Appropriate terminology

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 89479

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kathryn Cawte" <kcawte at n...> wrote:
 K
> 
> Kneasy could you *please* actually read my messages before replying to them.
> My point was not that the term was offensive - since we don't live in JKR's
> world there is nobody here who could be offended by it. My point was that
> the term is supposed to have an impact when we hear it used by Draco or
> whoever because it is a rare and vile insult in that world and if we throw
> it around as nothing more than a synonym for muggleborn then it won't have
> that impact when we read it because it will not have those connotations for
> us. That is why it is especially important for me that we don't use it for
> characters we like. If we are using it to describe people we like then it
> loses all the insulting connotations for us. Personally I want to be able to
> feel the same sense of outrage while reading Draco's insults to Hermione
> that Ron does - not because it offends me in any way but because that is how
> JKR intends me to react - if the word mudblood is downgraded in my mind to
> simply another term for a muggleborn wizard then Ron's actions will seem
> more like a gross over-reaction and it will be harder to sympathise with
> him. And until or unless the Admin team declare the word a breach of the
> list rules then it's not an attempt to censor you, no one is forbidding you
> to use the word, we are simply saying why we think it would be wiser not to
> use it. If you really want to keep using it then go right ahead. I can't
> force you not to and I wouldn't want to try, but I still think the word
> should be used sparingly in order to preserve the impression JKR is trying
> to convey when she uses it.
> 
> And frankly the only thing about this discussion that is likely to offend me
> is the way you seem to have decided what the people you are arguing with
> think and mean and are arguing against that instead of what we actually say.
> 


Ah. Right. Got hold of the wrong end of the stick have I?

OK, if I mis-understood the tenor of your post, I apologise.
*But*  (oh, how that word must cause a sigh), I will probably quietly
go my own way even having read your exposition. To me it is just
a descriptive term in a story and carries no punch or overtones of
shock!horror at all. No, I'm not expecting agreement (or discussion,
come to that), the word has no meaning to  me except as a cue for
reaction from another character. I do not react myself, and doubt 
that I ever will.  

I suppose you could say that I see myself as an observer looking in
and not a participant in the action. And I prefer it that way, it means
that feelings don't intrude while figuring out what's going on.
It's not the first time it's happened. I  was frankly gobsmacked at
the reaction to the elimination of Sirius, couldn't understand it.
Can't say I identify with any of the characters, maybe in a distant
way with Snape, and I can recognise most of the adults as types
that I am familiar with. Adolescents? No, they are not my favourite
people; in fact (heresy! heresy!) I'd be better suited if all the cast
were adult. Unfortunately JKR doesn't agree, so I'm stuck with them.

I've just done a quick mental survey; I'd estimate that 90+% of my 
posts have been about the adults in the books, which says a lot
when the tale is putatively about children. The adults are much
more interesting, IMO. Harry and Hermione I find slightly irritating.
Hermione is two-dimensional compared to Molly or even Umbridge,
Harry is an empty suit next to DD, Snape, Lupin or Arthur.
You, and many others probably take the opposite view. Fine. It 
doesn't matter. We each get what we want and there's enough meat
in there for everyone. I enjoy picking the bones, but I'm no more
emotionally involved than I am with the Sunday roast.

Kneasy