Fiction channels social criticism that censors fail to recognize as subversive

Evidence

There is one other field in which criticism—social and moral rather than political—appears in print, and that is in fiction. Egyptian novelists and shortstory writers—and there are some very good ones working in Egypt today— present, for those who can appreciate it, a vivid picture of the quiet desperation of modern Egyptian life. It is perhaps fortunate that censors rarely understand literature. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1263

Categorization

• XREF: Corroborates the general claim that literature carries meaning past official censors — parallels the midwife’s journal and other representations read against the grain.