tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post5429408714208485190..comments2024-03-27T17:34:52.560-05:00Comments on A Garden Carried in the Pocket: The Lost Codex and Some Thoughts About Political Correctnessjenclairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-23133932322684230122015-08-19T23:13:47.644-05:002015-08-19T23:13:47.644-05:00I just read the article you linked, and I agree th...I just read the article you linked, and I agree that she makes her point very well. I do like warnings about about graphic violence, especially violence against women or children, as I mentioned earlier. Purging books like Huckleberry Finn of offensive words, however, may make them less uncomfortable, but less thought-provoking. I like that The Mary Sue article mentions the need to frame discussions about certain topics with sensitivity and prepare students to navigate the discussions thoughtfully. jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-34615562558670098312015-08-19T20:47:17.903-05:002015-08-19T20:47:17.903-05:00Ha! I didn't even read Rice's article, an...Ha! I didn't even read Rice's article, and I should have before including a mention of it. What I feel uneasy about is the fact that monitoring and apologizing for art and literature can go too far. I have always been uncomfortable with Yeat's "Leda and the Swan," but I don't want it removed from anthologies. Political correctness can lead to an unofficial censorship and actually prevent people from thinking ideas through on their own. Maybe the phrase "vindictive protectiveness" from the article is what I'm concerned about. I'm still pondering this whole idea.jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-19472384877855485442015-08-19T19:42:54.768-05:002015-08-19T19:42:54.768-05:00I read what I thought was quite a good rebuttal to...I read what I thought was quite a good rebuttal to the Atlantic article over at the Mary Sue: http://www.themarysue.com/trigger-warnings-arent-coddling/<br /><br />What bothered me about Anne Rice's response (apart from that I find Anne Rice rather irritating in general) is that she's conflating criticism with censorship. To steal a turn of phrase from Margaret Atwood, she's not clear on the difference between freedom to and freedom from. We're free TO write and say and publish what we want, but we aren't free FROM the consequences of that speech as it exists in a marketplace of ideas (i.e., from criticism of that speech). Readers objected to the way the Breslin novel coopted Jewish suffering for Christian purposes (plus the offensiveness of having a concentration camp commandant as a romantic hero), and people said, The author and the publishing house were wrong and should say so. But there aren't any real life consequences for the author or the publisher apart from people saying "we don't want to read your offensive book and we are upset that you published it" -- which, to me, is a perfectly reasonable response. So I wasn't really sure what part of that Anne Rice perceived as censorship.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-57347668385429357502015-08-19T13:08:31.996-05:002015-08-19T13:08:31.996-05:00Friedman's The Aleppo Codex was truly a great ...Friedman's The Aleppo Codex was truly a great nonfiction read, full of mystery and intrigue! And Jacobson't The Lost Codex was fictional suspense with lots of action and political machinations. :)jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-28629219226106143012015-08-19T07:39:52.124-05:002015-08-19T07:39:52.124-05:00Oh, good point, Melody. How can we learn from his...Oh, good point, Melody. How can we learn from history, if history is expunged when unpleasant? How can we learn from mistakes, if the mistakes are kind of retroactively erased? <br /><br />Which is not to say that acknowledging our mistakes (governmental, societal, cultural, or personal) is always easy, but pretending they don't exist or that the can be rehabilitated doesn't really work. Art and literature do reflect both the good and bad of societies. jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-11439723687231150322015-08-19T07:31:49.064-05:002015-08-19T07:31:49.064-05:00I enjoyed the book, but when I finished and read h...I enjoyed the book, but when I finished and read his acknowledgement, I was off on another tangent. I don't want a world of "Newspeak." The tendency to try and please everyone and offend no one may have good intentions, but is ultimately impossible.jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-37450619657994923862015-08-19T00:22:46.215-05:002015-08-19T00:22:46.215-05:00This is a great post, Jenclair! While I may not to...This is a great post, Jenclair! While I may not totally into history and politics, I do think it's important to set the facts straight and not correcting it just because they are unpleasant or offensive to some. Things happened and we couldn't change them, but we can prevent the mistakes from happening again through understanding and learning from the past events. Melodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03967837585961009598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-56439426494795082872015-08-18T19:53:00.522-05:002015-08-18T19:53:00.522-05:00Excellent post! I agree wholeheartedly, and now I&...Excellent post! I agree wholeheartedly, and now I'm off to put this book on my tablet and look up your links. You have jump started the wheels in my head, which was definitely needed after the heat enduced lethargy/coma of the past few weeks!DebbyMchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04144243342308677348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-51208517645816430052015-08-18T19:00:52.048-05:002015-08-18T19:00:52.048-05:00I love books about ancient manuscripts, too. The A...I love books about ancient manuscripts, too. The Aleppo Codex sounds amazing. Thanks for the rec!Lark https://www.blogger.com/profile/13777891312147377769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-49784546706869497012015-08-18T15:44:51.759-05:002015-08-18T15:44:51.759-05:00I don't really like the term. political correc...I don't really like the <i>term</i>. political correctness, but I do understand that the intention is often about sensitivity to someone else's feelings. Something we should all take into account. On the other hand, rewriting The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn borders on the ridiculous. Most people who would rewrite a piece of literature would probably prefer to just ban it outright. <br /><br />I totally agree with that rewriting history is a dangerous idea for society in general, and rewriting literature is a kind of cultural death.jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-34775156960803322002015-08-18T14:51:31.018-05:002015-08-18T14:51:31.018-05:00The Aleppo Codex sounds really good. I enjoy books...The Aleppo Codex sounds really good. I enjoy books about lost manuscripts too, although I don't read about them very often.<br /><br />I believe that political correctness has its place. I don't think it is a bad thing--at least not some of the time, in certain situations. I even think it can be important and necessary in certain instances. I also believe it can and has been taken too far. When I first heard talk about re-writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to make it more politically correct, I almost choked on my water. The first part of the quote you shared by George Orwell is exactly what went through my mind: “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” If we start censoring and "correcting" art, film, and literature to reflect today's standards of political correctness, who is to say we aren't going to stop talking about the bad spots in our history? Rewriting history is very dangerous. Literary Felinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13079276242303738719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-42135266126066742782015-08-18T12:25:04.959-05:002015-08-18T12:25:04.959-05:00Oh, funny! I didn't think of Bowdler...or of ...Oh, funny! I didn't think of Bowdler...or of Victorians substituting "drumstick" for leg in order to not shock anyone's sensibilities! Euphemisms and avoidance, we are good at that.jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-25374708200361984342015-08-18T11:45:05.589-05:002015-08-18T11:45:05.589-05:00Remember how we laughed at Thomas Bowdler and the ...Remember how we laughed at Thomas Bowdler and the Bowdlerization of Shakespeare? We don't seem to be aware that we are doing something similar these days. A very thoughtful post. Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-40492923319383756682015-08-18T09:46:06.882-05:002015-08-18T09:46:06.882-05:00I appreciate some warnings about explicit violence...I appreciate some warnings about explicit violence or child abuse, but there is a tendency to carry the idea too far. Did you know you needed to be warned in advance of viewing art about ancient myths or about reading certain Greek myths? Should we avoid all references to traumatic experiences? Or opposing views? <br />jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22616974.post-37385052852080291812015-08-18T08:06:16.520-05:002015-08-18T08:06:16.520-05:00OK, first of all, I'd like to read this book. ...OK, first of all, I'd like to read this book. Secondly, I love that quote and agree with 'that's the definition of a novel'. Fiction is fiction. Not fact. And...I am very much against censorship. It's the library person in me. I don't have to agree with ever book published or even want to read it or look at it. However....I am deeply concerned with 'rewriting' history. Isn't that how we learn - from mistakes? If we don't ever have any evidence of such, how do we learn or teach? And I guess that's all I'll say about that, but I think you and I are on the same wavelength here. Kayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495669354860191042noreply@blogger.com