Are words like 'cunt' too provocative for use in the current fiction market?

Question

Let's face it, I like edgy writing that borders on inflammatory. I read less for entertainment than I do for expanding my world view. I don't have to agree with the points or even like the style of writing as long as it is well articulated. Current fiction seems more focused on commercial success than it does on promoting dialogue or discourse with those having opposing views. http://thehofstrachronicle.com/provocative-writer-redefines-role-of-novelistbr/

I have started on my next novel that explores mental illnesses in the not too distant future. The cast includes sociopathic gang members, a detective with Asperger who is investigating the murders of psychiatrists and a cast of societal malcontents. The premise is a 'cure' is attempted on a psychopath who although innocent, had a high potential for committing future crimes. The cure initially manages to replace his core personality with a more 'normalized' one, but a traumatic event results in the creation of a dissociative identity, the first an artificial one and the second the original psychopath who now seeks revenge against those who tried to obliterate his mind.

The real problem comes when describing outcast members using realistic terms. People living in ghettos are apt to use politically incorrect dialogue. I have one in particular that I think is accurate but also may be seen as inflammatory, even though the character is a positive example. I have a scene where the witness to a crime is a transgender prostitute named 'Johnny'. Even using a transgender prostitute is edgy but having others call her a 'Tranny Hooker' although accurate in ghetto talk may strike many as offensive, even though the character loves that her appearance initially confuses the detective when he asks to speak to 'her' companion. The hooker laughs and explains he is 'Johnny' and the detective may use the pronoun 'he' if it makes him uncomfortable. http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/05/30/is_tranny_a_slur_or_an_identity_who_decides.html

As I said, I am a provocateur and love writing that makes one question society 'norms'. There are many great historical writers who would surely be banned today simply for using descriptive words of their era. Are there words too provocative for use in the current politically correct fiction markets?

Update: I decided with all the attention about using the most offensive profane word in the English Language that it is time to add a link showing its origins and laugh at those who think they are shock jocks for using such a slur. Yes, even Chaucer used the word 'cunt'. So, if you wish to trace its naughty origins, here are a couple of links. history origin

Some authors avoid the use of profanity so much, they have whole blogs dedicated why they do not use four-letter words in their writing.

*I wasn't raised to talk that way, so I don't write that way.* 
http://www.markhenshaw.com/random-thoughts/2014/6/19/why-theres-no-profanity-in-red-cell-or-cold-shot

So, is it really offensive to use such a word in a novel if that word has been in common usage for centuries?

Answer 1

I would use caution, and be sparing. Keep in mind that slurs register very differently to the people they are directed against than to everyone else, so it can be hard to judge a slur if you aren't a member of the group being slurred. What reads to you, the author, as authenticity, might strike the informed reader as a transparent reflection of your own prejudices, especially if you aren't in a position to accurately judge your own authenticity. For instance, you say tranny hooker is "accurate to ghetto talk." But is it really? To me it sounds, if anything, old-fashioned and hopelessly outdated, even as a slur. But I'm not really in a position to judge, and, I suspect, neither are you.

In general, the further you are from the group you are describing, the lighter you should tread --the more likely your notion of authenticity is likely to actually be a conglomeration of stereotypes. For example, white audiences loved Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, but black audiences found it hard to stomach the scene in which the director cameos as a white man with a startling fondness for dropping the "N" word.

If you want the edge of offensive language without the risk of actual offense, why not coin your own near-future slurs? J.K. Rowling was very successful in making "Mudblood," a wholly invented slur, feel very offensive in context. As far as I know, however, it didn't offend any actual readers, since it doesn't mean anything in our reality.

Answer 2

Richard, your question popped to the top of the queue following your edit and it immediately raised a caution flag for me.

I think you have far more potential for problems with your treatment of your transgender character than you have with the word cunt. Madelaine Dickie won the TAG Hungerford award in Australia for TROPPO and they didn’t have a problem with her using cunt (though she uses it sparingly).

Please set me straight if you are part of a transgender community and know anyone even vaguely similar to your character, but I don’t know a single transgender woman who would call herself by a male name, refer to herself with a male pronoun, or be okay with anyone else referring to her by a male pronoun. Would you be okay if everyone you met insisted on calling you ‘her’ because it made them feel more comfortable?? This character disgraces the transgender plight by trivialising her own gender. And I’d say you’re opening yourself up to a world of grief writing obtusely about men and women who are fighting tooth and nail to be recognised and respected for the true gender they were born as.

I am a straight, middle-aged, married woman but I find it offensive, so it isn’t only the LGBTQ+ community that you need to worry about. It raises far more alarm bells for me than cunt does.

There’s a reason that ‘write what you know’ has become an adage, because writing about things you know little or nothing about, particularly subjects that target an already massively maligned community can leave you in a mess of hot water.

I say this a lot: it really depends on why you are writing this and who you are writing it for. If it’s just for yourself, you can write what you like, who gives a crap? But if you intend to submit this, I would say that agents and publishers won’t touch it with a barge pole if it has the potential to embarrass them.

Using derogatory terms like tranny and the N word are okay if used cautiously and if you as the author distance yourself from the character using them by bringing in other players who make it clear that that character is a pretty despicable human being. Look at American History X, it’s one of the most confronting and challenging films ever made.

If I wanted to write a transgender character, the first thing I would do is talk to as many transgender women as I possibly could and ask them about the shit they put up with on a daily basis. You can inform your novel and your readers of transgender issues (by other characters calling her by the wrong pronoun, for example) but if she denies her own sexuality, plight and prejudices through your misrepresentation, the shit is going to fall straight on your doorstep. The reader won’t believe this character, they’ll just think the author is ignorant and prejudiced. I’m not saying don’t create this character — do — as you say, writing should make one question society. But do it with your eyes wide open.

Having said all that, I think your premise is excellent and so interesting. It had me completely engaged and I think it has real potential to be a saleable novel that will be snapped up. So don’t ruin your chances by landing yourself in hot water for the sake of being edgy. Tread carefully and you could have one hell of a novel on your hands, it’s really exciting.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I see nothing wrong with it; as long as you know it turns some readers off, and may get your book in the not-suitable-for-(work, kids, the devout religious).

IMO such words are a fact of life; we use them, particularly joking with friends, with lovers in the heat of sexual activity, and in extreme anger. If they are used in a plausible context, it increases the immersion and realism of the world.

Cursing is part of the human experience, as far as I am concerned. In fact, to me they can be necessary in writing, few things break my suspension of disbelief quicker (and cause me irritation for doing so) than watching a movie censored for TV to replace "fuck you" with "duck you", or "bitch with glitch" or whatever they are doing. It is so out of place it is jarring and ruins the tension, or payoff, or whatever was good about the scene.

And to me, the recent trend on cable to allow "fuck" and "shit" makes the shows better, the writer's know when they should be used and fit. It may be space opera, but if anybody thinks we won't be cursing up a storm in space they've got another think coming.

Answer 4

Edginess and the YA market go hand in hand. Seems like you can get away with some topics there that would struggle to get across in the adult market.

Other than that ...

GRR Martin seems to have gotten away with an amazing amount of violence (sexual and otherwise) against women in his novels, but anyone else would be pilloried for it and called a misogynist (and in this current environment you don't want that). If you can figure out why he gets a free pass, you may be able to use all the naughty words you like if you can duplicate his 'get out of jail free' card.