Political Correctness vs. Historical Accuracy
I’m working on Adam’s Daughters, my second book in the Westward Sagas. I’d written a scene in which Adam Mitchell meets Chief Bowles, a chief of the Cherokee tribe.
I used the word squaw to identify the chief’s wife, since that is what she would have been called by the Washington County settlers in the 1780s. It was brought to my attention that the word “squaw” is offensive and shouldn’t be used.
Not long after that, I had a conversation about my book with a woman from India. When I used the word “Indian,” she gently corrected me to “Native American.”
Historical accuracy is important to me, but I certainly don’t want to offend anyone by using words that are today considered derogatory or inaccurate. So I have a dilemma on what words to use in my book: Indian squaw …Â Native American woman, Indian chief …Â Cherokee leader, what?
I’d really like to hear other opinions on how I can write a book that is true to history without being offensive in a different society more than two hundred years later than my story.
[tags]political correctness, historical accuracy, unbiased language[/tags]
Admin
Modine,
Thank you for the comment. You’re right that some people will take offense at anything.
Admin
footnoteMaven,
Thank you for the excellent information and advice.
modine Gunch
There is offense given and offense taken. Using the correct historical term is NOT offensive. Some people just like to twist everything into offensive. If the US has no free speech where does it exist. Mars I think.
footnoteMaven
David:
I am working on my LL.M. in Environmental and Natural Resource Law with a focus in Federal Indian Law and have spent two summers doing specialized research in “Indian County.” I have also interned in the legal department of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. I am not an expert, but I have posed this question to members of the Indian communities with whom I have attended school and worked.
The woman from India calls herself an Indian, we and American Indians call them East Indians. The Indians I have spoken with do not like the term Native American. They contend it refers to anyone born in the United States – I am a Native American. They told me the preferred term is “Indian.” When I asked what they called themselves, they told me “The People” is how they refer to themselves. Like all groups – they do not all agree and you may receive posts from some segments of the Indian Community who would disagree with those I have spoken with.
As to political correctness, I would suggest you look to other authors and see how they handled the situation. Mark Twain has been kicked around a lot, but he wrote it as he heard it. How does Larry McMurtry handle it, as he wrote in the period?
If the Washington County settler is speaking then “I” believe they should refer to the Chief’s wife in the historically correct manner. If you the author are referring to her in a narrative then “I” believe it should be “the wife of the Cherokee Chief” or something similar.
O.K., you have my two cents worth on a $64,000 question.
Admin
Lynda,
Thank you for commenting and for sharing your experience. You are right that “it is so important to remember how life was lived yesterday.”
Lynda Gaetano
Dear David,
How very interesting to find the same dilemma facing others and see it mentioned. That is just right…words keep changing and this political correctness at times really interferes with the historical facts of a certain period. In my book “Up South, Spring.” I face the same thing in referring to an educated black woman during the 1860s. I wanted and did finally refer to her as a “negress.”..that was the only word appropriate to use to describe this woman… I would never intentionally offend anyone, nor do I see that word as derogatory, but a stunning description of a woman, but history is seen through different eyes…that is why it is so important to remember how life was lived yesterday.
Lynda Breckenridge Gaetano
A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye » Blog Archive » Should an author use language that is historically accurate or politically correct?
[...] David Bowles has a post at Writing the Westward Sagas on Political Correctness vs. Historical Accuracy. [...]
Lillie Ammann
David,
This question is thought-provoking. Not only have you and I been discussing this in regard to Adam’s Daughters, but I also have another client with a similar issue.
I’ve written a post on my blog asking the same question of my readers and am interested in hearing what others have to say.
Admin
Lee,
Thank you for giving me the idea of how to handle this in Adam’s Daughters and future books in the Westward Sagas. I think I will stay true to history but put something in the front of the book explaining why I used terms that are considered offensive today.
Lee
I am of the opinion that if you are writing in the first person you should use the terms the person would have used. If you are writing in the third person, then I’d go with the politically correct choice. Also, I have recently seen warnings on some book jackets explaining that certain terms, though offensive today, are used in the book in order to remain true to the story.