Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
My view has always been that a book is a product of the culture in which it was written, and has to be looked at from that perspective, not as a product of today's culture. Yes, many 19th and early 20th century books do portray non-Europeans and non-Christians in an extremely unfavourable light, but unfortunately those were the prevalent attitudes of the time, and we can't "blame" an author for reflecting the cultural mores of the society in which he or she lived.
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Just because the author grew up with a certain value system does not make certain parts of their message any less toxic to people of the "right" ethnic/culture/gender/etc. background.
Do we need to pretend that this is a morally simple issue? I don't think it is.
The books should not be banned, or censored... but they do pose genuine issues worth insightful consideration. And the fact that there exists no carte-blanche solution does not mean the issues are not worth discussing.
Do we not agree on this?
- Ahi