The rewriting of Roald Dahl’s books and consequent outrage from the defenders of free speech are like the seasons and atomic clocks — they just keep on going around.
News this week that Dahl’s books are being edited yet again to remove language now deemed offensive has brought the inevitable howl of a woke snowflake war on western culture.
But hang on, let’s take a step back and look more closely at the clock as it ticks its way around the changing face of moral history.
Dahl’s publisher, Puffin, is removing words such as ‘fat’, ‘fearfully ugly’ or ‘mad’ describing people’s — mainly women’s — appearance or mental state not because of a conspiracy to change our culture, but because it wants to keep on making money from his books.
Puffin has realised books such as The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were written nearly 60 years ago and contain language that might have been acceptable at the time they were written, but times have changed.
A lot of things have changed since I was a child. We used to use derogatory language to describe mentally and physically disabled people, people of colour, gay people, overweight people, and women whose physical appearance did not conform to the magazine beauty of the day. Then, slowly through the 1970s, 80s and 90s, things changed and we woke up. (See what I did there?)
We realised some words we used were hurtful to people in the above categories so we stopped using them, and rightly so.
Now, whether classic literature should be altered to accommodate the language of more enlightened times is a complex issue and demands a more nuanced answer than a plain yes or no. It’s also debatable whether Dahl’s books can be considered enduring classic literature.
Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn was edited 12 years ago to remove the now highly offensive N-word. There were those who argued against it, saying Twain and his book were actually anti-racist and that the original language should stand as a reminder to future generations of the times in which it was used. However, in the 21st century the book became difficult to teach in schools because the language caused anger and humiliation for some students and their parents, and for African-American students in particular. For me, that was sufficient reason to edit.
If you want the book to stay in circulation and continue to be read, discussed and enjoyed — then change the language. The specific words were not so central to Twain’s larger message: that racism is wrong. Moreover, his book is of such cultural importance it needs to be continually read.
Dahl’s books, however, were not written with any great overarching theme of injustice or enlightenment. They were written to entertain children, and as such are not in the same canon of enduring world literature as Shakespeare, Tolstoy or Twain.
Dahl’s language is also in a different category. His words are used to ridicule certain types of people simply for the way they are — not for the illustration of any larger theme.
The voice within Dahl’s words is what makes him unique — irascible, rude, nasty and very funny. So by changing his words to suit a more inclusive and diverse culture we fundamentally alter his art.
If this is the case, then altering his words is pointless because you don’t keep the voice of Dahl, you just end up with bland corporate sludge written by committee.
If Dahl’s books are now considered offensive and not funny — just let them go out of print. No amount of rewriting will save them.
It is worth remembering children’s books sometimes need to be naughty, wild, rebellious and rule-breaking so their imaginations can soar unfettered.
I agree with Australian children’s book author Andy Griffiths when he says seasoned younger readers are more than capable of telling the difference between funny, naughty stuff in a book and what is appropriate behaviour in real life.
But with Dahl, newer readers might need a little help.
Perhaps parents who want their children to enjoy Dahl’s stories as much as they did can use his unedited books as conversation starters on the how language, respect and attitudes change over time.
That way we can all still enjoy the stories of Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas and be reminded that some people, particularly women who don’t conform to Instagram standards of beauty, might not find Dahl’s words that funny.
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