Jonathan Zimmerman: Great Literature is Often Profane and Offensive
[Jonathan Zimmerman teaches history at New York University and lives in Narberth. He is the author, most recently, of "Small Wonder: The Little Red Schoolhouse in History and Memory" (Yale University Press). He can be reached at jlzimm@aol.com.]
"Books should offend you," a professor told my literature class 30 years ago, when I started college. "They should make you squirm and sweat. They should keep you up at night."
He paused for effect. "Have a nice a day," he concluded.
Everybody laughed, of course. But the joke was on us. Americans want to feel good, and they want the same for their kids. So we try to protect them from books that hurt.
Look no further than J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, which remains one of the most frequently challenged books in American schools and libraries. When Salinger died last month, obituaries dutifully noted that many schools had removed the book in response to parental complaints....
...[A]ll great literature offends someone. I can easily understand why Huck Finn makes African Americans uncomfortable (and I would hope it would make whites a bit nervous, too).
But I can't understand why we need to shield our kids from these bad feelings. Why, oh why, must everybody feel good? Literature should make us squirm and sweat, because that's when we really start to learn about the world, which is a messy and disquieting place.
So go ahead, get angry at these books. Yell, scream, and even curse if you want. Just don't deny kids the same experience. And have a nice day.
Read entire article at Philadelphia Inquirer
"Books should offend you," a professor told my literature class 30 years ago, when I started college. "They should make you squirm and sweat. They should keep you up at night."
He paused for effect. "Have a nice a day," he concluded.
Everybody laughed, of course. But the joke was on us. Americans want to feel good, and they want the same for their kids. So we try to protect them from books that hurt.
Look no further than J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, which remains one of the most frequently challenged books in American schools and libraries. When Salinger died last month, obituaries dutifully noted that many schools had removed the book in response to parental complaints....
...[A]ll great literature offends someone. I can easily understand why Huck Finn makes African Americans uncomfortable (and I would hope it would make whites a bit nervous, too).
But I can't understand why we need to shield our kids from these bad feelings. Why, oh why, must everybody feel good? Literature should make us squirm and sweat, because that's when we really start to learn about the world, which is a messy and disquieting place.
So go ahead, get angry at these books. Yell, scream, and even curse if you want. Just don't deny kids the same experience. And have a nice day.