Roald Dahl

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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Interesting posts. I've just watched the following clip, showing Roald Dahl being interviewed for Pebble Mill in 1982. It's rather poignant now, seeing him hard at work in his hut. Little did he know that editors would be rewriting parts of his books more than three decades after his death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsxTR09_iWE
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Fiona1986 »

Having recently read pretty much all of Dahl's children's books to Brodie recently I found myself changing barely a handful of words/phrases across dozens of books with the exception of The Great Glass Elevator where I had to, very hurriedly, change quite a lot over a couple of pages.

One change, I believe, is when suggesting a witch could be working in a shop near you, instead she could be a scientist. As if Luke runs into scientists daily...
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Boodi 2 »

I saw one of the articles about the changes in Roald Dahl's works yesterday and my first reaction was "at least Enid Blyton is not the only author whose work is tampered with"!! Many of the changes make little sense (at least to me) but due to my own work as a proofreader/language editor I am aware of the current need for "political correctness", which varies between publishers, making the situation even more confusing. One adjective that many publishers object to is "elderly", as it is deemed to be ageist, while "older" is OK...I personally have no problem describing myself as "elderly" and I fail to see much difference between an elderly and an older adult/person!!!
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Katharine »

I suppose a lot depends on the context of the word and also what it is trying to convey.

To a child, an 'older' person' could potentially be anyone over the age of 35!

I would have thought how the word is used would be more important, eg, if a character in a book said something along the lines of "why don't we see if that elderly person down the lane needs any help with their garden", then it is a thoughtful gesture, and I can't see that it hurts to use elderly instead of older. It conveys an imagine of someone in the later years of life who perhaps might not be as fit as they were and might be struggling to cope with their garden.

However, if a sentence said "let's push past that older person, as they are walking too slowly", then surely it doesn't matter what word is used, the implication is still an ageist comment!
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I agree that context matters enormously, Katharine. In addition to what you and Boodi have said, a word may have been carefully selected by an author because of its length, beat, sound, connotations, associations, etc.

It goes without saying that synonyms are useful when writing poetry, as some words will fit the rhythm (and rhyme-scheme where applicable) whereas others won't. 'Elderly' may have been chosen deliberately over 'older' or 'old' because a poet required a three-syllable word with a particular beat. If an editor were to alter the word to 'older' or 'old' because of an ultra-rigid house-style that decreed that 'elderly' was forbidden in all cases, the metre would be spoilt.

Prose is affected by such rulings too, as it has a rhythm of its own. Take Enid Blyton's Find-Outers books, for example. The breezy, bouncy style is part of what makes them so wonderfully readable, with natural-sounding dialogue and apparently effortless comic timing. Tweaking a word, phrase or sentence here and there interferes with the lilt and swing of the writing.
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Viv of Ginger Pop »

Boodi 2 wrote: 19 Feb 2023, 12:22 I saw one of the articles about the changes in Roald Dahl's works yesterday and my first reaction was "at least Enid Blyton is not the only author whose work is tampered with"!!
I think that because the idiots were allowed to get away with altering Blyton's text, they now know they can get away with anything.

In the grand scheme of things, did it matter that a children's author was being 'updated' and made 'relevant' for modern readers? After all, there was general agreement amongst the chattering classes that "everyone knew that Blyton was a racist/transphobe/patriot etc" so therefore changing the text was a public duty to protect the vulnerable children, who for reasons that escaped them, were drawn to her books.

At times I thought the editors were being paid by the number of changes they could come up with. We ended up with books that were what some jobsworth thought she should have written, rather than the ones she did.

I was making as much fuss as I could, not minding if I got up the corporate nose of Chorion, the then owners. The people who were in charge of the Blyton account had barely any knowledge of her books as child readers (I seem to remember a Turk and a Canadian had these roles - and thinking that a certain 12 year old from Bangladesh could do a far better job...)

I wrote to my MP asking why classic texts couldn't be protected in some way as ancient buildings are, as part of the nations heritage.

What is the difference between a work of art done with a paintbrush or by words on a typewriter? I inquired if it would be permissible, for example, to change the colour of the sky in a Constable painting to pink from blue, should someone think this would make it more accessible to girls. Silly? Well, why has the word black now been removed from Dahl?

I think that the trashing of Blyton's reputation (which started in the 1950s & 60s) and re-writing of her books was a fore-runner of the current situation, which now includes trashing Churchills statue and a trigger warning for the text of Peter Pan for the students of Aberdeen University.

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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I think that "sensitivity" editing is a newer concept brought about by the current climate of identity politics, the culture of victimhood and the increased risk of books/authors being "cancelled" - meaning that the publishers as well as the authors could lose both money and reputation if they inadvertently print something deemed non-pc. There was already an element of that in the "keeping it relevant" editing, but this goes further.

There's no rational explanation for censoring black tractors or black cloaks in books, or for putting a stop to characters' faces going white with fear. I assume the concerns stem from skin colour being emphasized to such an extent that some people now relate every mention of "black" or "white", whatever the context, to racism.

Author Anthony Horowitz said recently that he was asked to remove the word "scalpel" from one of his books featuring a Native American character. The reason he was given was that the word sounded rather like the historic Native American practice of "scalping" and could cause offence to readers. As Anthony Horowitz pointed out in The Spectator: "Scalpel, of course, comes from the Latin word scapellus (from scalpere, to cut) and has nothing to do with scalping, which derives from the Middle English word scalpe (top of the head). But such niceties were irrelevant to my quite sensitive sensitivity reader."

Ignorance of etymology doesn't only affect publishing, of course. I'm thinking of the people who vandalised a paediatrician's home in the belief that "paediatrician" meant the same as "paedophile", and of those who have called upon people to be fired for using the word "niggardly" in the workplace, erroneously believing it to be related to a racial slur.

Any editors, including sensitivity readers, need to be well-versed in etymology and history, and to have a real appreciation of the craft of writing. After all, surely the writer deserves to be treated with sensitivity as well as the potential readership?
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Lucky Star »

I see Sir Salman Rushdie has now weighed in. Also an American writers group. Some common sense being talked at last.

"Those who might cheer specific edits to Dahl's work should consider how the power to rewrite books might be used in the hands of those who do not share their values and sensibilities."

How true. The law of unintended consequences applies here.

https://news.sky.com/story/roald-dahl-b ... e-12815658
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Boatbuilder »

And the Prime Minister in the updates.
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Judith Crabb »

The bowdlerizing of Dahl seems to be ongoing and inevitable. Apparently 'fat', too, is being edited out. A century ago few of us had the income or the leisure to be fat. Now just when most of us have lifestyles which encourage obesity are we removing all references to fat from children's books? Just when children's books are expected to be models of inclusivity, too. Look what the thought police did to the hero of my childhood, he of the gargantuan appetite, Enid Blyton's fat-boy-genius detective Frederick Algernon Trotteville, 'Fatty' for short. Still a best-seller, he is still Fatty, but only because of his initials, of course.
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I was pleased to read that, in the wake of criticism from many commentators (including Rishi Sunak, Sir Salman Rushdie and - obliquely - Camilla, Queen Consort), Puffin have decided to keep seventeen of Roald Dahl's classic texts in print alongside the newly revised editions. The original texts will be printed under the Penguin logo, while the revised editions will be Puffins. Of course, it remains to be seen how long both versions will continue to be published, and whether the Penguin texts will be as readily available as the Puffin ones.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/r ... r-AA17T9HP
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Boatbuilder »

In the light of this, maybe pressure should be put on Hodder, or whoever, for a similar thing on the Enid Blyton books.
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've often wondered about that as well. The trouble is, Enid Blyton wrote so many books that I think the publishers have a job keeping one version in print, let alone two!

Back in 2010, the Famous Five books were edited to the point where the language sounded ridiculously modern and jarring, with Julian and his siblings calling their mother "Mum" and poor Nobby from Five Go Off in a Caravan becoming Ned! After a few years, the publishers realised things had gone too far and reverted to the 1997 text.

Even the 1997 text contains a lot of minor changes, e.g. the mention of Dick's golliwog has been removed, synonyms have been found for "queer" and "gay" (if I remember correctly), and words like "scholarship" have been amended. One or two terms that are now considered extremely offensive have been altered too, though I doubt many would have a problem with that. At least that version retains the old-fashioned flavour of the books - though I'd still prefer the original text (with the exception of just one or two words).

Over the last few years, Hachette/Hodder have made an effort to reinstate the original language in many of the short stories (e.g. discarding the updated title 'The Strange Little Needles' and reinstating the original title 'The Queer Little Needles'). I'm not sure whether this has been done consistently though.

Funnily enough, earlier today I looked at the current edition of Five Go Off to Camp (printed in 2017) in a bookshop to see whether the game of Red Indians still features. It does, and it's still called "Red Indians". A tomahawk is mentioned, and Jock wants to scalp Cecil!

A few days ago, I checked the current edition of Secret Seven Adventure (printed in 2018) for the same reason. In that book, "Red Indians" has been changed to "American Indians" but nothing else has been altered in the scenes which revolve around that game.

Tony and I know from speaking to people at Hachette that they feel that context is important when it comes to the language used in older books. The recent changes to Roald Dahl appear to have been made hastily and sloppily, without consideration of context, etymology or style.
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Katharine »

Boatbuilder wrote: 24 Feb 2023, 15:34 In the light of this, maybe pressure should be put on Hodder, or whoever, for a similar thing on the Enid Blyton books.

Ha ha - I wouldn't hold your breath on that. ;)
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Re: Roald Dahl

Post by Viv of Ginger Pop »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: 24 Feb 2023, 16:12
Tony and I know from speaking to people at Hachette that they feel that context is important when it comes to the language used in older books.
I don't know if I'm madder with Hachette or the so-called journalist...

https://nybreaking.com/five-wake-up-eni ... offending/
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