Milena Renzi
AN
INTERVIEW
LITERATURE IS THE DIPLOMACY OF WORDS
ITALIAN SCHOLAR MILENA RENZI IN CONVERSATION WITH DR JERNAIL S ANAND, THE TOP RANKING WORLD POET AND PHILOSOPHER.
[Dr Jernail S.
Anand has authored more than 200 books, and is believed to be the pioneer of
Epic Revival. President of the International Academy of Ethics, Dr. Anand has
won the Charter of Morava, Seneca, Franz Kafka, Maxim Gorky and Mahatma Gandhi
Awards. His name is inscribed on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia.]
Dr. HR MILENA RENZI is an Italian writer, journalist, translator, cultural operator and theatre author and a Fellow of the International Academy of Ethics.
MILENA RENZI
How can literature become a bridge between wounded
cultures and divided human beings?
It is very rare that people who are happy take to
literary creation in all its seriousness. Literature is a part of the living
culture of the people which gives expression not only to their joy but their
pain as well. Essentially, literature deals with human pain and suffering. In
fact, it is the most basic reaction, after tears, that a man gives, with an unconscious mind. Poetry, prose,
fiction, epics – do not tell stories of happiness or joy. I sometimes wonder,
if joy has any story-ed potential. Happiness can start boring after an initial
kickup. The films which are based on comedies, or even in plays which are
comic, the authors have to work hard, to sustain interest of the masses. In
ordinary life, if you start telling a story of a family which is living
happily, the listener will soon ask: then what happened? He expects it will
take some turn for the worse. And we eagerly wait for the entry of an evil
spirit, some devil, or a villain. Once he is in, we can be sure of having wonderful time. That
is our real joy from literature.
In this way, literature primarily deals with human pain and suffering, and presents a dignified opening for wounded cultures and even for divided men, who are unable to understand themselves. Literature is, in fact, a diplomacy of words. We want balance and peace, and for this, only literature supplies the best words, which are more credible than history which is the architect of the wounds of humanity.
MILENA RENZI
What is the role of women writers today in
defending peace, dignity and memory?
All the writers confront a grave existential crisis
which turns more serious when it impacts human dignity. Peace is our birth
right, and the Creator has provided in animals and birds, the archetypes of
peaceful existence. The greatest threat to peace is human greed, which is born
of disoriented knowledge. Women writers can defend peace only if they
understand what constitutes peace. Peace is not the absence of war. Peace is
a state of being in which we stop violating the essential harmony maintained by
nature. As soon as we step on the soft toes of nature, it is hurt, and this
rash act then wounds our own peace.
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JERNAIL S ANAND
The idea of dignity too needs to be understood from
the point of view of human duties. With duties is associated the idea of
dignity. Women authors can highlight this twin responsibility. Men have been
invested with a certain dignity, and they can live with grace only if they
perform their duties well, which in spiritual parlance, is called ‘dharma’. Not
only men, women too have to stick to their ‘dharma’ in the performance of the
chores for which the cosmos has detailed them. And for this, they have to come
to terms with the racial and ancestral archetypes which rest in our collective
memory, and keep reminding us of our adequacies and inadequacies while we are
performing in this life.
MILENA RENZI
Can art and words transform personal pain into a universal message of hope?
Art and words give a recognizable shape to human
perception. Art has wings. It carries you on its wings and lands you in a
world which disconnects you from your present reality. Art presents life in a
new perspective. The brush and the pen impart a new persona to words and expressions. Poetry and Art say things few have said
before. If while reading a poem or seeing a work of art, or even meeting a poet,
you remain what you were, it means the art or the poem or the man lacked the
transversional power of imagination. It was
routine writing which wastes the readers’ time and of humanity as a whole.
There is only one way which the world knows how to relieve pain. It is to get back on the person who is the author of this pain. But an artist gets back on the world through his creations, and thus, gives vent to his angst. The poet knows the art of universalising his pain, so that everyone who reads his creations, or every visitor who looks at the art work, identifies with the immensity of poet’s experience. In this way, art offers relief to tense nerves of mankind, and helps in restoring equilibrium in the world
MILENA RENZI
How can intercultural dialogue help us overcome fear, prejudice and spiritual loneliness?
Cultures are signifiers of identity, and signatures
of distinctiveness. No two cultures are alike, though similarities cannot be
ruled out. Culture is the assimilated texture of the style of living of a
particular group of people, situated in a geographical location. However, when
we come into contact with people from diverse cultures, and study their ethos,
it helps us understand human value systems existing in far off places, and
there are many indicators which coexist and resonate with one another. In fact,
it leads to greater understanding as
human beings, and becomes a catalyst of human empathy, which is the need of the
hour. Things we do not know generate fear and prejudice, and land us in an
unsavoury state of spiritual loneliness. Cultural exchanges and cultural
dialogue across societies, groups, and nations, help in international
understanding, and restore human
equilibrium which remains strained due to several factors like fear and
prejudice.
These are the days when people are getting highly
sensitive towards their cultural identity, and it often leads to conflicts as
well. It is highly paradoxical that on one hand, the world is becoming a global
village, and on the other, enthusiasts of cultural identity conflict with the
idea of a singular world culture. We
need to negotiate this contention so that the idea of a universal culture and the
cultural identity could co-exist and enjoy a harmonious get-together.
MILENA RENZI
What does it mean, in our time, to write not only
for beauty, but also for humanity?
Literature is expected to provide aesthetic
pleasure. The pleasure principle is very strong when we evaluate a work of
literary writing. We had a school of literary writers who believed in Art for
Art’s Sake. These people were argued out
by poets and scholars who believed that beauty is truth no doubt, but truth
cannot exist in isolation. Truth has to resonate with human life. Extending the
same logic, beauty which appeals to the eye, or even to the ears [music,
poetry] serves a narrow literary purpose, of giving pleasure, which could have
been accepted, if art and literature had been a private enterprise. When we
write poetry, it remains half-realised if it is not read and enjoyed by the
readers. The joy it creates, elevates them, but this is not enough. It must
uplift the consciousness of the readers, into higher states of existence. Horace,
a Roman
lyrical poet, believes that the best poetry combines pleasure with
instruction, aiming to both delight the reader and improve them morally or intellectually.
I
believe that Literature is a parallel movement of history and it must extend
beyond the concepts of beauty and personal joy. The idea of art and literature
limiting itself only to aesthetic pleasure or expression of beauty appears to
be a flawed perception which limits the reformative and imaginative potential of literary creation.
BIO OF DR JERNAIL
S ANAND
An India poet
and philosopher hailing from Chandigarh, Dr. Jernail S. Anand, with 200 books [18 epics] to his credit, is a formidable presence in the contemporary
world literature, a polymath, and a vital architect of the 21st century ethical
literature whose seminal work ‘Lustus: The Prince of Darkness’ challenges the
moral complacency of our era. Founding
President of the International Academy of Ethics, and Laureate of Charter of
Morava [Serbia], Seneca [Italy], Franz Kafka [Germany, Ukraine, Czech Rep],
Maxim Gorky [Russia] Soka Ikeda [Japan] and Mahankavi Bharathi [India]
awards, his name is inscribed on the
Poets’ Rock in Serbia. He is an Honorary Member of the Serbian Writers
Association, Belgrade, a Member of the Honorary International Boule and
Honorary Academic Senator of International Academy of Rome, and an Academic
Member of the Academy of Arts and Philosophical Sciences, Bari [Italy]. Anand has built a poetics that unites ethics,
Vedic spirituality, social critique, and the philosophy of meaning. Anand
presents an articulated perspective on poetry as an instrument of planetary
consciousness. A moral philosopher, professor, and international speaker, Anand
has devoted much of his research to the ethical dimension of language, to the
responsibility of the individual within a globalised society, and to the relationship
between matter, consciousness, and transcendence. Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com.
For
bibliography and other details: ethicsacademy.co.in
MILENA RENZI
Short bio – Milena Renzi
Dr.HC Milena Renzi is an Italian writer, journalist, translator, cultural operator and theatre author. A freelance writer since 1990, she has worked as a correspondent from India and the Middle East. She is the author of sixteen novels and over two hundred articles published in Italian and international media. Her work focuses on human rights, women’s dignity, intercultural dialogue, peace and culture as civil growth. In 2026, she received the honorary title “Honorary Great Contemporary Writer”, the Award of Fellowship from the International Academy of Ethics, India, and was appointed Ambassador of Peace for RRM3.
