Trigger Warnings For Assigned Readings?
On Monday, I wrote a brief note here on Jose Saramago‘s Blindness, commenting on its very distinctive tragicomic style. Earlier in the day, my class had discussed–among others–parts XI and XII of the novel, two sections in which the violence and depravity in the abandoned mental hospital reaches new depths. Rape and a stabbing death are its most prominent features. Our discussion went well; I had asked students to bring in examples of passages they found satirical, and we talked about how these served to make Saramago’s broader ethical and political commentary more distinctive.
Later that evening I received the following email from a student:
I am writing to you regarding today’s class reading assignment.
We read a very detailed and graphic description of the events that took place in the asylum (of how the women were raped). I’m impelled to say that knowing that you have a multi-diverse classroom, with students who have lived and experienced different things in their lifetime, you should have approached the subject matter of today’s class a little bit differently. For example, giving us a warning of what we were going to come across in our reading. You do not know if maybe there are rape survivors in class, or if someone has perhaps experienced the same thing that those women experienced, or if this is a very sensitive topic to someone. The content of the book could have been extremely triggering to that person, to the point of inducing distress, or even a potential mental breakdown. I personally feel that you took an extremely insensitive approach in directing today’s class discussion. I understand that the books we read in class have something to do with complete collapse of social order/ chaos and morale (for it is implied in the course title) and that ties in with the objective of the class in developing theoretical class discussions, but some of these topics can make up someone else’s reality, it is not simply theoretical. It came across to me that you were very indifferent to the trauma of the women in the book (mainly for connecting the rape of the women with basic human/ animal instincts). There need not be an apocalypse in order to experience rape.
I would really appreciate if you give us trigger warnings or at least some time to mentally prepare for future graphic events.
My intend is not to be rude, I just want to convey my personal opinion and reaction. It is possible that I could have misinterpreted things, therefore, if possible i would like to arrange an appointment with you to clarify matters.
I wrote back to the student, apologizing for any distress caused her, and asked her to come in to meet me during my office hours. She has not written back to me yet, but I expect we will meet soon enough.
Meanwhile, this morning, in class, I began by talking to my students about the email I had received–without naming the author, of course. I acknowledged that the reading might have been experienced quite differently by the many readers in my class, each bringing to it their unique personal backgrounds and experiences; I went on to note that in the first class meeting of the semester, I had pointed out that the subject material of the class–a concentration on post-apocalyptic literature–was likely to involve many difficult emotional and intellectual encounters and that our reading of Nevil Shute‘s On The Beach had already exposed us to some very painful and melancholic ruminations on death and dying. I noted that the readings which remained in the semester would often take us down similar paths (I made especial note of Cormac McCarthy‘s The Road at this point.) I then wrapped up by reminding my students that they would often encounter reading material in college which would be distressful in many different dimensions, but again, this did not mean that no sensitivity could be shown to those who might find them traumatic.
We then returned to our final discussion of Blindness.
As I was taken unaware by my student’s email, I do not know if my responses are adequate or appropriate. All and any comments are welcome.
