The "N" Word

[Amy Sweet]

On the topic of writing, a good (esp fiction) writer doesn't argue that words should or shouldn't have a certain affect. (unless it's an essay about the topic) A good writer simply *knows* the effect of the word and either uses it when he/she wishes to invote that effect, and avoides it when he/she doesn't.

 

[Seattle Zack]

I'm with pop and Boota on this one. In a strictly third person narrative, there's no need to use any racial slur, regardless of what "affect" it might "invote."

If you're writing from a character's perspective, then a racial slur might be appropriate:

Terrence paused outside the restaurant to light up a cigarette. Around the corner came three big bucks, slappin' hands and laughing like dumb niggers do. He fingered the .38 in his pocket. Yes, this might be a good night after all.

Or in dialogue, where you're trying to give the audience an idea of the makeup of your characters.

True Romance (one of my favorite films) written by Quentin Tarantino had this decidedly non-PC exchange in it (this is early in the movie, when Drexl, played by Gary Oldman, meets up with Big D, played by Samuel Jackson):

BIG DON WATTS, a stout, mean-looking black man who's older than Drexl and Floyd walks through the door carrying hamburgers and french fries in two greasy brown-paper bags.

FLOYD
Naw man, that's some serious shit.

DREXL
Nigger, you lie like a big dog.

BIG D
What the fuck are you talkin' about?

DREXL
Floyd say he don't be eatin' pussy.

BIG D
Shit, any nigger say he don't eat pussy is lyin' his ass off.

DREXL
I heard that.

FLOYD
Hold on a second, Big D. You sayin' you eat pussy?

BIG D
Nigger, I eat everything. I eat pussy. I eat the butt. I eat every motherfuckin' thang.

DREXL
Preach on, Big D.

FLOYD
Look here. If I ever did eat some pussy - I would never eat any pussy - but, if I did eat some pussy, I sure as hell wouldn't tell no goddamn body. I'd be ashamed as a motherfucker.

BIG D
Shit! Nigger you smoke enough sherm your dumb ass'll do a lot a crazy ass things. So you won't eat pussy? Motherfucker, you be up there suckin' niggers' dicks!

Well, Bid D takes a shotgun blast to the chest a few minutes later and that's the end of the scene.

But to use a term like that in an objective third-person context -- not only do you risk completely alienating the reader (taking him out of the story, which is an author's big no-no) but you also marginalize your narrative by your own bigotry.

 

[zephrbabe]

OK, so pretty much everyone agrees you use derogatory words to help delineate a character's personality.

You also need to consider words that are not derogatory, but that sound like them. Many of these words are not well known precisicely because they sound like insults. A couple of examples:

Niggardly, which, obviously, sounds like "nigger," is in fact used to discribe someone who is miserly; the two words are totally unrelated etymologically; a journalist once got a lot of guff from the public for using it, which I think is interesting because there is no stereotypical connection between black people and being miserly (unlike with Scots and Jews).

Another word is faggot, which is exactly the same word as is used to discribe homosexual men (and therefore as an insult to heterosexual men, as well); the word means a piece of wood used in a fire, larger than kindling, smaller than a log.

I recently wanted to use "faggot" in a story set in the Middle Ages, but I knew that my main readership was probably teenage girls, who wouldn't know what I meant. I also had to be careful of using antiquated syntax, lest the readers misunderstand me.

My point is, consider not only the personality of your characters (and therefore what their vocabulary is), but also your readership. A younger audience, or an audience of a particular gender or ethnicity will react differently than an audience of your same basic education (an important factor that influenced your most formative years), gender, age, ethnicity, and nationality.

As they say in Asterix et Obelix: Mission Cleopatre, "It's a different culture."

-Kathryn