Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social justice

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Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social justice

Post by Aussie Sue »

It seems to me more and more people, who grew up exposed to Enid Blyton, are becoming more comfortable admitting she had a positive impact on their lives.

Is any one else feeling this way? I get such a buzz when I read something positive about her instead of the usual old criticisms by her bashers who mostly haven't read her books.

Here is an article by Jonathan Coe titled - Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social justice.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... al-justice" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cheers
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Courtenay »

That's fantastic, Sue! The Guardian is the sort of paper that's normally seen as left-wing and progressive in its slant on things, so for them to publish an article that praises Enid Blyton for providing a "sense of social justice" —WITHOUT any of the usually obligatory references to her being racist/sexist/classist/infantile etc. — is something of a miracle. :D

I'd love to see more articles like this one. Interesting that Coe only refers to one particular volume of Blyton that had such an impact on him, and it's one of her earlier publications, at that. Would readers of her later and better-known books say similar things about her imparting a sense of good morals and fairness and decency? I'm sure plenty of them would.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Rob Houghton »

The question of whether Enid is becoming more socially acceptable - or at least, whether people are more willing to 'own up' to the good influence she had on them, is an interesting one. In a way I think the general public have almost always looked on Enid as being a positive influence. I've yet to meet anyone in 'real life' who said she was racist or sexist or bad in any way. Anyone in 'real life' who I've mentioned Enid Blyton to, get a glazed faraway look on their face, and immediately start reminiscing. I've come across so many adults who love The Faraway Tree or Famous Five...and just as many who freely admit to reading her books even as adults, as a way of relaxing from the grind of the day. I even know someone who named her daughter 'Georgina' and announced that she would be known as 'George' because she had liked The Famous Five so much as a child.

I think the only people who have ever hated Blyton were people in the media, who, let's face it, tend not to think a story has any worth unless it includes tawdry references or lurid details, and a few of the more vinegary teachers and librarians. I was lucky that my teachers in the 1970's encouraged us to read Blyton. We did Blyton school plays, borrowed each other's Famous Five books, and I remember 'The Valley of Adventure' being one of my reading books in the last class of the juniors.

Its great to read such a positive article though - maybe Enid is enjoying a renaissance and soon those tight lipped hard faced critics of the past will finally melt away back to where they came from.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

An excellent article. Thanks for the link, Sue! Jonathan Coe's words certainly strike a chord with me. The Purnell Sunshine Library and Dean & Son collections of Enid Blyton's short stories were, for me, an early lesson in individual and social responsibility and made me think about behaviour, interaction, consequences, reparation, duty, merit, etc. Fascinating stuff which widened my horizons at a time when my world consisted of little more than home, infant school and the streets and parks in between.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by John Pickup »

I enjoyed reading the article too. It makes a refreshing change to see something positive in print about Enid. I agree with Robert, I've never met anyone who has been blatantly anti-Blyton, and since I've made friends and work colleagues aware of my interest in her, most of them speak of their enjoyment reading her books when they were younger.
I'm only too pleased to admit that Enid had a positive influence on my life. After all, she preached the same values that were instilled in me by my parents which I still live by today.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Moonraker »

John Pickup wrote:I've never met anyone who has been blatantly anti-Blyton
Oh, I have! Most of my junior-school teachers back in the 50s. :roll:
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Poppy »

A really nice article: I really enjoyed reading it. It is a very distinctive and reminiscent read: I like how the author looks back on his childhood with positive memories of reading Enid Blyton books. Thanks for the link, Sue. :D
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Rob Houghton »

Moonraker wrote:
John Pickup wrote:I've never met anyone who has been blatantly anti-Blyton
Oh, I have! Most of my junior-school teachers back in the 50s. :roll:
That's interesting, as I think traditionally it was the 1950s when the backlash started. I didn't ever come across any anti Blyton talk during the 1970s. In fact I was one of many children who took part in a national government reading survey in around 1980 in which Enid came out as by far the most popular author. I find it quite alien to think of teachers trying to dissuade children from reading what they enjoyed - its almost bizarre. Nowadays just getting children to read anything is a job well done! At least in the 1970s most of us were regular readers, even if it was 'only' Enid Blyton books!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Courtenay »

My mum went to school in Melbourne in the 1950s, in a suburb with a mainly immigrant population, and she always says that in their school library "there was nothing to read but Enid Blyton" — so it obviously wasn't discouraged there! :D In any case, she passed on her love of Enid Blyton to us as children, and we had so many Blyton books around the house (and were constantly collecting more, both new and secondhand) that there were always plenty more to read. Our own primary school certainly had some Enid Blytons in the library — and we were never discouraged from reading them, though I don't recall we were encouraged either — but we had so many more at home that I rarely had to borrow them from anywhere else. I never heard of any anti-Blyton sentiment until the early 1990s when golliwogs started being ethnically cleansed from the Noddy books.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by John Pickup »

I was at school from 1959 onwards and Enid Blyton was one of the authors we were encouraged to read. Unlike Nigel's teachers, mine were very positive about her.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Rob Houghton »

I wonder if it depends what part of the country we went to school in? Maybe not. Perhaps the anti Blyton thing was mainly a southern thing? I've never ever heard anyone say anything derogatory except on TV and in books like 'The Blyton Phenomenon' . The first time I heard that Enid was less than popular was while watching a documentary about her when I was about 20. I was shocked!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Katharine »

I can't remember any comments, but I definitely grew up 'knowing' that reading Enid Blyton wasn't considered 'proper' reading. Maybe not so much at primary school, but certainly in secondary school. I'm not sure if the school library had any Enid Blyton books.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Courtenay »

Robert Houghton wrote:I wonder if it depends what part of the country we went to school in?
Or, perhaps, which country? I've never heard any very negative views of Enid Blyton expressed in Australia, except one review of the TV series of Noddy years ago by a writer who was well known for being satirical and taking the mickey (Aussies would use a stronger word than that) out of things. I recall he accused Noddy of being "crypto-fascist" — whatever that's meant to mean, I still don't know! :P But her books were very popular and sold well throughout the 1980s and '90s when I was growing up, and as far as I know, they're still available.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by deepeabee »

I have always admitted that Enid Blyton had a very moral influence in my life. For the record I went to school in Cheshire.
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Re: Article: Enid Blyton she gave me my sense of social just

Post by Paul Austin »

doesn't "crypto-fascist" mean that you're fascist, but you hide it behind code words (crypto = cryptology?)
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