tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post6462562301557194180..comments2024-03-11T00:52:06.529+10:30Comments on MYSTERIES in PARADISE: Creating P.C. reading by whitewashing the classicsKerriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-81704768711750164912011-01-24T01:46:32.737+10:302011-01-24T01:46:32.737+10:30Not ever should words in books be changed! Better ...Not ever should words in books be changed! Better to have an essay in the front of the book explaining that this is just the way it was then. Better for teachers and parents to have conversations with kids talking about the past. And you know what, there is always going to be something which is offensive to someone. Where does it stop if this horror begins?Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-36057745334491858392011-01-18T02:34:39.107+10:302011-01-18T02:34:39.107+10:30I think the poem you quote illustrates my feelings...I think the poem you quote illustrates my feelings about this quite well. Changing the word nigger to "soldier boys" has not hurt the poem much. I think "soldiers" would improve the rhythm, but that's a quibble.<br /><br />Doing the same is not going to hurt Huckleberry Finn, either. And if you think it will hurt the book, you can still get a copy closer to the original.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06906212382849291562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-16576508412327470192011-01-13T18:54:19.038+10:302011-01-13T18:54:19.038+10:30I don't know who is expressing the thoughts. ...I don't know who is expressing the thoughts. I would have to research this.<br /><br />But I did know about the derivation of the title of that book, and I didn't want to read it anyway because I stay away from books which use certain words or concepts. That's me, my limits, how I was brought up. <br /><br />But if I find out more, will blog in.kathy d.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-8982700454747053562011-01-13T18:23:03.686+10:302011-01-13T18:23:03.686+10:30Raises some interesting questions kathy. AND THEN ...Raises some interesting questions kathy. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE was published in 1939 when Britain is on the brink of war.<br />Seriously though Shakespeare has some pretty negative portrayals of Jewish charcaters (Shylock was the prime example) but we haven't stopped reading Shakespeare. <br />Is it because the thoughts are being expressed by Poirot?Kerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-3892755907693326542011-01-13T14:37:03.804+10:302011-01-13T14:37:03.804+10:30I did an internet search on Agatha Christie, and f...I did an internet search on Agatha Christie, and found some references to "anti-Semitism and xenophobia" in her earlier works.<br /><br />A few bloggers listed page numbers in "And Then There Were None," which had negative portrayals of Jewish characters.<br /><br />That's what I know.kathy d.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-74718642773050108242011-01-13T08:45:07.653+10:302011-01-13T08:45:07.653+10:30I think kathy it comes down to whether the author ...I think kathy it comes down to whether the author expresses her views through her characters. i.e. is HP Agatha Christie's mouthpiece. Given what she herself said about him, I doubt that he is. But he may be a reflection of views of some of the population at the time- there would be some readers who would identify with him. As you know I am reading my way through her work in publication order in the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge and so far I haven't come across the anti-Semitic threads, but then I am only up to 1937!Kerrie Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00566566401678723079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-21760777068749214772011-01-12T20:33:13.454+10:302011-01-12T20:33:13.454+10:30I'm not in any way telling adults what to read...I'm not in any way telling adults what to read, but I do think there are boundaries with children.<br /><br />Many schools in the U.S. do not have "Huckleberry Finn" in their curriculum because of the offensive language.<br /><br />There are many stories here of children and parents being upset, of children being sent to the hallways while certain books are read by the class, etc., then the children feel worse. It's complicated and fraught with controversy.<br /><br />Anyway, about Agatha Christie, honestly, years ago, I read many Hercule Poirot books until I thought that her writing did have anti-Semitic and other biases towards immigrants, and others, so I stopped reading her books.<br /><br />And I've read more recently about her views of Jewish people on the Internet, so I can't get past that, out of respect for family members.<br /><br />I have a tough set of expectations in my own reading as do many of my friends, but I recognize individual taste in reading, and that everyone has their own likes and dislikes and boundaries.kathy d.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-89511289378496400172011-01-12T19:34:22.316+10:302011-01-12T19:34:22.316+10:30We cannot ignore our past, whether we like it or n...We cannot ignore our past, whether we like it or not. I'm totally against any changes towards what it is claim today to be politically correct. We need to educate our children in the past and teach them to avoid past mistakes, but we cannot change the past.Jose Ignacio Escribanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00296527986083953692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-76714518679566283512011-01-12T17:57:38.778+10:302011-01-12T17:57:38.778+10:30I did read a blog post just recently about how pol...I did read a blog post just recently about how politically incorrect Agatha Christie could be sometimes - the person was referring to traces of anti-Semitism in her later Poirot novelsKerriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13581470363339796352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-87826533841568106072011-01-12T13:12:58.269+10:302011-01-12T13:12:58.269+10:30This is so complicated it makes my head reel.
Ove...This is so complicated it makes my head reel.<br /><br />Over here in the states, this has been a topic of discussion on tv, until the terrible shootings in Tucson.<br /><br />I have never read "Huckleberry Finn," nor anything else with heavy doses of racist words. I won't. Nor would I be able to deal with anything with heavy anti-Semitism, having Jewish relatives. And I'll only put up with sexist terminology to a point. If it's too much, I won't read it.<br /><br />I think it's up to those who would be offended by the language to decide, that it's not for me to say anything.<br /><br />Yes, it's very important to teach the history, especially in the U.S., but there are other ways.<br /><br />Expecting children who are affected by the offensive language to hear or read this word 219 times doesn't seem right.<br /><br />Educators here, especially African Americans, have said it's damaging to children, that it affects and hurts them.<br /><br />I would put that as paramount, and stay out of the decision-making, and defer to those who are affected.kathy d.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-17497583275246648412011-01-12T12:06:55.213+10:302011-01-12T12:06:55.213+10:30I sometimes feel like I don't have a right to ...I sometimes feel like I don't have a right to comment on this issue because, generally, I'm not directly affected by it (though you can find some pretty derogatory words for women in older books).<br /><br />But if I did have the right to comment I'd say we should leave things alone. There are a number of reasons for this, not least of which I think it does us well to remember what we've come from, the changes we have made to our society etc. How can you remember that collectively if we wipe all evidence of it? I also don't happen to think anyone has a right to go through life not being offended. Lots of stuff offends me (most of what's on commercial television, the lyrics to many rap songs which talk about women as b*tches etc) but what I do is avoid those things.Bernadettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641617609801125707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8273911883856580200.post-41770050136525225582011-01-12T11:25:15.602+10:302011-01-12T11:25:15.602+10:30Kerrie - You raise such an important question! I b...Kerrie - You raise such an important question! I believe that books reflect the times in which they are written. Sometimes, removing a politically-incorrect word takes away from the flavour of the times and makes the book less authentic. Admittedly, there are books that have expressed things I found offensive, but I feel pretty strongly that censoring books is a very "slippery slope," so I am very, very wary of any attempt to change the wording in a book....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com