It doesn’t happen often, but I do occasionally get email from people asking—always very politely (well, almost always very politely)—whether I have ever considered producing a bowdlerized edition of my books.
Mind, none of them uses the word “bowdlerized”; I doubt most people under the age of forty have ever heard it. It comes from:
Thomas Bowdler (pronounced /ˈbaʊdlər/) (11 July 1754 – 24 February 1825), who was an English physician who published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare’s work, edited by his sister Harriet, intended to be more appropriate for 19th century women and children than the original.
He similarly published an edited version of Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. His edition was the subject of some criticism and ridicule and, through the eponym bowdlerise (or bowdlerize),[1] his name is now associated with censorship of literature, motion pictures and television programmes.
[Source: Wikipedia]
Now, what these readers would like me to expurgate from my own work, in order to accommodate their desires and sensibilities, ranges from sex-scenes (one very nice woman wrote to ask if I could produce an edition of OUTLANDER from which all the sex scenes were removed, because she was very eager to be able to discuss the book with her fifteen-year-old daughter, but didn’t think her girl was quite ready for the original. By biting my thumb rather hard (she was very nice, and meant well), I was able to refrain from writing back and asking her whether it might not be a trifle simpler just to wait a year or two for her daughter to be ready for the notion that married people have sex, than for me edit and republish a 700-page book–always assuming that I could convince any publisher that there was a market for such a thing? (My guess is that unless her daughter has been living under a rock for the last five years, she knows a lot more than I’ve ever thought of putting in a book, but possibly her mother doesn’t let her watch television)) to Bad Words in general (“I notice people say “Fuck” a lot in your more recent books,” one reader wrote, rather censoriously. “Jamie doesn’t even know what that word means in OUTLANDER!” Well…he’s probably picked up a few expressions from Claire over the last twenty years. But Jamie’s not usually the one saying that word, even in the later books. It would be pretty common to Roger, though, as well as to some of the coarse folk who live in the backwoods), to—very specifically—the use of the Lord’s name (only “Jesus” or “Christ,” evidently. “God” doesn’t appear to bother these particular readers in this context, let alone local variants like “the Holy Spirit”.).
OK. Approaching these concerns from last to first:
I have every sympathy for someone whose religious sensibilities make them uncomfortable with blasphemy, whether casual or heart-felt. I personally am very disturbed by people who curse or use profanity and crude language in restaurants, and a terrible lot of people do these days. (I don’t think it’s just the places I eat in…)
On the other hand, I’m kind of bemused that not one of the people who take the Third Commandment so much to heart that they are horrified at seeing it broken in print are evidently bothered in the slightest by the shattering of the other nine commandments that goes on in these novels. Graven images, skipping church on Sunday, dishonoring one’s parents, bearing false witness, coveting oxen, asses, wives…theft, murder, fornication, adultery–yeah, we don’t mind seeing any of that. The J-word, though….
(Let me pause for a moment of didacticism here, in which I will attempt to explain the subtleties of the terms blasphemy, profanity, and obscenity. To wit:
blas•phe•my
Show Spelled[blas-fuh-mee] Show IPA
–noun, plural -mies.
1. impious utterance or action concerning god or sacred things.
2. Judaism .
a. an act of cursing or reviling God.
b. pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) in the original, now forbidden manner instead of using a substitute pronunciation such as Adonai.
3. Theology . the crime of assuming to oneself the rights or qualities of God.
4. irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred, priceless, etc.: He uttered blasphemies against life itself.
pro•fan•i•ty
Show Spelled[pruh-fan-i-tee, proh-] Show IPA
–noun, plural -ties for 2.
1. the quality of being profane; irreverence.
2. profane conduct or language; a profane act or utterance.
3. obscenity ( defs. 2, 3 ) .
Profane
–adjective
1. characterized by irreverence or contempt for god or sacred principles or things; irreligious.
2. not devoted to holy or religious purposes; unconsecrated; secular ( opposed to sacred).
3. unholy; heathen; pagan: profane rites.
4. not initiated into religious rites or mysteries, as persons.
5. common or vulgar—verb (used with object)
6. to misuse (anything that should be held in reverence or respect); defile; debase; employ basely or unworthily.
7. to treat (anything sacred) with irreverence or contempt; violate the sanctity of: to profane a shrine.
obscenity – 5 dictionary results ob•scen•i•ty
Show Spelled[uh b-sen-i-tee, -see-ni-] Show IPA
–noun, plural -ties for 2, 3.
1. the character or quality of being obscene; indecency; lewdness.
2. something obscene, as a picture or story.
3. an obscene word or expression, especially when used as an invective.
[Source for all of the above: dictionary.com]
Let me state for the record that no one in any of my books has ever pronounced the Tetragrammaton in the original. Not once.
And Jamie Fraser is on record as stating that he only _felt_ like God (while having sex with his wife); he never said he _was_. So I think we’re clear on those particular charges of blasphemy. I’ll get back to the question of impious utterances in a bit.
Now, if you read further on the dictionary.com site (and others), you’ll find that blasphemy, profanity, and obscenity are often used as synonyms for each other—and they often overlap, depending on usage–but there are differences.
The F-word (I’m sorry, I was raised as a Catholic and I have considerable trouble saying that word out loud. Fortunately most of the people in my books have no such scruples) is often obscene, and quite possibly profane, but not blasphemous. I.e., there’s no mention of God or anything sacred (well, not in the word itself. If you started applying it to sacred concepts—which a good many cultures do, in terms of insult (French-Canadian Catholics, for one)—then that’s different). (Ulster Protestants given to tattooing such sentiments as “F— the Pope” on their foreheads (no, I’m not kidding; some of these people feel strongly about their sectarian sensibilities) are not committing blasphemy _per se_, as while the Pope may be a person of reverence, he isn’t God. “F the P” is therefore mere profanity.)
Profanity can also be blasphemous, if an invocation of God is involved—but if you leave God out of it, profanity is not usually blasphemy. It’s just irreverence, and that’s pretty firmly in the eye of the beholder and the standards of the times. Go to, thou saucy fellow!
As for obscenity…the Supreme Court couldn’t do better than, “we know it when we see it,” and I don’t propose to try to top that.
Anyway, the point here is that it’s only blasphemy (or what is perceived as blasphemy) that concerns the “I do wish you would not take the Lord’s Name in vain” letters. One reader informed me that she had gone through my books with a black marker and obliterated all such usages, so that she could read the books in comfort. I congratulated her on her helpful ingenuity; genius often lies in simplicity.
But let’s look at that. Does any use of the C-word (the six-letter one) or the J-word that is not portrayed as a prayer or a scriptural reference constitute blasphemy?
I don’t think so.
Here we come to the “impious utterances” definition of blasphemy. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Well…what is “in vain”?
When we did catechism class back in the day, we were taught that “in vain” meant that you mustn’t use God’s name to curse somebody, in the “You g_d_ son of a four-legged what-not..!” kind of way. (Catholics, btw, do include “God” (and the Holy Spirit, for that matter) as being “the Lord’s name.”). Using God’s name as a casual interjection—“Jesus, it’s hot,” or “God, I’d kill for a beer,” was crude and thoughtless and a well-brought-up person ought not to do it—but it wasn’t blasphemy, either.
People in my books do in fact use this sort of casual reference fairly often—because men in certain professions (soldiering, for one) and in the exclusive company of other men, very frequently _do_ do that. (You notice that the women in my books don’t do this.)
In my experience (owing to unorthodox career choices, most of my colleagues and close friends were men, up to my early forties), men who do this are customarily calling unconsciously upon God to witness something, asking for casual assistance in a moment of stress, or merely expressing an intensification of emotion (amazement, shock, anger), and do not actually intend offense to their comrades or impiety toward the Almighty.
Now, plainly opinions differ on just what’s an impious utterance and what’s not. That being so, though, we’ve got a few different considerations going here:
1. The notion that a writer ought to try never to offend anyone’s conception of morality or decency.
2. Whether a writer should or should not portray offensive behavior (i.e., behavior condemned by a majority of the populace), and if so, under what circumstances?
3. The question of how far historic speech might differ from modern speech, and whether an historical novelist should take that into account?
OK, #1 is simple. Putting aside aesthetics and the moral imperatives of art, it’s flat-out physically impossible to write something that won’t offend somebody. Ergo, the notion that a writer should try to do so is ludicrous.
#2 is also pretty simple. People don’t always behave well; the briefest glance at the television news makes that pretty clear. If art (whether novels, photographs, or anything else) is going to serve as a reflection of or a reflection on humanity, it’s going to show people doing stuff that may not be moral by anybody’s compass. The essence of art is conflict. Conflict may be difficult to look at (or utterly fascinating. Sometimes both at once), but you can’t do without it and make art.
#3. Now, historicity. Language evolves, and so does social custom. What is obscene or blasphemous in one time often isn’t, in another. If you called a man a fig-licker today, he would probably merely blink at you, whereas them was duelin’ words in the 18th century.**
A writer dealing with historical settings has a lot of things to consider, and one of these is how much “historical” language or figures of speech to use, and how to portray historical characters in such a way that they seem realistic and empathetic to a modern audience, but still belong plainly to their own time.
Well, one of the ways in which you do this is to use figures of speech that are extremely common, and likely always have been, as well as those particular to a specific age. And calling upon the name of the Almighty in moments of strong emotion and/or casual conversation has probably been part of human speech since people discovered the concept of a deity.
Now, I could go on and on (well…even more on and on {g}) about this business, because I find it fascinating, but I do have work to do. I think the best I can do here may be to quote a bit from THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION. This letter was written as part of an exchange with a courteous gentleman who’d written to object to the F-word, which emerged from one of the audiobooks as he was driving with his four-year-old grand-daughter, and is included in the “Controversy” section of the COMPANION:
“Well, I have children myself (11, 13, and 15 at the moment), and we try not to expose them to “bad language,” either, in spite of the fact that they all know all the words already (there’s still some point to insisting that these are not suitable for civilized conversation, after all).
The thing is, though–my books are definitely written (and carefully written at that) for adults. When I do use bad language in the books (oddly enough, I never use it, personally; never), it’s because it seems to me to be called for, by the circumstances and character. In the case of the F-word in DRUMS (I did use that same word in all the other books, by the way, though sparingly), it’s used by a young man in the grip of angry (and sexually motivated) passion, in the late 1960s. Given this character, this time period, and this set of circumstances, his language seemed entirely appropriate.
Now, one reason for insisting that bad language not be used in everyday discourse is, of course, that it’s low-class and offensive. One other reason–equally important, in my opinion–is that such language does have its own legitimate purpose; that is, to express feeling that is also beyond the limits of normal civilized discourse. To use such words casually deprives them of their impact.
You can see that, in the scene in question in DRUMS. If Roger normally spoke like that, the reader wouldn’t have (what I hope is) the impression of a man driven almost beyond endurance, and holding on to his notions of decent behavior with great effort.
Okay. So, the point is that when I do use strong language, I have a specific reason for doing so. It really doesn’t seem reasonable to me to eradicate such language–chosen and used carefully, to a purpose–on the grounds that someone might someday wish to listen to a taped version of an adult book in the presence of a small child.”
(My correspondent very graciously thanked me for hearing his concern, btw, and agreed with my conclusion.)
Right. Well, moving backward from blasphemy and Rude Speech, we come back to the inclusion of sex in my books. I can honestly say that of a thousand letters I get that mention this, 999 readers think there should be more sex. {g}. But there is the occasional one who thinks that the inclusion of sex lowers the tone, impairs my literary reputation, or should be omitted so as to make the books more…um…acceptable {cough} to younger (or possibly older; you wouldn’t believe how many people think their elderly parents or grandparents would enjoy my books but be put off by the sex*) readers.
Well, I think my literary reputation will have to take care of itself; I can’t do anything but write the best books I can, and history and the readers will make of them what they want to.
I do think that the sex scenes are both necessary and integral to the story, or they wouldn’t be there. These aren’t romance novels, but they are (among other things) the story of a very long and complex marriage. Now, there may possibly be long and successful marriages that don’t include sex, but I don’t personally know of any.
Neither are any sex-scenes included for the sake of gratuitous titillation (any titillating that happens is purely fortuitous, I assure you), nor are any of them just about sex. They have structural and emotional reasons for being where they are, and the book would not be the same story, nor have the same complexity, without them.
Still, the bottom line here is the Eye of the Beholder. There is no book that will say the same thing to all readers. A good book will say something different each time it’s read, even by the same person. And each reader brings his or her experience, background, prejudices, desires, and perceptions to the reading.
That being true, there’s little point in bowdlerization. What offends one person will be revelation and elevation to the next. That’s why we have a great variety of books.
“If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,” seems a trifle extreme here as a response—but if there are particular things in my books that annoy or offend a reader as an individual, the ultimate power to control these does lie with the reader, not with me.***
Thank you for reading!
*(I am irresistibly reminded here of a book-signing event in Chicago, where I signed books for a grandmother, her daughter, and grand-daughter (intergenerational—and multi-gender—trios are pretty common at my signings). I was chatting with the grandmother while signing a book for her grand-daughter, and she said, “You know, I was in the middle of VOYAGER and I turned to my grand-daughter and said, ‘I’ve just had the most terrible thought! We’re both lusting after the same man!’”)
**To save you looking it up, the modern equivalent slang would be “muff-diver.” Weirdly enough, I don’t think there’s a female slang version of this epithet, though there is a purely formal descriptive term. But when was the last (or the first, for that matter) time you heard someone called a fellatrix?
*** A good-quality Sharpie costs about $1.79.
There are plenty of publishers out there that specialize books that don’t include profanity or sex. If someone finds those things offensive and would rather they don’t appear in the things they read, they can read what those publishers have chosen to print.
the bottom line is that they chose to read a book that had some profanity and sex in it. it’s not like a dirty trick was played on them where they picked up a book that promised not to offend them, but then ambushed them with dirty words and frolics in haystacks.
they better not pick up The Exile. If they had to black out Claire’s boobs with a sharpie they would run out of ink.
Dear Calla–
Rof,l!!
–Diana
On the other hand, this has got to be the catchiest, most upbeat song of the year. If you haven’t heard it I think you’ll get a chuckle out of it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CeeLoGreen#p/u/3/pc0mxOXbWIU
I am no angel, I swear.
Sometimes I swear when I’m angry-it releases the negative energy-, or simply when I want to be funny and add some “color” or emphasis to my words. I never direct it to someone in particular, except when I’m driving (I live in LA), and I only do it in the presence of people I know tolerate it.
I believe in God, but, I am, after all, only human, and so are the characters in your books.
God, I enjoy your work !!! Thank Him for your talent.
ROFLMAO…..ok, nuff you guys…..if I laugh any harder I’ll get hiccups
Diana is my favorite author, period.
I cannot imagine writing to any author and asking them to remove anything in their books, much less – one who just happens to be such a great writer. That is the strangest thing I’ve ever heard of!
“Inter-generational” lusting… LOL
I gave both my mother and my daughter copies of Outlander after my first read and knew they would both love the series. (My granddaughter is almost 17 and she just recently started reading it) Yes, those kids know more than we did at that age!
Cussing: I often wondered how I would approach that very subject in my writing too. (I’m in the midst of editing my first novel, working on the sequel, and recently started yet another book, and so far, I’ve only heard my characters say a few of the minor swear words here and there: hell, damn, and the likes.) Imagine my surprise when I began my newest novel and my main male character had the audacity to say the F word! I was as surprised as anyone can imagine, but given the context of what was happening, it was exactly what he needed to say! I tried reading the sentence out loud without the word several times…and it simply does not work! I may receive flack for it too, but I must be true to my character, and I am glad you did too, Diana.
I love Jamie and Claire exactly as they are.
Read all the ” Outlander ” series and I must say they are the some of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever read. As a 75 yr old phart and male, I am not in the least offended by any words or descriptions in the ” series “. Must be the Celtic rebel in me that i love the theme and story line of them. Recommended reading .
Dear Diana (Claire, Jamie, Brianna, Dougal, Frank(s), Mrs. Bug, et al.),
Have you given any thought to not using the word “Wee” so much in your books? After all, it makes one think of wee-wee, which is another word for, um, well, you-know…
Now, about the Klingon translation of your books…
Looking forward to Part 2 !!!
Peggy
Diana,
Being above 40 myself, I am familiar with the term Bowdlerization and opposed to it in all forms. That is not to say I wish to read everything that a given person may wish to write—only that I support their right to write it as they see fit, and my right to read or not read as I see fit. As to protecting my children’s sensibilities, I am strongly convinced that is my responsiblity–certainly not the responsiblity of countless authors who will never meet nor know anything about the mental and emotional maturity level of my sons. All three boys have always been avid readers who read far above grade level, which is why the Outlander Series is the first truly adult novel series I’ve read in years—I’ve been immersed in children’s and young adult books because I have sense enough to know that just because someone is capable of reading something, it doesn’t mean they should. I discovered many books that were fine for my boys to read on their own, some which simply were “too mature” and quite a few which I chose to read with them—thinking that the content was not unacceptable, but could certainly benefit from some parental discussion.
Interestingly, two of the books I read with my boys (each in turn, over the years) were Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. We had wonderful discussions about history, racism, racial slurs, and generallly how humans have historically behaved toward one another and how they should. We would have missed a lot had I simply banned those books for their objectionable words.
After reading Tom Sawyer, I chaperoned a field trip to a Children’s Theater performance of it with my 10 year old’s class. At the conclusion, the children were asked if they had any questions. My 10 year old son stood up and asked, “Why did you change Injun Joe’s name to River Joe? That doesn’t make any sense.” That evening’s dinner conversation centered on bowdlerization (although I didn’t think to give them that wonderful word at the time) and political correctness!
Write the characters you created, Diana, and give them all their words and actions—those we readers may approve of and those we may not, for they belong to you. We only borrow them–for entertainment, for thought, for escape—or whatever purpose we choose to pick up a book and read. Thank you for allowing us to meet them, and for heaven’s sake don’t ever muzzle them!
*Woman* desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery rose from the table; and advancing to the master, *“Echo in the Bone”* novel in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at her own temerity:
‘Please,*Diana*, I want some more.’
I ecco what many people said here, Why read a book if you don’t like it? An if you read it like it, but wanted things changed, what on earth give them the right to request the author to change it to suit their tastes?
To me is a total lack of respect for the work and the art of a person.
Your books are beautiful and we all love them, because they are the way they are!
Don’t even botter with such comments.!
Once my father told me that morality was a question of geography, what was good in one place didn’t apply to the next. So, who is to say what is right or not?
Respect for others is a common place always, and I don’t think the people that wrote those letters really respect others.
Keep writing the way you do, is beautiful, sincere and real.
Dalma
…and a lot of people’s need to separate sex and marriage comes from the Manichean heresy where sex (and the body) was sinful.
So, people tend to miss out on what “two becoming one” means when they hold to this belief. God wants married people to have sex! (Look! I said that and there’s no lightning hurtling towards my head!)
I whole-heartedly agree with the cafeteria approach to the commandments. I have no problem with the characters saying what they say. I live my life and am wayyy too busy with keeping my nose clean to notice the fictional spiritual state of fictional people in books.
If you want to end up with more grey hair than you can imagine, listen to middle and high school children when they think you can’t hear them. Dear God in heaven….(prayerful utterance, not cursing)
Hooo-boy did that make me laugh. People are funny aren’t they?
ROTFLOL! Love it – I have, however, learned to substitute Bloody for F*** at times in conversation – and get odd looks for it since I am a down-to-the-bones American – and Californian at that!
Besides, you did reference the evolution of profanity in your first novel…
Love your writing, and those who are also in the craft understand that every word has it’s place in the piece – period.
Thanks for making me laugh on this Sunny Sunday!
I guess if you want to avoid all sorts of written material that ‘may’ offend.. try Edith Bylton !
I am continually amazed at people who call radio stations, TV stations, write to papers or authors complaining that they are offended by a word, scene or topic…
its really easy to solve, turn off, put down or stop reading !!! LOL LOL
sorry Beth, that was meant to be a separate comment, not a reply.. hit the wrong button !!!
maybe the blog edditor can remove my reply and make it s comment ??
Or they could try Owner’s Manuals, schematics, blue prints, or cereal boxes. All very dry, but fairly inoffensive.
Meh, f*ck ‘em all. You’re doing great. Keep up the good work!
I guess if you want to avoid all sorts of written material that ‘may’ offend.. try Edith Bylton !
I am continually amazed at people who call radio stations, TV stations, write to papers or authors complaining that they are offended by a word, scene or topic…
its really easy to solve, turn off, put down or stop reading !!! LOL LOL
The absolute cheek of someone advising you on the appropriate language to use in YOUR books. These are your babies, you owe no one anything but the entertaiment their $25 buys. If their delicate sensibilities are offended-they can set the book aside.
I’m sorry, but I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that there are people out there that actually think they have the right to dictate what goes into your art!
For *God’s* sake Diana, please don’t bowdlerize your master pieces.
I love the balance of topics and gritty reality of your chararcters. Jamie and Claire are sensual people, which is why I relate to them so much.
Diana, do not change a thing……..you have spoiled me from any other author, and I have been inhaling books since I was six years old!!! Everything you write is for a reason, I think, and I for one, love every bit of it.
Carry on woman!
Deborah
(Your Number One Fan!)
Aw, you’re just making me miss Jamie and Claire and crew even more. I do hope your new projects are coming along. And thank you, as always, for taking the time to share your talents.
oh good grief. really. the nerve of some people. You’re the author–you can’t remove some parts without it affecting the readers’ response to the entire story.
My sweetie (a real life Fraser, btw) asked me today if I was fantasizing about JF–(I’m only just done with Dragonfly)
and my answer was something like, ‘well, sort of, but not really, but kind of in an abstract way’ and he asked me if there were explicit love scenes in the books and I said ‘no, well, not really–they’re rather romantic, but not a bit cheesy, and definitley sexual, but not porno. And that is really just perfectly balanced on that fine line.’
And I can handle all the cussing etc. and would do just fine with more explicitness, but I feel that you are quite the master (mistress?) of clarity/sublety on the subjects of sex and violence. Well done!
Eagerly starting Voyager tonite!