Enid Blyton - what's been edited out/changed??

[Distantview]

Have picked up a 2021 version of The Magic Faraway tree. I used to love this series as a child.

It has a disclaimer about being edited to meet modern standards.

Now I'm trying to work out what was in the original that would be offensive today - does anyone know?

That wasn't Timmy, it was one of the dogs owned by Lal and Laddo in the Galliano books.

It’s a few name changes to modernise it. The story is exactly the same.

Creating narratives and characters which child audiences can identify with is really important in encouraging readers, particularly reluctant readers, to engage with reading. If changing names and currency and small parts of narrative encourages more children to identify better with what they’re reading and want to continue to read, that’s a good achievement. Enid Blyton wanted her books to encourage children to read, to imagine, and to be inspired, and I don’t think she’d be upset that her books were able to continue to do that generations on.

The UK’s demographic is also very different now to what it was when the books were written for an almost universally white audience: for white children today, some things in the books might just be politically incorrect; for children of other racial backgrounds, it’s devastating to read derogatory things about people like you. Publishers do have a duty to amend future publications to acknowledge that.

That, and, she deserved a slap. 😆

But there is no need.

Darrell doesn't slap Gwendoline??? That's an absolute turning point in the book! She knows she went too far and feels guilty and ashamed. It's not presented as an ideal reaction ffs.

Really? I read Famous Five in the 1950s, and the name then was definitely Timmy.

Are you sure this hasn't somehow been conflated with Dambusters film, which did feature a dog with that name?

I'm as woke as you get and I hate revising past texts. How the hell do you learn from history if you erase it? I'd rather have conversations with my kids about the things in there, how the past was different and some of the horrible things people said and did so they know the weight behind them.

Plus changing Dick and Fanny or updating to Pamela or decimal currency is dumbing down. Let kids giggle if they find it funny, let them see unfamilar names, let them ask what the hell a shilling is!

mostly from the Famous Five.

Spankings- now telling off.
Golly- now whew.
Shillings.
Kit bags: now rucksacks.
Shorts- now jeans.

To name but a few.

... and the Galliano offensive name is still in my edition published in 1976! Unfortunately highly offensive language like that was kept well beyond first editions of books. It's also in a number of 'Jennings' books - again, the 1970s Armada editions, not first editions. But Timmy was always called Timmy, thankfully.

I’ll play devils advocate and say changing Dick and Fanny is less about being PC and more about kids bursting with laughter and basically not being able to read it properly as a result.

I don't think anything should be changed in children's classic stories.
A warning that some words, acts and expressions used when the book was written would be considered racist or improper today should be enough.

No, publishers do not have a duty to revise texts. Add warnings, context, yes. But their main duty should be to publish texts by writers from many different backgrounds (and pay them equally) so that people can choose not to read Enid Blyton.

I remember reading my original version of the Secret Garden to my daughter. That took a lot of changing as I read!

This

I wonder if Mr Pinkwhistle books still exist?

I fully agree with removing racial slurs from children's books, simply because if they read them independently they may lack the context to be aware that those words are highly, highly offensive.

It would be awful for the victim if a child innocently used such a word and caused deep hurt and offence, and awful for a well-intentioned child to be led into causing distress and anger.

I don't agree with removing harmlessly dated things such as pre-decimal currency and old-fashioned names and concepts.

Well, that's three bad words so no wonder! 😱

Yes, very British Empire. Martha’s comment with “white” and “respectable” next to each other has not aged well. I dare not quote it in full here!

Yes its not that difficult im 52 and was born after decimilation so wasent familiar with old money either but figured it out.

Yes you do have a point, there are probably different categories of offense. Racist names/terms can get in the bin, but changing details like how a woman is sterotyped as a homemaker shouldn't, as that serves as a historical text and I want my daughters to understand how women were represented in the past.

😁

I stand corrected it was Operation Chastise that had the racial dog

When I read Malory Towers as a child there was a scene where a girl goes into the dining hall and she’s forgotten to put her blouse on. That’s not in the version my daughter read!

Yes, I think that's a fair line to draw.