(no subject)

[charliesmum]

In reference to my last post, I have a question to pose to all of you.

There's a passage in Terry Pratchett's Johnny and the Bomb where the main characters are talking about WWII and one of them says something about how they should mind because it happened a long time ago. (Of course, being Terry Pratchett and being a book about time travel, another character pointed out that it was happening NOW.)

I just wonder if, by reading about something that happened a long time ago makes it easier to dismiss it as something that 'used to happen' and thus ignore the more subtle signs of racism that we see today.

What do you think? I am not saying kids shouldn't be taught how things were, but in the context of reading materials, do you think it would be more helpful for them to read something that is more contemporary - something that highlights problems that exist today, so they can think and learn and maybe not do that themselves?

Comments

[cheekyassmonkey.livejournal.com]

you know, i think it depends on the person. most people, in my experience, need that reminder. remember, people need to see movies like schindler's list, thin red line, born on the 4th of july, crash, etc. because the recent horrors perpetrated by humanity are not clear in their minds. they're some 'bad thing that happened in the past'.

i can't watch those movies. hell, i can't even watch the news. i know every horrible thing that goes on everyday, all over the world, and if i think about it for more than 30 seconds, i start crying. not 'oh that is terrible' crying, but feeling the actual pain and suffering type. tj constantly reminds me that i am a unique little flower, and that the rest of the world operates in a different way.

so, while i think it is important to make it crystal clear what happened in history, i think that has to be approached very carefully with kids, and just having them read a book is probably not the best approach. there needs to be discussion, and a variety of sources. something from the point of view of the oppressed might be more appropriate, like "incidents in the life of a slave girl". when the context of history is applied, the contemporary issues become clearer.

[darkthirty.livejournal.com]

Reading is nothing, in itself - look at how many HP fans think Draco is a whole and wise character. Drilling the horrors of the day, and the horrors of history, into heads is going to be counter-productive and dehumanizing after a while. Discussing books with a view to seeing how they are reflected in the current context is what I do.

If there is an indication of insensitivity, of racism, or of any such prejudice, in anyone around me, and if it seems appropriate for me to say something, I take a calm interventionist approach - my son posted something rude about a teacher on facebook, and I tried to address the issue on three levels - what if that was being said about him, what if the person saw it and decided to react in kind, and what was so wrong about being a teacher being strict in the circumstances he described? Of course, there were also side implications about the childishness of getting points with peers and so forth, but the gist, and I this is what I told him directly, was that if there was a real problem, a mean-spirited post on facebook that could lead to him getting disciplined and to the teacher being exposed to baseless ridicule, was not the way to handle it.

Not all at once and not quite so directly, as the conversation went, but it was all there.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I think that both are important. There are far too many people out there who think that history is just the present day in funny clothes. And I think that you have to understand what was wrong so that you can start thinking about how far we've come and how far we still have to go.

I wrote a whole post about the importance of historical accuracy here, but I'll quote the bit that I feel is most relevant to your question:

I do think that if we are going to write historical novels, it's better for the book, for the public and for ourselves if we strive to be accurate as well as entertaining. There is more than enough ignorance and confusion out there already. And painting a picture of the past as an innocent politically correct paradise where racial prejudice, sexism, ableism, classism and homophobia have no place not only falsifies history and minimizes what people endured, it makes it impossible for readers to understand why women, blacks, Native Americans, LGBTQ people and the disabled (and others who have been despised and rejected) ever needed to demand their rights in the first place. Indeed, it gives some readers the impression that the rights such minorities want so badly are nothing more than demands for special privileges.

Short stories and novels are very small places to start educating people, even in a palatable way. But I think it's important for writers to do so. Our obligation is not to present a view of the world that readers find comfortable and agreeable, but to tell the truth as we see it, and in the best way possible for the story. That truth may not be what readers expect to hear...but judging by the bewildered ignorance out there, truth and accuracy are what many of them desperately need.

[just5miles.livejournal.com]

I always thought the point of reading about historical horrors was to remind us of what happens when we stop paying attention, or when we start letting too many little things just pass without correction. I hope that reading about things like that makes the kids think, "How can people have let that happen?" and "What can I do to prevent it from happening now?" I hope that it makes them notice the little racist/sexist/oppressive things that might be happening around them now, and encourages them to put a stop to it before it becomes endemic.

[pookledo.livejournal.com]

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne was a good read and about racism in Nazi Germany. Apparently they made it into a film, but I've only read the book.