Added trigger warning to EM Forster’s seminal A Passage to India stating classic novel contains ‘offensive’ language and ‘attitudes of our times’
- Warning appears in the American edition of the novel published by The Modern Library
- Written in 1924, A Passage To India is known for its critique of British imperialism
- Academics described decision to include trigger warning as ‘disturbing’
Widely regarded as one of the greatest works of literature of the 20th century, A Passage To India by EM Forster has now been issued a trigger warning to readers for its use of “offensive” language and “cultural depictions.”
Academic fans of the novel, which will mark its 100th anniversary of publication next year, say the warning is “completely inappropriate” and that the work is “drawn into a culture war that bears little relation to its subject.”
The trigger warning appears in the latest US edition of the novel published by The Modern Library, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
It reads: ‘This book was published in 1924 and reflects the views of its time. The publisher’s decision to present it as originally published is not an endorsement of offensive cultural representations or language.”
A Passage To India explores the fallout of a trumped-up sexual assault allegation made by Adela Quested, a newly arrived British woman in India, against the mild-mannered Dr. Aziz.
A Passage To India by EM Forster has been issued a trigger warning to readers for using ‘offensive’ language and ‘cultural representations’
Judy Davis and Nigel Havers starred in the epic 1984 film adaptation of A Passage To India
She later drops the charges and declares him innocent, just in time to prevent the growing racial tensions from spiraling into violence.
Set against the backdrop of the British Raj and Indian independence movement in the 1920s, the book is notable for its critique of imperialism and its portrayals of Indians as cultured equals.
It was adapted into an award-winning historical drama in 1984, with David Lean in the director’s chair and starring Peggy Ashcroft, Judy Davis, James Fox and Alec Guinness.
American academic Deborah Appleman told The Telegraph that the decision to include a trigger warning in the American edition of the novel was “disturbing.”
Set against the background of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s, the book is notable for its critique of British imperialism.
She said, “It’s an example of what I’ve called a kind of presentism, where contemporary readers impose their own current values on the world of a novel, even one as carefully crafted as EM Forster’s.”
British writer Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, added: “In the feverish, polarized atmosphere of contemporary America, uninformed readers will take one look at the trigger warning on the front cover of A Passage to India and assume that it was. written by a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, rather than a liberal homosexual who was a critic of the British Empire.”
Last month, Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse similarly received a “trigger warning” over concerns about the “attitudes” portrayed to American readers in the 1927 book.
Woolf’s semi-autobiographical novel tells the stories of the Ramsay family’s journeys to their summer home on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Last month, Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse similarly received a “trigger warning” over concerns about the “attitudes” portrayed to American readers in the 1927 book.
However, a new edition, published by Vintage, will be preceded by a statement explaining that the decision to print the novel in its original form is not an “approval” of the “cultural representations or language” used in Woolf’s book.
It remains unclear what “attitudes” expressed in Woolf’s novel led the publisher to include a disclaimer.
MailOnline has contacted The Modern Library for comment.