Warning! This Editorial Contains Explicit Opinions

Isn't it very comforting and reassuring to learn that Salford University has issued “trigger warnings” for their undergraduate students because they might become distressed by “scenes and discussions of violence and sexual violence” when reading Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre or Charles Dickens's Great Expectations?[1] [2] Students, you are safe! Do not be afraid that you left your protective mother for a hostile world - your alma mater and others are taking good care of you: Aberdeen students will learn in advance that Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is, indeed, about murder and has sexist content. Random House Publishers will refrain from re-publishing Norman Mailer's complete essays, intended to celebrate the author's 100th birthday, because one of them bears the title “The White Negro”. Unfortunately this ignores the subtitle “Superficial Reflections on the Hipster”, which already hints that this is not a racist text at all.[3] And McMinn County in good ole Tennessee banned the legendary comic “Maus” by Art Spiegelman from their schools, because it contains the word “bitch”.[4]

When reading this last bit of news my feet instantly started tapping to a catchy little rocker tune with a great brass section which we happily danced to and sang along with during my youth: “Yeah, when you call my name / I salivate like a Pavlov dog…”.[5] Those formative years were the carefree seventies when a fallen angel with an aristocratic background could also apparently openly sing about fellatio without too many people caring.[6]

Interestingly, shortly thereafter stickers suddenly popped up on the cover of various albums reading “Parental Advisory – Explicit Content” or the like. It did not take long for them to become ironized: “Chock full of unsavory subject matter and explicit lyrics, etc., etc., etc… So don't say we didn't warn you!”.[7] One could not help the feeling that they were placed as an incentive to buy.

Over decades our so-called Western culture kept boasting how liberal and open and unrestricted it had become, and how important this was for an individual to develop into an enlightened and tolerant human being. Today, explicit pornographic video clips are freely accessible over the internet for everybody including minors, and at the same time academia is warning adults who study literature not to become distressed by reading classics. O tempora, o mores – as they used to moan in Rome a long time ago, probably anticipating our modern double moral standards and exaggerated political correctness.

Poor Astrid Lindgren and Michael Ende would turn in their respective graves if they saw the suggestions for rephrasing potentially offensive passages in their still bestselling children's books. One thing the Salford and Aberdeen students are hopefully supposed to learn and practise is to weigh literature against its historical context. Coming back to the Norman Mailer example,[3] it should be acknowledged that, when the essay was published in 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. called himself a negro and spoke about the “Negro race” repeatedly. Of course, it must also be acknowledged that the times they are a-changin.[8] Becoming more sensitive about touchy matters should definitely be considered a positive development. But, as they said in an advertisement for vodka back in the notorious 1970s “Whatever you do – don't overdo it!” When Quaker Oats decided to remove the much debated image of Aunt Jemima from their pancake mix packages, descendants of former black models objected to the change: “I wish we would take a breath and not just get rid of everything. Because good or bad - it is our history.”[9]

Warning! Not taking a breath may seriously damage your ability to think!

Publication History

Article published online:
13 March 2022

• References

• 1 Thomas G. Achtung Klassiker! Britische Universitäten warnen vor Verstörung. FAZ, Feuilleton, 11.1. 2022
• 2 Quadri S. Students given ‘trigger warning’ over ‘distressing’ Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte texts. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/students-trigger-warning-distressing-charles-dickens-charlotte-bronte-texts-salford-university-great-expecations-b975687.html - last accessed February 3rd, 2022
• 3 Seidl C. Das weiße Rauschen. Muss Norman Mailer gecancelt werden?. FAZ, Feuilleton, 13.1. 2022
• 4 Art Spiegelmans “Maus” soll raus. FAZ, Feuilleton, 1.2. 2022
• 5 Jagger M, Richards K. Bitch. From: Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stones Records. Atlantic 1971
• 6 Williams H, Faithfull M. et al. Why d'ya do it? From: Broken English. Island Music Limited; 1979
• 7 Guns N' Roses – The Spaghetti Incident. Geffen Records; 1993
• 8 Dylan B. The times they are a-changin‘. Warner Brothers Inc.; 1963
• 9 Hallmark B. Family of woman who portrayed Aunt Jemima opposes move to change brand. KLTV. June 22, 2020