John, WE (Feral House) have often been labeled problematic. You get the right of it, though. We published books that in the vision of Now times versus the Then times, we would not publish today. Ideas that were dangerously on the margins we felt should be understood because of their dangerous intentions have, in some cases, become mainstream. Yet we still get castigated by media and young activists because of books we published 30 years ago no longer fit into cultural norms and acceptability.
As a society, we need to relearn how to discern the difference between problematic creators and reprehensible persons. For the lit community, we need to better educate readers that exploring terrible ideas and people is not a de facto endorsement of those terrible ideas.
Thanks for taking the time to present the issue so clearly!
As always, I love hearing your take, John. A lot of this reminds me of how conservative book banners are trying to control culture--the lists of "problematic" books taken out of context, literal readings that ignore subtext or irony, the removal of books from circulation so they can't be part of an educational conversation, etc. Different folks, same tactics.
I've been watching this play out here in FL in our local school board races in horror, and there's a big part of me that wants to show up and give these people a lecture on the craft of reading, lol. But there's also another part of me that is like, wow, look how much books still matter that, in 2022, these people (and their leaders) have chosen to wage their culture war over BOOKS! (And libraries!) Of all the media, it's these old piles of paper we're yelling about?!
Not to complicate things further, but isn't it kind of miraculous--wonderful even--that books are still a valuable cultural object? That they're still a site where culture is made and negotiated? That they still matter? As a book person, this makes me feel...strangely optimistic? Obviously hate emails are hella "problematic," but are the broader conversations about books on social media and in our schools kind of a sign that books are doing what they're supposed to do--inspiring conversations about ourselves and our world? ("Problematic" convos to be sure, but convos none the less!) Maybe? I hope so!
To your last point, books do seem sort of indestructible, that as markers of culture, they'll always have some measure of importance, and I agree that that's a good thing!
Your newsletter is always so very interesting. I love it!
John, WE (Feral House) have often been labeled problematic. You get the right of it, though. We published books that in the vision of Now times versus the Then times, we would not publish today. Ideas that were dangerously on the margins we felt should be understood because of their dangerous intentions have, in some cases, become mainstream. Yet we still get castigated by media and young activists because of books we published 30 years ago no longer fit into cultural norms and acceptability.
As a society, we need to relearn how to discern the difference between problematic creators and reprehensible persons. For the lit community, we need to better educate readers that exploring terrible ideas and people is not a de facto endorsement of those terrible ideas.
Thanks for taking the time to present the issue so clearly!
As always, I love hearing your take, John. A lot of this reminds me of how conservative book banners are trying to control culture--the lists of "problematic" books taken out of context, literal readings that ignore subtext or irony, the removal of books from circulation so they can't be part of an educational conversation, etc. Different folks, same tactics.
I've been watching this play out here in FL in our local school board races in horror, and there's a big part of me that wants to show up and give these people a lecture on the craft of reading, lol. But there's also another part of me that is like, wow, look how much books still matter that, in 2022, these people (and their leaders) have chosen to wage their culture war over BOOKS! (And libraries!) Of all the media, it's these old piles of paper we're yelling about?!
Not to complicate things further, but isn't it kind of miraculous--wonderful even--that books are still a valuable cultural object? That they're still a site where culture is made and negotiated? That they still matter? As a book person, this makes me feel...strangely optimistic? Obviously hate emails are hella "problematic," but are the broader conversations about books on social media and in our schools kind of a sign that books are doing what they're supposed to do--inspiring conversations about ourselves and our world? ("Problematic" convos to be sure, but convos none the less!) Maybe? I hope so!
To your last point, books do seem sort of indestructible, that as markers of culture, they'll always have some measure of importance, and I agree that that's a good thing!