(Montreal) Quebec author Kevin Lambert wanted to avoid stereotypes and not write “nonsense” when he called on what is called a sensitivity reader to revise the manuscript of his latest novel.
But since his book Let Our Joy Remain was shortlisted for the prestigious Goncourt Prize, Lambert has found himself at the center of controversy in France, where the practice of hiring someone to filter offensive content is unfamiliar.
Ronan Sadler, a Toronto publisher, explains that sensitive reading is a process in which a consultant examines depictions of characters with marginalized identities, such as visible minorities, before a book is published.
Sensitive readers, Mr. Sadler said in an interview, attempt to identify gaps in characterization that might not have been obvious to an author who does not share those identities.
Lambert, who consulted with a sensitive reader to examine his depiction of a character of Haitian descent, was open about the practice in a statement posted this month on social media.
“Even though I also do research on stereotypes related to minoritized characters in fiction, I don’t have the compass in my eye and I could always be wrong,” he explained in a statement published on the 4 September on the Instagram page of its French publisher, Le Nouvel Attila.
The reader “made sure that I didn’t say too much nonsense, that I didn’t fall into certain traps of the representation of black people by white authors,” he added.
“Sensitive reading, contrary to what reactionaries say, is not censorship. »
This admission sparked controversy in France when Lambert’s book was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt on September 5. The author later found himself in the long list of another French literary prize, the Médicis prize.
The debate arose from an Instagram publication by the winner of the 2018 Goncourt Prize, Nicolas Mathieu, who wrote to be wary of the influence of “professionals of sensitivities, experts in stereotypes, specialists in what is acceptable” on the work of writers.
“To brag about it is amusing at best, but pitiful in truth,” he argued. Writers, we must work and take our risks without supervision or police. »
In a subsequent message, Mathieu assured that he was “not hostile” to this practice, but rather to “those who advocate for their use, who tend to consider anyone who does not subscribe to it as a potential bastard who deliberately participates in unacceptable inequities. »
Lambert did not respond to an interview request from The Canadian Press. The sensitive reader who worked on her novel, the writer and professor of French literature at Queen’s University, Chloé Savoie-Bernard, declined to comment for this story.
But Mr. Sadler, who is a sensitive reader in his spare time, disputes the characterization of creativity as the police.
“At its core, sensitive reading is about not wanting to say anything offensive. But I think that’s kind of an underestimate of the process, he said. It’s really about helping an author understand what they’re trying to say and helping them say it better, like any editorial process. »
Sadler rejects the idea that sensitive readers – many of whom work independently, with limited-term contracts – can prevail over authors. “The idea that sensitive readers exert some sort of harmful control over people’s creative output is simply false,” Sadler said without directly responding to Mathieu’s comment.
Travis Croken, co-president of the Canadian Authors Association, sees sensitive readers as a resource that can strengthen writers’ art, not undermine it.
“If I write a book about […] open heart surgery, from a surgeon’s point of view – I’m not a surgeon, I’ve never done open heart surgery – then I’ll talk to surgeons and I will get their opinion,” he illustrated in an interview.
“So if I’m talking about life from the perspective of a young trans person, or if I’m talking about life from the perspective of another culture that I’m not a part of and don’t know about, why don’t I Wouldn’t I, talk to an expert on this culture? It’s not about stifling creativity, it’s about doing due diligence,” he continued.
MM. Sadler and Croken say they have seen an increase in demand for sensitive readers among authors and publishers in Canada in recent years, amid what Sadler called “a greater push to understand how cultural representations marginalized people affect marginalized people.”
But sensitive reading has not yet become an established procedure in French publishing houses, according to Julien Bisson, literary journalist and editor-in-chief of the Parisian magazine Le 1.
Although sensitive reading has fueled the debate in France, the fundamental concept is not so foreign, Bisson said, since publishers already work to “ensure that writers don’t write just anything” and that authors regularly seek advice from experts in topics with which they are unfamiliar.
Bisson doesn’t think the debate surrounding Lambert’s novel will affect his chances of becoming a Goncourt finalist or winning the coveted prize on November 7.
But he thinks that a victory for Lambert could advance the debate on sensitive reading in France.
“It’s certain,” he said, “if Kevin Lambert ever won the Goncourt, it could provoke more in-depth reflection on this question. »
