{"id":12948,"date":"2023-02-22T14:10:25","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T03:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/?p=12948"},"modified":"2023-02-22T14:10:25","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T03:10:25","slug":"rather-than-bowdlerising-books-we-need-to-help-children-navigate-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/22\/rather-than-bowdlerising-books-we-need-to-help-children-navigate-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Rather than &#8216;bowdlerising&#8217; books, we need to help children navigate history"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Although several of his best-known children\u2019s books were first published in the 1960s, Roald Dahl is among the most popular authors for young people today. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2023\/feb\/18\/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-to-remove-language-deemed-offensive\">recent decision<\/a>\u00a0by publisher Puffin, in conjunction with The Roald Dahl Story Company, to make several hundred revisions to new editions of his novels has been described as censorship by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SalmanRushdie\/status\/1627075835525210113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1627075835525210113%7Ctwgr%5E8d06cef5296fd1a7eaec37f32baa536178ff5510%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbooks%2F2023%2Ffeb%2F20%2Froald-dahl-books-rewrites-criticism-language-altered\">Salman Rushdie<\/a>\u00a0and attracted widespread criticism.<\/p>\n<p>The changes, recommended by sensitivity readers, include removing or replacing words describing the appearance of characters, and adding gender-neutral language in places. For instance, Augustus Gloop in <em>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory<\/em> is no longer \u201cfat\u201d but \u201cenormous\u201d. Mrs Twit, from <em>The Twits<\/em>, has become \u201cbeastly\u201d rather than \u201cugly and beastly\u201d. In <em>Matilda<\/em>, the protagonist no longer reads the works of Rudyard Kipling but Jane Austen.<\/p>\n<p>While the term \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/entertainment\/roald-dahl-childrens-books-rewritten-to-delete-offensive-fat-ugly-character-references\/L53YBV5A2JCPLABB7UI5BVEGL4\/\">cancel culture<\/a>\u201d has also been used to describe these editorial changes, there is actually a long history of altering books to meet contemporary expectations of what young people should read.<\/p>\n<p>Should we consider children\u2019s literature on a par with adult literature, where altering the author\u2019s original words is roundly condemned? Or do we accept that children\u2019s fiction should be treated differently because it has a role in inducting them into the contemporary world?<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"zxD3srS0dh0mik1qKi7PAGptuWBtscOjmYF5eEzQMYAUDg4c5bf2n8EyZV92IS6T9\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sdjMfBr7WW\">https:\/\/t.co\/sdjMfBr7WW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SalmanRushdie\/status\/1627075835525210113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 18, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Bowdler\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/familyshakespear00shakuoft\"><em>The Family Shakespeare<\/em><\/a>\u00a0was published in 1807 and contained 20 of the author\u2019s plays. It removed \u201cwords and expressions \u2026 which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family\u201d, specifically in front of women and children.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Bowdlerising&#8217; has since come to refer to the process of altering literary works on moral grounds, and bowdlerised editions of Shakespeare continued to be used in schools throughout the 20th century.<\/p>\n<p>While Shakespeare\u2019s works were not intended specifically for children, the fiction of Enid Blyton is a more recent example of bowdlerisation of works regarded as classics of children\u2019s literature. There have been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-392400\/Row-faster-George-The-PC-meddlers-chasing-us.html\">several waves of changes<\/a>\u00a0made to her books in the past four decades, including to <em>The Faraway Tree<\/em> and <em>The Famous Five<\/em> series.<\/p>\n<p>While Blyton\u2019s fiction is often regarded as formulaic and devoid of literary value, attempts to modernise names and remove references to corporal punishment, for example, nevertheless upset adults who were nostalgic for the books and wished to share them with children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>Children\u2019s literature implicitly shapes the minds of child readers by presenting particular social and cultural values as normal and natural. The term we use for this process within the study of children\u2019s literature is &#8216;socialisation&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>People do not view literature for adults as directly forming how they think in this way, even if certain books might be seen as obscene or morally repugnant.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-right zoomable\">\n<div class=\"placeholder-container\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"enlarge_hint\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While many people are outraged at the overt censorship of Dahl\u2019s novels, there are several layers of covert censorship that impact on the production of all children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n<p>Children\u2019s authors know that certain content and language will prevent their book from being published. Publishers are aware that controversial topics, such as sex and gender identity, may see books excluded from libraries and school curriculums, or targeted for protest. Librarians and teachers may select, or refuse to select, books because of the potential for complaint, or because of their own political beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>Several of Dahl\u2019s books have previously been the subject of adult attempts to rewrite or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ala.org\/advocacy\/bbooks\/frequentlychallengedbooks\/decade1999\">ban them<\/a>. Most notably, <em>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory<\/em> (1964) was partially rewritten by Dahl in 1973 after\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/daily.jstor.org\/roald-dahls-anti-black-racism\/\">pressure from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People<\/a>\u00a0and children\u2019s literature professionals.<\/p>\n<p>Dahl\u2019s original Oompa Loompas were \u201ca tribe of tiny miniature pygmies\u201d whom Willy Wonka \u201cdiscovered\u201d and \u201cbrought over from Africa\u201d to work in his factory for no payment other than cacao beans.<\/p>\n<p>While Dahl vehemently denied that the novel depicted black people negatively, he revised the book. The Oompa Loompas then became residents of \u201cLoompaland\u201d with \u201cgolden-brown hair\u201d and \u201crosy-white skin\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Children\u2019s literature scholar Phil Nel suggests in\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com.au\/books\/edition\/Was_the_Cat_in_the_Hat_Black\/WDoqDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=was+the+cat+in+the+hat+black&amp;printsec=frontcover\">Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism of Children\u2019s Literature and the Need for Diverse Books<\/a><\/em>\u00a0that we have three options when deciding how to treat books containing language and ideas that would not appear in titles published today.<\/p>\n<p>First, we can consider these books as \u201ccultural artefacts\u201d with historical significance, but which we discourage children from reading. This option works as a covert form of censorship, given the power adults hold over what books children can access.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Children\u2019s literature implicitly shapes the minds of child readers by presenting particular social and cultural values as normal and natural. <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Second, we can permit children only to read bowdlerised versions of these books, like those recently issued by Dahl\u2019s publisher. This undermines the principle that literary works are valuable cultural objects, which must remain unchanged. In addition, revising occasional words will usually not shift the values now regarded as outdated in the text, only make it harder to identify and question them.<\/p>\n<p>Third, we can allow children to read any version of a book, original or bowdlerised. This option allows for the possibility of child readers who might resist the book\u2019s intended meaning.<\/p>\n<p>It also enables discussion of topics such as racism and sexism with parents and educators, more easily achieved if the original language remains intact. While Nel favours this approach, he also acknowledges that refusing to alter texts may still be troubling for segments of the readership (for example, black children reading editions of Mark Twain\u2019s <em>Huckleberry Finn<\/em> in which the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/booksblog\/2011\/jan\/05\/censoring-mark-twain-n-word-unacceptable\">&#8216;n&#8217; word has not been removed<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Dahl\u2019s novel <em>Matilda<\/em> emphasises the power of books to enrich and transform the lives of children, while also acknowledging their intelligence as readers.<\/p>\n<p>Although many aspects of the fictional past do not accord with the ideal version of the world we might wish to present to children, as adults we can help them to navigate that history, rather than hoping we can rewrite it.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>This article was originally published in <\/strong><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/roald-dahl-rewrites-rather-than-bowdlerising-books-on-moral-grounds-we-should-help-children-to-navigate-history-200254\"><strong>The Conversation<\/strong><\/a><em><strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/8PyNdtGL4Bg\">Suad Kamardeen<\/a> on Unsplash.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although several of his best-known children\u2019s books were first published in the 1960s, Roald Dahl is among the most popular<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":630,"featured_media":12949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[555,554],"coauthors":[556],"class_list":["post-12948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-censorship","tag-literature"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/630"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12948"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12950,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12948\/revisions\/12950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12948"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}