Bestselling author Roald Dahl, who died in Oxford, England in November 1990, is considered a master of black humor. The ex-soldier in World War II initially wrote military prose, later books for children and adults. Whereby he himself has always dispensed with boundary lines for literature for “young” and “old”. His first “children’s material” was created in 1943 with “The Gremlins”; which decades (1984) later was filmed as a US horror comedy.
The children’s fantasy “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, on the other hand, successfully filmed with Johnny Depp, breaks all categories in its brightly colored psychedelic journey through a chocolate factory. Due to his quirky individuality (often controversial) Dahl was able to sell more than 200 million books worldwide. Translations are available in over 60 languages.
33 years after his death there is new excitement about his literary estate.
A report in the Daily Telegraph entitled “The Re-Writing of Roald Dahl” triggered a meandering debate. Now the Guardian and other UK media are also reporting that publisher Puffin Books, a division of book giant Penguin Random House, has revised Dahl’s books. “With a modern audience in mind,” as Puffin Books puts it.
No longer “enormously fat”, but only “enormously”
However, critics, including Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, have accused the publishers of “censorship” after a review of the new editions found that some passages relating to weight, mental health, gender and race had been altered in the English original are.
Augustus Gloop, Charlie’s gluttonous adversary in the chocolate factory from 1964, is no longer “enormously fat”, just “enormously”. In the 2023 version of Witches, a supernatural woman disguised as an ordinary woman can now also work as a “top scientist or CEO”. And not just as a “supermarket cashier or typist for a businessman”. The word “black” was completely removed from the description of the vicious tractors in The Fabulous Mr. Fox from the 1970s. The mean machines are now “murderous, brutal-looking monsters”.
“Roald Dahl certainly wasn’t an angel, but THIS is absurd censorship,” Salmon Rushdie wrote on his Twitter account: “Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed….”
Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed. https://t.co/sdjMfBr7WW
— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) February 18, 2023
This current controversy in the UK, although different, is reminiscent of last year’s “Winnetou” fuss here. Or also about the woke beautification of the saga of the Swedish rebel icon Pippi Longstocking, also in the German translation.
Over here and over there, it’s all about so-called “cultural sensibilities”. Activists try to protect young people from cultural, ethnic and gender stereotypes in literature and other media. Its critics complain that such adjustments to the “sensibilities of the 21st century” (“Guardian”) smooth out the body of work of great artists – and thus prevent readers from drawing their own conclusions from what happened decades ago has been. Who exactly feels “sensitively hurt” remains unclear in this case as well.
In any case, the language was checked in cooperation with the NGO “Inclusive Minds”: The (quite controversial) UK collective is committed to making children’s literature in particular more inclusive and accessible. All changes are “small and carefully considered,” according to the organization.
The “Roald Dahl Story Company”, which manages the Dahl estate as the legal entity for the books, at least takes a position. You have cooperated with Puffin Books in the revision. A statement said they wanted “Dahl’s wonderful stories and characters to continue to be enjoyed by all children today.”
The work analysis began in 2020, when Netflix bought the “Roald Dahl Story Company” – and started the preparatory production of a new film/streaming generation based on the Dahl fabrics.
“When new book editions are released, it is by no means uncommon to review the language used while updating other details, including a book’s cover and page layout,” say the UK publishers. “Our guiding principle has always been to retain the stories, the characters, the irreverence and the sharp spirit of the original text”.
Puffin Books has not yet responded to inquiries from the British media. The German branch of the Bertelsmann subsidiary has also kept a low profile so far. Similar to the “Winnetou” dispute, it can be assumed that the debates will flare up again. Especially since Netflix will be going public with new Dahl films in the foreseeable future.
The usual controversial questions hang over everything: how woke must historical material be? Or like the gender-conscious literary language of yore?