The English publisher of Roald Dahl’s books is going to rewrite books like the BFG, Mathilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because they would be offensive. Justifiably? Or is the artistic freedom of a writer being restricted here – posthumously?
Words like ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ will no longer appear in Roald Dahl’s stories. Publisher Puffin keeps a lot of house in the author’s books: hundreds of adjustments have been made ‘to ensure that the books can still be enjoyed today’.
Censoring books to remove ‘offensive language’ is against the sore leg of many Dutch writers. Among them are children’s author Ted van Lieshout, who believes that Puffin crosses a line by stripping art and humor out of the books and replacing them with ‘mediocrity’. “The tone and content have changed, intervention has been made in someone else’s artwork. By someone with considerably less talent, too.”
Is it right that Dahl’s books are stripped of ‘offensive’ words in the context of inclusion and diversity? Or should already written books remain as they are? Comment below on today’s statement.