So who doesn’t swear or cuss on occasion? Right? It’s part
of our current culture. Everyone does it—increasingly so and harsher as we go
along. Swearing has increased in movies, television shows but especially books.
When I was a teen reading Lord of the Rings or anything written by Ray Bradbury
there wasn’t a single cuss word anywhere. Teens then were cussing up a storm
when gathered in groups and such. But it wasn’t in our literature nearly to the
extent it is today.
This begs the question: Is all of that cussing really
necessary?
Sarah Coyne, professor of family life at Brigham Young
University analyzed the use of profanity in forty young adult books on the best
seller list. Thirty-five of them had at least one swear word. On the average
there were thirty-eight instances of cussing, with one book containing nearly
five hundred uses of foul language.
Is that really necessary to become a best seller with teens?
The argument is the author is reaching for authenticity and grit. But there are
plenty of books with grit and reality that don’t make us feel like we need a
shower to rinse off the stench after reading them. Look at The Hunger Games
Series. Could a story get any grittier or more realistic? How much cussing did
you hear from Katniss or Peta? During the final battle with Lord Voldemort, did
Harry Potter let loose a stream of expletives?
In my humble opinion, cussing is a cheap way out of finding
a creative way to express oneself. And it cheapens the book as well.
Here are some more interesting notes Professor Coyne
discovered:
The characters doing the swearing tended to be of higher
social status, better looking and have more money than their non-swearing counterparts.
So what does that say to the preteens who are forming their
ideas of who they are and who they will become as adults? Everyone knows kids
who read, tend to do so about three to five years above their age level. I’ve
seen Fourth Graders reading the Twilight series. None of MY children would ever
have read something like that at age nine, but I saw it when I was teaching. And the kids who were allowed to read
material years ahead of their maturational level, refused to read
age-appropriate, excellent literature, thereby missing out of a whole world of
good books.
The problem with today’s young adult books is a reader
doesn’t know what they’re getting into until they’re knee deep in the mire.
This goes for swearing, sex and violence. Ever try to stop a teen from 'enjoying' something which contains sex,
foul language or gore? Of course an allowance is made for the
genre bridging the innocence of middle grade books and adult-level reading. But
how much is too much? How do we protect the sanctity of innocence until a young
adult is ready to become an adult if what they’re reading reveals all?
As an author of Picture Books up through Young Adult, I feel
the need to protect my young readers from what they’re seeing in movies and
television, hearing in the lyrics of their music and experiencing while playing
their video games. Teens aren’t allowed to remain innocent and naiive
anymore…and I think it’s a shame on our society.
BTW, be sure to run by my website and find the MuseItUp Christmas Tree to be entered for my blog. Under the Hat of MG/YA Fantasy Author Rebecca Ryals Russell
BTW, be sure to run by my website and find the MuseItUp Christmas Tree to be entered for my blog. Under the Hat of MG/YA Fantasy Author Rebecca Ryals Russell
You bring up an interesting and ongoing topic. When Saving Jake was in its final edit, my editor and I discussed the use of swear words and she said she would allow the "d" word but not the "s" word and certainly not the "f" word. I refer to my characters as swearing but I never put the words down on the paper. I think the use of a single word once or twice is not a bad idea simply because 1) it really is realistic, and 2) in some situations it would be a natural expression on the part of the involved character. That said, I don't believe in putting curse words into dialogue as frequently as I hear it in the real world. I think really good writers create characters who have enough dimension that the writer can probably understand this person may swear under extreme circumstances but that doesn't mean we need to see/hear it. (I bet Harry Potter let loose quite a bit considering everything he went up against! But Rowling chose not to include it.) In the end, I think to include stronger language or not really depends on the context of the book. My stories don't need that, but do understand that stories including situations like street violence or the grim world of substance abuse might need to use those particular phrases. I could segue into story matter such as substance abuse and gangs, but that's a whole different topic!
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about using one or two words when the character is being discovered by the reader then not again. I recently listened to the entire Harry Potter series again, picking up pointers, and in one of the last books Ron cusses but the way she does it to tells us he cusses without using the words. We get the point.
DeleteIn my humble opinion, swearing should be very limited, if at all in books for children and teens. Seldom does it add to the story, even if the character might naturally talk that way. Young readers are exposed to so much ugly stuff in real life, they might enjoy escaping to a world that's gentler and kinder. I don't know. Perhaps they'd discover that everyone doesn't talk with 4 letter words. Sadly, so many of them live with abuse and hate. Yes, reading stories about others like themselves may help them cope with an impossible situation. But I know many teens who do not cuss because they come from homes where their parents have tried to teach them better. Maybe they're in the minority, but shouldn't books encourage readers to rise above a situation and better their lives? Or is this wishful thinking. Perhaps my generation thinks differently about this.
ReplyDeleteGreat topic, Rebecca.
Beverly, I think age does make a difference. If you read Facebook postings by older teens or young adults (like my 23 year old daughter) they are sprinkled liberally with every cuss word you can imagine and then some we would NEVER have thought of much less use. But they write the way they speak and don't see the words like we do. I still don't think that makes it okay to fill YA books with cussing, however.
DeleteFirst off, cursing is not part of the "current culture." People have been cursing since Og told Ug to shove that sabertooth tiger pelt up his @$&. We have been programmed to think that no one in the 40s and 50s cursed because they did not swear in films.
ReplyDeleteAs for kids books, I agree 98%. No need for harsh language. However, there are some stories or situations where it may be suitable. Kids should be allowed theirge of innocence but they should not be over protected. There are realities such as swear words that exist. God gave us curse words so we will vent verbally and not with our fists. A much better solution. As for sex- we have to be careful we do not ruin our children by making them associate sex with something bad or dirty.
Movies today (and our culture in general) has a bigger problem then curse words. Its mean spritedness and shallowness. Take a comedian like Billy Connolly or George Carlin- they curse but they use the language as a tool to make some very good points. True- they are messages that go over kids heads for the most part but have debth. The shallowness of movies, music and TV is doing more harm then Goodfellas style F-bombings will. Advertising is perhaps the biggest culprit in programming our kids to think in terms of material rather than spiritual values.
Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451' DOES, in fact, have instances of swear words. And although Harry Potter doesn't swear during his battle with Lord Voldemort, Mrs. Weasley lets out a memorable expletive while battling Bellatrix.
ReplyDeleteI think the swearing in these books is easy to overlook because A) it doesn't occur often, B) when it does occur, it's to further the story. For instance, when jolly, happy-go-lucky Mrs. Weasley swears at Bellatrix, you know something's going down. That's not her usual way of speaking -- it becomes very clear to the reader that Bellatrix has pushed Mrs. Weasley over the edge, and Mrs. Weasley is responding in a way that it outside of her normal behaviors (which we see continued when gentle Mrs. Weasley kills Bellatrix).
Swearing also needs to be in character for it to work well. If my story features a drunk, dirty, angry biker in a fight at a bar, he's not going to say 'fudge' or 'oh, sugar'. Likewise, we're not going to have a calm, buttoned down character swear unless there are some seriously extenuating circumstances.
I don't object to a smattering of swear words, but you're right, I'm immediately repelled by a book that drops cuss words in every other sentence. There's no need for that.
Great post! I actually recently posted on something similar: http://nickieanderson.blogspot.com/2012/06/insults-and-swearing-in-ya.html
You make excellent points. And that line from Mrs. Weasley is my favorite from the entire series BECAUSE it is out of character but also part of her underlying character that we finally got to see. I use created cuss words since my books are set in a different world, but they are used sparingly and only to show character.
DeleteAnother example of an author who made up swear words in her YA Sci-fi series is Beth Revis. She's in one of my critique groups and it was interesting how she did come up with the words that she did.
DeleteFahreinheit 451 is a book for adults. No rules when writing for adults.
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh at the stereotyping going on. I hear more foul language from "clean button down" types then bikers.
ReplyDeleteI feel it depends on the story and character. I do use some language in both EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA and CROSSED OUT. My editor did suggest not using my one f-bomb in CROSSED OUT, saying it didn't really need it. Author Kate Messner suggests this--Try deleting the word from your story and see if it's missed.
ReplyDeleteIn my current project I do use language as it's reflective of my character. Now my upcoming YA--NO GODDESSES ALLOWED is a lighter tale and it would be jarring to have Jordan swear.
The amount of swearing a character does defines that character. But even one who would "in reality" cuss a lot, doesn't need to do as much in writing. A couple words can go a long way in defining the fact that character would be cussing in a given situation.
DeleteOnce again, depends on the story. My edgier YA which deals with a teen growing up with a bipolar father and violence, the father swears. I feel I'd be dumbing down the character if I don't show him in his true light. I feel there is a need out there for books that do show real characters in real life situations. Examples include any book by Ellen Hopkins which shows real teens in real situations. How I wish she'd been around when I was growing up in an abusive home. Maybe then I wouldn't have felt so alone. Yes, these books aren't for everyone and there should be lighter stories out there too. But that's just my opinion.
DeleteBTW, I would just like to ask: Is there a difference between CUSSING and CURSING? I always believed that cursing occurs when someone condemns someone else to serious injury or death, as in Voodoo or Black Magic. CUSSING is the use of foul language. Cuss is an American alteration of curse, and its meaning “to say bad words” was first recorded in 1815.
ReplyDeleteRead more at http://hotword.dictionary.com/cussing-swearing-cursing/#LWu6R1XrsmfcSpBK.99
Teens say swearing. I've never heard them say 'cussing'. I'd have to ask some what they say now. I'm around teens and their feedback continues to amaze me.
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