ON OFFENCE
Book ID/图书代码： 11980512B59498
English Summary/英文概要： Most of us know what it is to be offended. In a society bound by complicated behavioural codes, the potential for offence is ever-present, the varieties of emotional trespass legion. A person who claimed never to have taken offence would either be lying or uniquely tolerant, while someone who claimed never to have given offence would most likely be delusional. Offence, it seems, is as intimately mapped into the human condition as hunger and lust.
Yet in the last 50 years, the way in which we take offence has undergone a radical change. Everyone is offended; hurt feelings are paraded like union banners. Offence has been democractised — and that is not good for democracy. It has opened the door to a new mood of censoriousness, self-pity and self-righteousness: a world of ‘offensitivity’.
This mood is poisoning public debate not because it creates division, but because it is intellectually void: suddenly, it is how we feel that counts, not what we think. Political and religious leaders seek to turn offence to their advantage, while the media makes it entertainment.
Offence is given in all directions, and taken even when not intended. Ironically, unofficial censorship has reopened the door to official censorship; blowing the dust off old blasphemy laws, we are moving forward into the past.
In Defence of Offence will consider how this came about by tracing the history of identity politics and political correctness. What, exactly, is offence? What is the relationship between offence and religion? How is offence used by politicians, media commentators, and social-media pundits? Is there anything we can do to halt the spread of offensitivity?
Politeness is a noble quality, and decorum will always have its place. But when respect for one’s fellow humans is bought at the cost of honest criticism, it’s time for us to reconsider.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 「公憤」的政治操作學情緒 成為政治人物操縱的傀儡
眾怒 可能變成轉移焦點的武器
每個人都曾被激怒，也曾惹怒他人。但在最近50年裡，憤怒反而變成「政治貨幣」，政治家和宗教領袖熟知如何以訴諸情感的言詞激起支持者的憤慨進而鞏固勢力，或是利用眾怒轉移社會焦點，隱蔽他們不希望大家發現的事情。
但這種負面情緒的操作法正在危害公開辯論的自由度，造成社會分化，讓我們集體喪失理性，造成「感受」凌駕於實際狀況的考量。私審取代了合法的審理，眾人變得吹毛求疵、自憐自艾和自以為是。「公憤」讓政治家以三寸不爛之舌操弄民意，媒體故意撩起民眾的情緒波動，這樣新聞畫面才有娛樂性。
本書以認同政治以及政治現況，來分析現今失控的群眾情緒浪潮何以形成，以及政治家、宗教領袖和社群媒體以何種方式操弄群眾情緒。
Contents
Introduction: The Mind on Fire
1. When Dawkins Met Haggard
2. From Enlightenment to Entitlement
3. Fighting Ire with Ire
4. Thou Shalt Not Judge
5. Don’t Tread on Me
6. I Feel, Therefore I Am
7. The Freedom to Offend
Epilogue: Is Nothing Sacred?
(Eva)
Awards/获奖情况：‘Richard King is one of the most interesting of the new generation of Australian journalist/critics.’- Clive James‘I dare say a great many people will be offended by Richard King’s On Offence. Good. They can take a deep breath, count to ten, pull themselves together, and come to terms with what King convincingly demonstrates is integral to the functioning of civil society. This is a calm, clever, and lucid book that deserves the widest readership.’- Gideon Haigh
‘Superb … I read [King’s article ’Offence Goes Viral’] on the train, furiously underlining and stifling myself from yelling out, “That’s so true!”’- Stephen Romei
About the Author/作者介绍： Richard King was born in 1971 in England, and now lives in Fremantle, Western Australia. He is a freelance writer and has a Masters degree in literary history. Richard writes and reviews books for The Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald, as well as for numerous journals and magazines, including Meanjin, Australian Book Review, Southerly, Overland, Quadrant, Poetry London, PN Review and The London Magazine.
Format:HARDCOVER
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
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