Post by account_disabled on Jan 6, 2024 8:44:08 GMT
In 2011 the publishing house NewSouth Books decided to censor Mark Twain's two novels about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, changing the words "injun" and "nigger" with "Indian" and "slave". The reason? Because of the various African American students in the schools, who would have heard that racist term repeatedly. Would it have been too difficult to explain to students the historical and geographical context of Twain's two works? At that time those were the terms used to indicate those people: whether it's wrong, it doesn't matter, that's history. That was the reality of the time. Changing those words means not only disrespecting the author - who he can no longer even contest - but disrespecting History itself and giving a false image of the events narrated. If we were to write a novel set in 19th century United States today, should we perhaps self-censor so as not to be taken for racist? It seems ridiculous to me.
I'll give an example with a current work I'm reading: World Without End by Ken Follett. For those who don't know it, it is set in England in the 14th century, therefore in the Middle Ages. I continually read about class differences between citizens, a clear example of discrimination based on specific social classes, which still exist today. Not being a knight, nor a nobleman, nor a priest, I should resent how my "class" is defined in the novel. The College of Respectable Writers If we want to create a hypocritical world, politically correct writing will pave the way. In the long run all of us writers – and in this category I include fiction and non-fiction authors, bloggers and copywriters – will be forced to follow standards in communication, standards decided from above. The result will be a flattening of writing due to a process of assimilation that will lead to a monotony of language, without a diversity of expression being able to emerge in the various writings. As in a boarding school, writers will be educated, trained, indoctrinated.
Political correctness in writing leads to censorship To what extent can we talk about politically correct writing? And when we talk about censorship? Because banning the use of some words and expressions means censorship. In an article in English it was said to pay attention to the words we use when there may be people of different ethnic groups around us. Among the various examples, the use of expressions such as "thank God" was discouraged, so as not to offend the sensitivity of those who profess a different religion. The fact is that each ethnic group has its own precise communication and cannot ignore its own geographical origin and its own ideas when speaking and writing. It is the context that counts, the individual becomes a context that contains his entire history: his country of origin, his cultural level, his age, his opinions. All this is part of the individual, it is his treasure and no one has the right to demolish what makes him distinct from others.
I'll give an example with a current work I'm reading: World Without End by Ken Follett. For those who don't know it, it is set in England in the 14th century, therefore in the Middle Ages. I continually read about class differences between citizens, a clear example of discrimination based on specific social classes, which still exist today. Not being a knight, nor a nobleman, nor a priest, I should resent how my "class" is defined in the novel. The College of Respectable Writers If we want to create a hypocritical world, politically correct writing will pave the way. In the long run all of us writers – and in this category I include fiction and non-fiction authors, bloggers and copywriters – will be forced to follow standards in communication, standards decided from above. The result will be a flattening of writing due to a process of assimilation that will lead to a monotony of language, without a diversity of expression being able to emerge in the various writings. As in a boarding school, writers will be educated, trained, indoctrinated.
Political correctness in writing leads to censorship To what extent can we talk about politically correct writing? And when we talk about censorship? Because banning the use of some words and expressions means censorship. In an article in English it was said to pay attention to the words we use when there may be people of different ethnic groups around us. Among the various examples, the use of expressions such as "thank God" was discouraged, so as not to offend the sensitivity of those who profess a different religion. The fact is that each ethnic group has its own precise communication and cannot ignore its own geographical origin and its own ideas when speaking and writing. It is the context that counts, the individual becomes a context that contains his entire history: his country of origin, his cultural level, his age, his opinions. All this is part of the individual, it is his treasure and no one has the right to demolish what makes him distinct from others.