NOTE: To change the image on this slide, select the picture and delete it. Then click the Pictures icon in the placeholder to insert your own image. CONTROVERSIAL LITERATURE VS. POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND COMFORT Why address the uncomfortable in literature? An academic summary of Jocelyn Chadwick’s article “The Quintessential Assault: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn vs. Political Correctness and Comfort”

What is the purpose of literature?  Toni Morrison defines the role of art/literature and its intended audience. “I deplore art that is only that [art for art’s sake]; I think [that] is just rather a fresh, young, new idea that’s about 80 or 90 years old – art for art’s sake. I think [art] has to represent the world that the artist inhabits, or somebody inhabits, and it has a missionary quality in this sense – it should enable; there should be some epiphany, some shock of recognition – some way in which one sees clearly. It shouldn’t be a solution, necessarily; this is not an Anacin or an aspirin that takes away a headache; it is to move us a little bit further down a road that might be called toward real civilization.” Toni Morrison (In Black and White: Conversations with African-American Writers: Toni Morrison [video, Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities, 1999])

What is the purpose of studying literature? Ok, but why do we study literature?  “English language arts teachers empower students to traverse critically the rhetoric of race and racism through both historical and contemporary literature.” -Jocelyn Chadwick  “Seek to expose students to the world through literature – unfiltered, unredacted, uncensored.” -Jocelyn Chadwick

What is the purpose of studying literature?  “We know texts such as these [containing controversial/derogatory content] do necessarily make students uncomfortable, but we also know that in the environs of our classrooms, we create safe spaces for these discussions and discoveries to occur.” -Jocelyn Chadwick  “It cannot be disputed that a necessary component of any education is learning to think critically about offensive ideas – without that ability one can do little to respond to them.” – Judge Reinhardt, US Circuit Court of Appeals

CONNOTATIVE LANGUAGE Controversial Language in Literature

Hate Speech  Speech that attacks a person or group on the basis of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. – Dictionary.com  Hate speech is a communication that carries no meaning other than the expression of hatred for some group, especially in circumstances in which the communication is likely to provoke violence. It is an incitement to hatred primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and the like. Hate speech can be any form of expression regarded as offensive to racial, ethnic and religious groups and other discrete minorities or to women. –USlegal.com

Hate Speech  Why do people use this type of language? (motivations)  What effects can this type of language have on those who hear it? (results)  How does it make you feel when and if these words are used in front of you or against you?

Hate Speech: The “n” word  How does it make you feel when you hear it spoken or see it written?  Do you feel differently hearing it from certain people than from others?  Is it ever appropriate to use?  How might someone from their grandmother’s or great- grandmother’s generation see it? Would it be viewed differently from your generation, why or why not?

Why does the word really mean?  Derived from the French word “negre” and the Spanish word “negro,” which means the color black.  “The N-word” has become a euphemism used to refer to “dark- skinned people,” mostly those of African ancestry.  Used to impose contempt upon blacks as an inferior race; to be intentionally hurtful  Since the 1800’s, it has held a negative connotation and has been considered a racial slur.  Dictionary.com labels the word as the most offensive word in English

Things to Remember I expect you to act like young adults. Remember we are reading other people’s words. The author uses these words for historical accuracy and for effect. He is not racist for using the word in the novel.