There's an interesting blog post HERE by another author who has written of another sad part of Madison County's history. (See the post for more details.)
He gives CROWS a nice review--very nice--but I was struck by one comment" "Still, several characters’ casual use of the N-word, while historically accurate to the time period and the Southern Appalachians, is still jarring. One character, in East Tennessee, a Quaker abolitionist involved in the Underground Railroad, reproves her sweetheart, telling him she “can’t abide that word.”
"At the time, Democrats routinely referred to their adversaries as “black Republicans,” despite the fact that there were few slaves and fewer free people of color in the county. It is still jarring to hear the N-word used today in Madison County, where there are still few African Americans to be found. "
I think I understand--and I did agonize a bit over the use of that word (though not over 'Black Republican' as I was quoting from primary sources.)
What's a writer to do when writing about a politically incorrect time? The war was horrible--and I wrote about it. Ditto the Massacre and the torture of the women. I put vulgar language into the speech of some of the characters, feeling that it represented the time and situation and characters. And I used the N-word--sparingly but as I thought the characters would have used it.
Balancing historical accuracy with modern sensibility isn't easy. And the fact that I'm White means that I can never truly understand what any given Black reader might feel on reading that word.
It's a dilemma.
4 comments:
That is tricky, to be historically accurate and yet not outrage modern sensibilities. The use of the n-word has always been derogatory and was used quite casually in times gone by. Your use felt historically accurate while not over-using just for sensation. Not using that word at all would have been putting modern use over historical accuracy.
When we moved to Madison in 1980 I met some of the most amazing, kind, loving and generous people I have ever known. And, yes, they used the N-word very casually, even then. We had a hard time with it but knowing the people's hearts and knowing that they would do anything on earth to help another human being (of any race without hesitation) we came to understand that it was ignorance rather than malice. I am much more harsh in my judgements of people who know better and try to mask their racist agenda with thinly veiled "dog whistles". I thought you used the word perfectly in an imperfect world.
I have no trouble with the way characters spoke in your book...their vernacular is obvious in many ways. So I think as a historian you have given them correct expressions. It would have been more strange if they started speaking French!
There are professors etc who get in deep trouble for even using the word in a quoted context PC has gone over the top and down the other side. Just to clarify, I don’t think I have ever used the word. I think it’s terrible, but terrible were the times in your wonderful novel.
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