Friday, March 5, 2021

Should readers of pulp sword-and-sorcery be worried about McElligot's Pool?

What are we to do with books from a bygone era that contain stereotypes or racist or sexist attitudes deemed harmful today?

I was admittedly a bit dismayed to read the news that some of Dr. Seuss’ books have been removed from circulation. And a little abashed. As little as 10-12 years ago I read the likes of If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, and And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street, to my now teenage daughters. These were not the annoying, cloying, sing-song rhyme-y likes of The Cat in the Hat or One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, but narratives about children exploring the wider world, and returning enriched from their adventures. They loved them, and so did I.

Now these have been pulled from the shelves by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, never to be published again.

Certainly it’s their prerogative, and of course they have every right to do so. But I now ask myself, was I a bad father for having read my kids these books? Further, do I remain a person of questionable character because of the kind of books I still read and enjoy today?

I’d be lying if I said I was not at least somewhat worried about the future of old pulp literature and classic sword-and-sorcery.

I’m not a publishing libertarian. I don’t think anyone should be able to publish whatever they want. Certainly new books that lead a reader to the conclusion that the Jewish race must be exterminated, or that children can and should be exploited, have no business being published. The question of to publish or not publish is a spectrum, and at the extreme end certainly almost all would agree that some books should never see the light of day.

But what about a book that contains a stereotyped image among an otherwise fun, harmless story about a kid using his imagination to weave a story about the wonders that may lie beneath the waters of an ordinary pond in a hayfield? McElligot’s Pool offers a meaningful metaphor about the power of the imagination. Are the presence of “Eskimo Fish from Beyond Hudson Bay” sufficient cause for its cancellation? Because if so, then perhaps Ballantine/Del Rey should stop publishing The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, which contains “The Frost Giant’s Daughter” and “The Vale of Lost Women,” as well as The Conquering Sword of Conan, which contains the likes of “Man-Eaters of Zamboula.” All of which have been criticized for containing offensive material.

Canceling Howard would of course be terrible. I’m not a fan of clichés but certainly the old saying “throwing the baby out with the bath water” applies. You toss out “Man-Eaters of Zamboula” and you lose amazing passages, like the iconic trial of strength between Conan and Baal-pteor:

Conan's low laugh was merciless as the ring of steel.

"You fool!" he all but whispered. "I think you never saw a man from the West before. Did you deem yourself strong, because you were able to twist the heads off civilized folk, poor weaklings with muscles like rotten string? Hell! Break the neck of a wild Cimmerian bull before you call yourself strong. I did that, before I was a full-grown man—like this!"

And with a savage wrench he twisted Baal-pteor's head around until the ghastly face leered over the left shoulder, and the vertebrae snapped like a rotten branch.

You may say of this post, "apples to oranges." And you may be right. Dr. Seuss wrote children’s books, and Howard’s stories are for adults. Adults can read with historical context, but children cannot, and therefore it’s not worth leaving the images in Dr. Seuss’ books. Fair enough. Besides, most of his catalog remains intact. Few are likely to miss these relatively obscure titles, and it’s just easier to get rid of them (and less costly to hire an artist to re-do the images, and reprint books that might not be selling well to begin with). 

But put enough pressure on a publisher of adult fiction, and they too will be faced with such a choice.

You might argue, “well, it’s Del Rey’s right to stop publishing Howard, and someone else can publish the Conan stories.” But it’s not that simple. What if the current publisher holds the exclusive rights, and then opts to sit on them, rather than surrender them?

Or, in a more sinister fashion, what if another publisher picks them up—a publisher with a name, and a family. Does that mean that this publisher is therefore a racist, by association? And fit to be ruined in the public sphere?

Or, what if the current atmosphere of shaming and fear continues to escalate, leading to only a disreputable publisher willing to pick up the Howard stories? Couldn’t that further damage Howard’s reputation, by association?

It’s not an easy issue.

My current proposal is to put a warning label on the cover, and let the reader decide. “This book, written in 1933, contains caricatures and stereotypes that readers may find offensive. They are preserved for the sake of artistic integrity and historical accuracy. Proceed with caution.” Similar to what the record labels did in the 80s with the “Parental Advisory/Explicit Content” stickers. 

Except we’d need something more concise, snappier, than what I’ve suggested. “Warning: Old Pulp” might do it.

I’m probably worrying over nothing. Sword-and-sorcery is a niche within a niche, not taught in schools, unknown to most readers, unknown even to many who read fantasy. But I can’t help but worry, just a bit, about the future of these old stories I still hold dear.

Postscript: I hesitated to write this post, as I recognize and acknowledge that your opinions may well be very different than mine. I acknowledge that some will find Howard or Burroughs’ words, or Seuss’ images, deeply offensive and harmful. I cringe at them as well. I don’t defend them, and I certainly don’t celebrate them. But I recognize them as of their time, and I believe that the larger art within which they are contained is very much worthy of preservation, and continued reading and enjoyment. And continued discussion. Let’s have the discussion whether they are works of art, and works worthy of preservation. I would also ask you to think about what is lost when you stop publishing old books because some part of them is offensive by our modern, enlightened standards. I think that decision exacts a higher toll than you might realize.

7 comments:

  1. Of all the suggestions that I've seen, a warning label or, better yet, a disclaimer is best. Let's criticize the awful parts of past fiction and enjoy the good stories. An honest confrontation of past attitudes is healthy. It's pretty common for most readers of Lovecraft these days at least in discussions I've seen. There are many works that deal with our complicated race relations in a variety of ways. When we find racial depictions ugly, we should be able to point to those and say that's wrong without banning.
    Children's books are a bit different, especially if they're used in readalongs at schools/libraries. And the Seuss folks made the choice to remove them instead of altering them and I'm fine with that. Apparently, they're making a killing with outraged folks buying Seuss books, so good for them.

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  2. I tend toward believing that a publisher should be able to publish whatever they want. Of course, they are free to NOT publish things as well. However, while I never liked the slippery slope argument, I would rather live in a society with too much freedom than too little. It won't be a perfect society (which isn't possible) but it will be a free one.

    The thing about "cancel culture" is that the people involved talk about confronting racism. Thing is they are not confronting anything; they are running away from it. Listen, not to long ago, I read Howard and Lovecraft's letters and some parts of it are stomach turning, but I am glad I read it even the parts I found offensive. For one, I learned something from the offensive; mainly it confirmed my opinion that racists beliefs usually stem from insecurity. I looked these unpleasant ideas straight in the face.

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  3. good questions... selective intelligence is sadly lacking in most areas of American society. i'd think anyone adult enough to read Conan would be aware of imaginary as opposed to real civilizations, but perhaps not... maybe not so much the baby with the bathwater as the tub along with them: over-reaction and over sensitivity are just as bad or worse than ignoring the whole debate, imo...

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  4. An incisive and timely post. I felt similarly anxious when I heard the announcement they were taking the Seuss books out of print. As a kid, I loved IF I RAN THE ZOO. The opening lines are so memorable, and I’ve often quoted them to myself—or to others—when encountering situations or issues to which I’d respond very differently from the status quo:

    "But if I ran the zoo,"
    Said young Gerald McGrew,
    "I'd make a few changes,
    That's just what I'd do."

    I just went on Amazon. To buy a copy now will set you back $749.97 to get a (probably) used hardback. Otherwise the title is currently “unavailable.” This could become a very slippery slope. Other contenders are books that offend someone’s religious or cultural sensibilities. How many authors could we silence in this way?

    Warning labels are a meaningful approach to this. This would especially apply to books that are historical in nature, that haven’t necessarily aged well but the cultural/historical relevance of which need to be acknowledged. Mark Twain is a classic case in point—hell, almost anything written by a white southerner (especially if male) pre-1960 would apply. Obviously, if somebody writes racially derogatory or insensitive stuff now…they simply won’t get published. But Seuss was already published, he is already a part of our culture, for better or worse, and taking his material out of print strikes me as heavy-handed in the extreme. Its censorship.

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  5. I understand the concern about certain works of the past, and they certainly shouldn't be used for teaching purposes in public schools. But if we start burning everything that doesn't fit into our modern social mores, that bonfire is going to get very large, and the list of works from the past is going to really dwindle. And as social ideas progress, we will have to keep destroying more and more works as they age.

    Creations must be separated from their creator. It is no different in science than the arts or any other field. If a person that has distasteful beliefs or is an awful personality creates a great work, that does not mean the work itself should banned or condemned. The work itself must be judged for its value. Otherwise, if a terrible person comes up with a vaccine that can save thousands, we will have to ignore or destroy the vaccine and let thousands of people die. There is a fairly long list of great artists and scientists who were fairly awful people, yet created great works that transcended the limitations of their personality. If we must judge people of the past, we must judge their work separately.

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  6. Thanks for the thoughtful comments, all. I am of the opinion that this type of commentary and discussion is healthy and necessary, and I'm glad you received it in that spirit. Unfortunately many voices cry only for banning these books without reservation, debate, or consideration for what is lost. I'm not going to die on the hill of "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," but I will continue to point to the precedent that banning books sets, and to which other works this standard of "modern moral clarity" should be applied. The list is potentially very, very long.

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  7. I’m all good with labels or warnings that help the uninitiated make informed choices. Outright banning without discussion or understanding by only the ones who are offended smacks of censorship, and that is a slippery slope. Banning books leads to burning books, and that’s just what Nazi Germany did in the 30’s, and I can not think of any society more offensive than that...

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