Peak Woke/Cancel Culture. 1984 -Trigger Warning
Discussion
From the article:
Referring to the university's actions, Orwell's biographer David Taylor said: "I think 13-year-olds might find some scenes in the novel disturbing."
I first read 1984 around that age - which was actually in 1984. It is very disturbing and dark, sure, but it's a book? It isn't my actual life. Why are young people now disturbed by reading books? That was exactly why we wanted to read them back then. Is this a real thing - people getting anxiety and becoming traumatised by reading fiction - or is it just nonsense? And if it is real, how did we end up here?
Referring to the university's actions, Orwell's biographer David Taylor said: "I think 13-year-olds might find some scenes in the novel disturbing."
I first read 1984 around that age - which was actually in 1984. It is very disturbing and dark, sure, but it's a book? It isn't my actual life. Why are young people now disturbed by reading books? That was exactly why we wanted to read them back then. Is this a real thing - people getting anxiety and becoming traumatised by reading fiction - or is it just nonsense? And if it is real, how did we end up here?
The point of trigger warnings was so that if you were a victim of rape/ kidnap/ trench warfare you wouldn't find yourself happily watching a film/ reading a book and then be plunged into an event which uncomfortably mirrored your life and caused upset.
This is being conflated with cancel culture which is about denying platforms to those whose views you disagree with.
If they said don't read 1984 as it has a hate figure who might be Jewish or because Orwell held whatever opinions then that would be cancel culture, but I don't see a problem with pointing out that it's a heavy going unhappy book and touches on a number of issues.
This is being conflated with cancel culture which is about denying platforms to those whose views you disagree with.
If they said don't read 1984 as it has a hate figure who might be Jewish or because Orwell held whatever opinions then that would be cancel culture, but I don't see a problem with pointing out that it's a heavy going unhappy book and touches on a number of issues.
glazbagun said:
The point of trigger warnings was so that if you were a victim of rape/ kidnap/ trench warfare you wouldn't find yourself happily watching a film/ reading a book and then be plunged into an event which uncomfortably mirrored your life and caused upset.
This is being conflated with cancel culture which is about denying platforms to those whose views you disagree with.
If they said don't read 1984 as it has a hate figure who might be Jewish or because Orwell held whatever opinions then that would be cancel culture, but I don't see a problem with pointing out that it's a heavy going unhappy book and touches on a number of issues.
Yes, but it doesn't stop those people and publications who are staging a "war on woke" from twisting the message into being about cancel culture will it?This is being conflated with cancel culture which is about denying platforms to those whose views you disagree with.
If they said don't read 1984 as it has a hate figure who might be Jewish or because Orwell held whatever opinions then that would be cancel culture, but I don't see a problem with pointing out that it's a heavy going unhappy book and touches on a number of issues.
I'd be very interested to see the original text of the 'warning' from Northants University in its original context.
I wonder how much of the 'warning' as described by the Mail/Express/et al is actually a description rather than a literal warning, and how much applies to the course/module as a whole rather than to 1984 specifically.
I notice that the paper doesn't include the word 'warning' in its quote. Elsewhere on the net I've seen it rendered as:
"This book addresses challenging issues related to violence, gender, sexuality, class, race, abuses, sexual abuse, political ideas and offensive language’."
Which is entirely true - 1984 is a challenging and thought-provoking book. But is that a warning or a description? It could serve as the blurb off the back cover of an edition on the shelf at Waterstones. Is that a 'trigger warning?' It also reads very like the module descriptions that graced the intro pages of the course handbooks we were given at university, which weren't warnings as such, more like frank descriptions of the content with a bit of a 'punched up' language to get you enthused and engaged.
I find it very ironic that the press outlets most agreived by this are the ones that come the closest to the Two Minute Hate, and regularly churn out rhetoric not far off the scene near the start of the book when the cinema audience whoops for joy as they watch a film of boatfuls of migrants being gunned down by helicopters.
I wonder how much of the 'warning' as described by the Mail/Express/et al is actually a description rather than a literal warning, and how much applies to the course/module as a whole rather than to 1984 specifically.
I notice that the paper doesn't include the word 'warning' in its quote. Elsewhere on the net I've seen it rendered as:
"This book addresses challenging issues related to violence, gender, sexuality, class, race, abuses, sexual abuse, political ideas and offensive language’."
Which is entirely true - 1984 is a challenging and thought-provoking book. But is that a warning or a description? It could serve as the blurb off the back cover of an edition on the shelf at Waterstones. Is that a 'trigger warning?' It also reads very like the module descriptions that graced the intro pages of the course handbooks we were given at university, which weren't warnings as such, more like frank descriptions of the content with a bit of a 'punched up' language to get you enthused and engaged.
I find it very ironic that the press outlets most agreived by this are the ones that come the closest to the Two Minute Hate, and regularly churn out rhetoric not far off the scene near the start of the book when the cinema audience whoops for joy as they watch a film of boatfuls of migrants being gunned down by helicopters.
Randy Winkman said:
I love Orwell including 1984. And I'm as woke as they come. I also read the article and cant see what we are supposed to be bothered about with regards the trigger warning. It just looks like a non-story to me. What am I missing?
The trigger warning isnt for people like you or I.It's for the people who read the Daily Express (the original source of the article) who seem to go out of their way to get triggered about anything they don't like. People in a perpetual state of impotent anger.
I'm also a great fan of Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four is disturbing and distressing... It's meant to be. It should be mandatory reading for teens. Ironically, the ones getting upset about this are the ones the book warned us about.
Also, Nineteen Eighty-Four is the world's most quoted book by those who've ncetve read it.
2xChevrons said:
I find it very ironic that the press outlets most agreived by this are the ones that come the closest to the Two Minute Hate, and regularly churn out rhetoric not far off the scene near the start of the book when the cinema audience whoops for joy as they watch a film of boatfuls of migrants being gunned down by helicopters.
This. 100% this. Students taking the course are warned the classic novel "addresses challenging issues related to violence, gender, sexuality, class, race, abuses, sexual abuse, political ideas and offensive language".
Well, yes, that's true, it does.
There's absolutely nothing to remark on here. It's just the Express trying to get a rise out of their easily manipulated and thick readership.
Well, yes, that's true, it does.
There's absolutely nothing to remark on here. It's just the Express trying to get a rise out of their easily manipulated and thick readership.
captain_cynic said:
I'm also a great fan of Orwell. Nineteen Eighty-Four is disturbing and distressing... It's meant to be. It should be mandatory reading for teens. Ironically, the ones getting upset about this are the ones the book warned us about.
.
This. .
It's a fantastic hook but as bleak as they come. There isn't a happy ending. It should serve as a warning we don't need a ministry of truth editing parts of history so they are more palatable.
768 said:
Is there anything you do think is woke?
Considering that "woke" is just a term you use for "anything I don't like"... I don't see how anything can be considered "woke".It's already joined "PC Gone Mad" as a sign that the person using it doesn't have a clue. I've always smirked at the irony that the "anti-woke" crowd seem to be the ones who are perpetually offended by the most trivial things.
Kaptain slow said:
“ Students taking the course are warned the classic novel "addresses challenging issues related to violence, gender, sexuality, class, race, abuses, sexual abuse, political ideas and offensive language". “
How do these people function in normal life ?
The same way we did with 15 movies that contained nudity, strong language and mild peril?How do these people function in normal life ?
glazbagun said:
Kaptain slow said:
“ Students taking the course are warned the classic novel "addresses challenging issues related to violence, gender, sexuality, class, race, abuses, sexual abuse, political ideas and offensive language". “
How do these people function in normal life ?
The same way we did with 15 movies that contained nudity, strong language and mild peril?How do these people function in normal life ?
Why is the book now so challenging and needing prospective readers to be pre warned of its contents , before even picking it up lol.
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