‘Emotional upheaval’ is how tragedy works, scholars say
A British university has added a trigger warning to a literature course on tragic drama.
According to an introduction to a module at the University of Derby in the UK, “Tragedy is a genre obsessed with violence and suffering, often of a sexual or graphic variety, and some of the content is It can be a trigger.”
Telegraph We confirmed the warning and reported it on January 25th.
The course includes Shakespeare’s tragedies “Hamlet” and “King Lear” and Arthur Miller’s classic “Death of a Salesman”. Telegraph.
Coase’s plays are reported to span about 2,500 years, beginning with Aeschylus’s Greek ‘Oresteia’ trilogy and Sophocles’s Athenian tragedy ‘Oedipus Rex’.
Derby University was not alone in making the decision.
“The University of Aberdeen, Scotland has issued a trigger warning in ‘Beowulf’ for its depictions of ‘animal cruelty’ and ‘disability discrimination,'” reported Professor Jonathan Turley on his personal blog. Added:
Even the death of an albatross in “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” required a trigger warning as “potentially upsetting” at the University of Greenwich.
The University of Warwick imposes a trigger warning on Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Mad King for its portrayal of “country life.”
Of course, the British are not the only ones issuing such warnings. The National Archives recently started adding trigger alerts to the display of founders and founding documents.
Last year, the University of Northampton issued a trigger warning to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, citing “explicit material” that some students might find “offensive and infuriating.” .
An expert on how society manages uncertainty and loss spoke critically of the university’s decision.
“Tragedies are meant to provoke emotional turmoil and provoke upheaval, to draw the reader or audience into the drama,” says Frank Freddy, a cultural critic and emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent. Told. Telegraph.
freddy (drawn) has studied and written extensively on the sociology of fear and risk aversion, according to his faculty bio.
“Tragedies are not tragedies if they do not evoke strong emotions,” said Freddie. .”
According to Freddy, “The trigger warning is nothing more than a banal way to be careful about engaging in this wonderful art form”. is to use trigger alerts.”
Derby University said Telegraph That trigger alerts are useful and even necessary.
According to the university, “Many of the plays explicitly engage themes of violence and trauma, often of a sexual nature, and module leaders should encourage students to recognize this before class begins.” I believe you will benefit.”
MORE: British university issues racist trigger warning to classic novel Ivanhoe
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