Naughty words

[AlexBell]

I hope this is not off topic here, but I don't know where else to ask.

I'm working on a collection of three plays by Aristophanes - The Acharnians, Peace, and Lysistrata - taken from the anonymous translation from the Athenian Society via Project Gutenberg. They all (especially Lysistrata) contain lots of naughty words and situations. Will there be any problems with that on MobileRead?

The ebook will probably be ready for upload by the end of the month. Should there be a warning about the naughty words?

[Jellby]

Moderator Notice
Moved to Upload Help from ePub Requests

[HarryT]

That's absolutely no problem at all. These are classic comedies - please do upload them!

[AlexBell]

Thanks, Harry

I think I'll add some kind of a warning though; I think some people may be offended if they come across the naughty words unexpectedly.

[crich70]

You'll never please everyone Alex. I mean people like Thomas Bowdler even went to the extreme of changing Shakespeare's words to remove words that they considered offensive to women and children in the 19th century for example. Others have even tried to rewrite C.S. Lewis' Narnia books to remove the Christian allegory that they object to (don't know how they can do that without destroying the books) and I have no doubt there will be people even in the future who will do similar cutting of the written word. I don't think you can do that without destroying what the author created myself. If you change Shakespeare then it's no longer Shakespeare, but some sort of adaptation of what he wrote. Likewise if you change what Aristophanes wrote (aside from translating) by substituting words I think you lose the flavor of what he intended. His words have been around for several thousand years though. How can anyone think to have authority to change them? Not that I'm implying that you are of course. Just that some people would say change this and that etc.

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by crich70

You'll never please everyone Alex.

That I certainly agree with. I wouldn't dream of bowdlerising the text, but can think of half a dozen people I know who would be very offended if they stumbled on the text as is. It just seemed courteous to let them know of the possibility that they may be offended. It's their choice of course whether they read the text, but at least they know what to expect.

On the other hand I have read some people who would be very offended that I have given the warning. If I understand them correctly they see such a warning as the beginning of censorship.

As you say I can't please everybody.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

On the other hand I have read some people who would be very offended that I have given the warning. If I understand them correctly they see such a warning as the beginning of censorship.

As you say I can't please everybody.

I don't see why anyone would be offended by a warning. It seems like a sensible idea.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

That I certainly agree with. I wouldn't dream of bowdlerising the text, but can think of half a dozen people I know who would be very offended if they stumbled on the text as is. It just seemed courteous to let them know of the possibility that they may be offended. It's their choice of course whether they read the text, but at least they know what to expect.

On the other hand I have read some people who would be very offended that I have given the warning. If I understand them correctly they see such a warning as the beginning of censorship.

As you say I can't please everybody.

I agree, and I am not saying that you can't/shouldn't put up such a warning if you wish to. Like you said though some will even find fault with you having done so as they will be offended by the idea that any such warning is needed. On the other hand some will be offended if you don't put up a warning and they come across the book. There is no way to win in such a situation. Of course I wonder how they can expect an author who wrote something several thousand years ago to have the same viewpoint as them as to what is proper for people to read or hear. The moral structure of Ancient Greece was a lot different in some ways to what later societies thought was proper. And even later on not every text was written with a "christian" viewpoint in mind. Just look at the Canterbury Tales as an example. Plenty of "immoral" activities going on there in an age where pilgrimages to shrines was something that everyone was supposed to try to do at least once in their lifetime. And the Decameron is another example. Those who think our ancestors were more pious than modern man delude themselves (I think). Man hasn't changed much since the time of the Ancient Greeks.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by AlexBell

On the other hand I have read some people who would be very offended that I have given the warning. If I understand them correctly they see such a warning as the beginning of censorship.

Some people are just looking for reasons to complain about the world in general. Possibly the same people will complain either way .

How they can possibly equate a description with censorship, I do not know. But my opinion is, they are welcome to feel offended. No one cares.

[SBT]

Well, I find the whole discussion completely ¤%&/(§!...

Sorry. Tried to stop myself, but the pun was just lying there to be picked up...
Besides, I've lived too long in northern Norway, where linguists use the positioning of swear words in sentences as a dialectical indicator (and that's a #¤% fact!)

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

How they can possibly equate a description with censorship, I do not know. But my opinion is, they are welcome to feel offended. No one cares.

To be fair to the people who worry about warnings being creeping censorship I seem to remember that they were worrying about mandatory warnings. I'd forgotten that when I did the post; the memory struggled up to the surface last night.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Some people are just looking for reasons to complain about the world in general. Possibly the same people will complain either way .

How they can possibly equate a description with censorship, I do not know. But my opinion is, they are welcome to feel offended. No one cares.

Too true. My dad always used to say, "Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope." I think he was right on the money there.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by crich70

Too true. My dad always used to say, "Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope." I think he was right on the money there.

Better, Some people would kick if they were hung with a new rope.

[HarryT]

People are hanged; pictures are hung. It's one of those strange quirks of the Enhlish language that one always uses "hanged" when referring to the method of execution.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by HarryT

People are hanged; pictures are hung. It's one of those strange quirks of the Enhlish language that one always uses "hanged" when referring to the method of execution.

Well it was my dad's saying. He had a number of such nuggets of wisdom. Another was "some people get their (driver's) license out of a crackerjack box." The older I get the more I have to agree with him on some things.