for this curious state of affairs and formulating a course for its possible correction.

As to the first, we have reached a tentative answer: A combination of temperament and values in the conservative mind combine to make the writing life both less suitable for, and less attractive to, conservatives. The question remains: What is to be done?

Let us state the obvious first – conservatives who are so inclined must write, write often, and write well. But that is not enough. They must submit their work to literary magazines, publishing houses and agencies, large and small, again and again if need be. Getting your work to market is a long, disappointing slog, with no guarantee of success for even the best of work. Liberal writers know this and engage the process nonetheless; conservatives must do likewise.

But what to write? Some will argue that conservatives should write material with explicit conservative themes. This, I think, would be a mistake. While explicit themes have their place, over-reliance on them would make conservative authors niche artists who preach to the converted only (or at least mostly).

Far better, in my view, to write the best stories possible without worrying too much about politics – a good story, told well, will garner readers from across the political spectrum. Conservative values will nonetheless naturally shine through, and will be all the more powerful for their subtlety.

And finally, conservatives who despond over the lack of conservatism in the arts need to look to the next generation: Do we teach our children that conservatism and the arts are not incompatible? Were we so taught by our parents? Do we encourage artistic gifts in our kids when and if they arise? If values are at the heart of the matter, then the only way conservatives will compete in the literary world (or any art) is if we change how we view and value the arts, and that kind of change can only begin in the home.

In closing, I would like to thank the readers that stuck with me through the end of this series. And I would especially like to thank John Nolte, Andrew Breitbart, and Big Hollywood for taking a chance on this long and discursive journey, and for all their efforts to advance conservatism in the arts.

For conservatives to triumph politically, we must compete culturally. That means not just commenting on art – but making some.

Let’s get to work.

[Ed. note: You can read a new chapter of this eight-part series every Saturday and Sunday morning. Previous chapters -Part one, two, three, four, five, six. and seven.]

Matt Patterson is a columnist and commentator whose work has appeared in The Washington Examiner, The Baltimore Sun, and Pajamas Media. He is the author of “Union of Hearts: The Abraham Lincoln & Ann Rutledge Story.” His email is mpatterson.column@gmail.com