this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2026
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Microblog Memes
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That says more about your language's classic literature and society than classic literature in general.
Somewhat for English speakers. It's a huge problem in Victorian era literature in particular but the insanity is mostly contained within a few centuries.
The problem in terms of English literature specifically is that the first English novel. Robinson Crusoe, was written in 1719 and is largely a rant about how English colonialism is better than Spanish colonialism because English people are better at keeping their slaves alive, and it was popular enough that all the early adventure novels kind of just copied that vibe.
You go back a couple more centuries though and you've got black knights in Arthur's court and the explicit message is that it doesn't matter what color a person's skin is (as long as they're Christian)
I've read more than enough world literature to know that every culture has its cringe periods. Meiji Era Japanese literature is a particularly wild period imo, you've got authors exactly as the meme described and then they swerve into "and that's why all non Japanese should be our sex slaves, that's what this newfangled Marxism is for"
I rather imagine that some of it is also just that the world has moved on, euphemism treadmill and all.
I've read more than a few things where there's a few terms that were clearly meant to be complimentary, that became offensive, and might be archaic enough that their impact has largely gone.
Like some of Herge's depictions for people outside Europe, or the odd novel that describes someone as "a credit to his race".