Taboo, Transgression, and Literature: An Introduction

Abstract

Both temporally and geographically, the phenomena of taboo and transgression can be considered omnipresent, that is existent in all societies or cultures and at all times. If the ubiquity of taboos and their influence on social structures is generally accepted with regard to the past, which a narcissistic and supposedly enlightened present all too often views with condescension if not outright derision, what is remarkable is the fact that taboos not only continue to exist but that they can actually be said to be flourishing. A brief reference to the recent debates on political correctness, to shibboleths in relation to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, or to the ongoing question of how to deal with topics such as the Holocaust,¹ should suffice to make this point clear. Specifically with reference to the British literary scene, one could, of course, also mention the more than thirty years of censorship imposed on D.H. Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the uproar surrounding the staging of Howard Brenton’s The Romans in Britain and Edward Bond’s Saved, or the outburst of violence following the publication of Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, so brilliantly portrayed in Hanif Kureishi’s novel The Black Album.

Absolute freedom from taboos is a taboo as well, and not even a humane one

—Kaltenbrunner

[T]aboo, by carving out a part of the world, carves out a self

—Gell