politically correct or not

[malcermie]

One of my favourite poets is Rudyard Kipling but a lot of his work can hardly be described as politically or racially correct. Poems like Gunga Din for instance. What is the general opinion on making these available?

[TriciaG]

Record what you are comfortable with. We won't censor or exclude works based on whether or not it's politically correct today. See here: http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Recording_%26_Text_Policies#LibriVox_and_.22Sensitive.22_Topics

[MARTIN GEESON]

If no-one records the politically incorrect (by today's standards), we have nothing by which to measure the improvements in our civilisation.

I write as someone who regards 'politically correct' as a synonym for 'respectful and courteous towards members of previously despised minorities.'

The self-advertised 'politically incorrect' are now comprised largely of people whose nostalgia for times when their bigoted opinions were the accepted standard leads them to confuse frank speaking with heroic honesty.

Martin

[English Andrew]

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. This means they can be used out of context and that money can be charged that we don't get. It is good manners to acknowledge LibriVox as the source but we have given away the right to demand it.

How would I feel about recording, say, Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Fine - it's an important work in the history of anti-Semitism. How would I feel about a neo-Nazi group raising funds by selling copies of my recording, copies that claim that it is genuine? I would want to sue, especially if an anti-fascist group offered to put up the money so I could sue. But I couldn't because "All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain".

I would encourage you to record books which contain material that is now considered politically incorrect, for the reasons Martin gave, but just be aware that LibriVox recordings may be used for purposes you don't approve of.

[Algy Pug]

If no-one records the politically incorrect (by today's standards), we have nothing by which to measure the improvements in our civilisation.

Martin

Many landmarks of world literature, are, by today's standards, politically incorrect to an extravagant degree. To cite a couple of examples:
The Bible (especially Leviticus and the Epistles of Paul)
Dante - the Divine Comedy (very harsh views on homosexuality and Islam)
However, this does not mean that they are not works of inestimable value, and unworthy of the deepest study.

Even a relatively modern author like John Buchan, in his earlier works, was extremely bigoted. He believed that black communities existed to be colonized, and his preferred term for a character who was a thoroughtly fine chap was "a white man." However, in his later years, his views appear to have changed. In his last book Sick Heart River, the main character Edward Leithen ( who was considered among the recurring figures in Buchan's books to be most like the author himself) is stricken with terminal cancer and spends his last days defending the rights of a beleagued indigenous community in Canada.

While salacious and deliberately inflammatory texts like "Mein Kampf" and the Protocols of Zion are important historical documents and it is appropriate that their significance be recognized, I don't believe that recording such material is really in the public interest. As a listener I would prefer that audiobooks readers seek to instruct and entertain rather than to enrage. However, I do respect the rights of others to their own opinions - and choice of reading and listening material.

Cheers

[DACSoft]

When similar questions arise, I always keep in mind the (very ambitious) Librivox objective, as found on the "About Librivox" page (my emphasis):

About LibriVox

LibriVox Objective

To make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet.

If a book is PD, a reader is comfortable with the book's content, and one or more PLs will listen to it (to get it catalogued), then (s)he should go for it IMHO! If I thought a "controversial" or "politically incorrect" book was important enough be provided in audio, I would certainly record it (or DPL), even if no one else listened to it once posted (and one never knows how popular a specific book may be).

One individual's opinion ... your mileage may vary.

[J_N]

Also, how do you define politically correct? I don't believe there is a universal rule for what is or is not pc...

on a side note: I think I would not be allowed to record 'Mein Kampf' [or similar writings] even if I wanted to (which I don't) - I am pretty sure that would fall under the "Verbotsgesetz 1947"

[chocoholic]

on a side note: I think I would not be allowed to record 'Mein Kampf' [or similar writings] even if I wanted to (which I don't)

No one else can record it for LV either, as it was published after 1922 outside the US and is therefore still under US copyright restriction. But yes, it looks as though you would be breaking Austrian law if you tried!

[annise]

I've read Mein Kampf - in an English translation and learnt a lot from it. Maybe if more people had actually read it at the time , people would not have shrugged him off as a ranting Chaplin look alike for so long ?
I doubt too many people who voted for him had ever read it.

Anne

[J_N]

I've read Mein Kampf - in an English translation and learnt a lot from it. Maybe if more people had actually read it at the time , people would not have shrugged him off as a ranting Chaplin look alike for so long ?
I doubt too many people who voted for him had ever read it.

Without wanting to cause any offence: that's what I think of a lot of people who throw the bible or any other scripture around to defend their views and actions... I am not sure reading would actually make a difference...