University of Derby staff tell students that the genre is ‘obsessed with violence and suffering, often of a sexual or graphic kind’
Tragedy may be too “triggering” for modern students, academics have warned.
The dramatic art form has entranced audiences from Ancient Greece to the Shakespearean stage, but has now been deemed potentially upsetting by staff at the University of Derby.
Students embarking on a literature module covering tragedy, including celebrated examples like Hamlet and King Lear, are warned that the genre is “obsessed… with suffering” and could prove “triggering”.
Athenian dramas concerning the deaths of mythical kings, and Arthur Miller’s classic Death of a Salesman, are also on the reading list for the module, which has been given a blanket advisory on how the tragic could be troubling.
The warning, as seen by The Telegraph, states: “Tragedy is a genre obsessed with violence and suffering, often of a sexual or graphic kind, and so some of the content might be triggering for some students.
“If you feel that your engagement with particular texts or themes is going to present challenges, do speak to me in advance of the class.”
University staff said the warning was deemed necessary because “any of the plays explicitly engage with themes of violence and trauma, frequently sexual in nature”.
The plays in the module span 2,500 years of literature, beginning with the works of Aeschylus, whose Oresteia tells of numerous mythological murders, and Sophocles, whose drama Oedipus Rex tells the story of a king who sleeps with his mother and kills his father.
‘The real tragedy is the use of trigger warnings’
Professor Frank Furedi, an education expert at the University of Kent, criticised the broad trigger warning and said that tragedy is meant to cause upset.
“In order to draw a reader or an audience into the drama, tragedy is meant to provoke emotional upheaval and cause upset,” he said.
“If they fail to provoke strong emotions then a tragedy is anything but tragic. There is no such thing as a safe tragedy and students who wish to study this literary form have to live with it.
“A trigger warning is merely a banal way of saying beware of engaging with this wonderful art form. The real tragedy is the use of trigger warnings for grown-up students who are about to encounter their first taste of Euripides.”
The University of Derby said that the trigger warning is given “because many of the plays explicitly engage with themes of violence and trauma, frequently sexual in nature, and the module leader believes that students benefit from being made aware of this before classes begin”.
Trigger warning for telegraph readers: this story contains a slight content warning about some of the themes tackled in literature before they go on to teach it unedited. Please only read this article if you’re near your fainting couch.
> Oedipus Rex tells the story of a king who sleeps with his **** and kills ****.
I can do without the trigger warnings, but come on, how about some spoiler tags there, The Telegraph!
The delicious irony here is, this is pure right wing triggering fodder.
Providing such content advisories for tragedy is a tradition that goes back to Ancient Greece. In his Poetics, Aristotle theorised that a state of true catharsis can only be induced in an audience that had been sufficiently forewarned of problematic content. During the Dionysia of the 84th Olympiad, Euripides actually won the award for most inclusive dismemberment scene, by having the women of Thebes all played by men.
I am gonna assume the vast majority of people like me who have never read a Telegraph article, would never have been made aware of the article, which, let’s face it, is a load of anti woke crap, had it not been posted to this sub and a bunch of lefties commenting on it.
i remember reading about, how it became fashion for nobility to pretend to faint at given topics, to show how refined they where in contrast to the horrible uncivilised brutes.
This is a humour or satire post ain’t it? Just someone forgot to add the tags!!!.
Literary classics given warnings
1. Beowulf – University of Aberdeen
The Anglo-Saxon tale of foul monsters and a fire-breathing dragon being slain was given a warning for “animal cruelty” and “ableism”.
2. Rime of the Ancient Mariner – University of Greenwich
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 masterpiece, charting the eerie adventures of a sailor, was deemed potentially upsetting for depicting the death of an albatross.
3. Far From the Madding Crowd – University of Warwick.
Thomas Hardy’s work now comes with a trigger warning for depicting the “cruelty of nature” and of “rural life”.
I think the telegraph should come with a trigger warning.
What if someone is triggered by obvious lies?
Possibly, but what else are you going to study for your B.G.S.E.’s.
Tbf, I still get shivers when I think of Steps, so best not to introduce their songs to students.
11 comments
Students warned tragedy may be too ‘triggering’
University of Derby staff tell students that the genre is ‘obsessed with violence and suffering, often of a sexual or graphic kind’
Tragedy may be too “triggering” for modern students, academics have warned.
The dramatic art form has entranced audiences from Ancient Greece to the Shakespearean stage, but has now been deemed potentially upsetting by staff at the University of Derby.
Students embarking on a literature module covering tragedy, including celebrated examples like Hamlet and King Lear, are warned that the genre is “obsessed… with suffering” and could prove “triggering”.
Athenian dramas concerning the deaths of mythical kings, and Arthur Miller’s classic Death of a Salesman, are also on the reading list for the module, which has been given a blanket advisory on how the tragic could be troubling.
The warning, as seen by The Telegraph, states: “Tragedy is a genre obsessed with violence and suffering, often of a sexual or graphic kind, and so some of the content might be triggering for some students.
“If you feel that your engagement with particular texts or themes is going to present challenges, do speak to me in advance of the class.”
University staff said the warning was deemed necessary because “any of the plays explicitly engage with themes of violence and trauma, frequently sexual in nature”.
The plays in the module span 2,500 years of literature, beginning with the works of Aeschylus, whose Oresteia tells of numerous mythological murders, and Sophocles, whose drama Oedipus Rex tells the story of a king who sleeps with his mother and kills his father.
‘The real tragedy is the use of trigger warnings’
Professor Frank Furedi, an education expert at the University of Kent, criticised the broad trigger warning and said that tragedy is meant to cause upset.
“In order to draw a reader or an audience into the drama, tragedy is meant to provoke emotional upheaval and cause upset,” he said.
“If they fail to provoke strong emotions then a tragedy is anything but tragic. There is no such thing as a safe tragedy and students who wish to study this literary form have to live with it.
“A trigger warning is merely a banal way of saying beware of engaging with this wonderful art form. The real tragedy is the use of trigger warnings for grown-up students who are about to encounter their first taste of Euripides.”
The University of Derby said that the trigger warning is given “because many of the plays explicitly engage with themes of violence and trauma, frequently sexual in nature, and the module leader believes that students benefit from being made aware of this before classes begin”.
Trigger warning for telegraph readers: this story contains a slight content warning about some of the themes tackled in literature before they go on to teach it unedited. Please only read this article if you’re near your fainting couch.
> Oedipus Rex tells the story of a king who sleeps with his **** and kills ****.
I can do without the trigger warnings, but come on, how about some spoiler tags there, The Telegraph!
The delicious irony here is, this is pure right wing triggering fodder.
Providing such content advisories for tragedy is a tradition that goes back to Ancient Greece. In his Poetics, Aristotle theorised that a state of true catharsis can only be induced in an audience that had been sufficiently forewarned of problematic content. During the Dionysia of the 84th Olympiad, Euripides actually won the award for most inclusive dismemberment scene, by having the women of Thebes all played by men.
I am gonna assume the vast majority of people like me who have never read a Telegraph article, would never have been made aware of the article, which, let’s face it, is a load of anti woke crap, had it not been posted to this sub and a bunch of lefties commenting on it.
i remember reading about, how it became fashion for nobility to pretend to faint at given topics, to show how refined they where in contrast to the horrible uncivilised brutes.
This is a humour or satire post ain’t it? Just someone forgot to add the tags!!!.
Literary classics given warnings
1. Beowulf – University of Aberdeen
The Anglo-Saxon tale of foul monsters and a fire-breathing dragon being slain was given a warning for “animal cruelty” and “ableism”.
2. Rime of the Ancient Mariner – University of Greenwich
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 masterpiece, charting the eerie adventures of a sailor, was deemed potentially upsetting for depicting the death of an albatross.
3. Far From the Madding Crowd – University of Warwick.
Thomas Hardy’s work now comes with a trigger warning for depicting the “cruelty of nature” and of “rural life”.
I think the telegraph should come with a trigger warning.
What if someone is triggered by obvious lies?
Possibly, but what else are you going to study for your B.G.S.E.’s.
Tbf, I still get shivers when I think of Steps, so best not to introduce their songs to students.