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Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

telegraph.co.uk

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Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#291

Post by rdtsc »

> “Occasionally, publishers approach us to consult Inclusion Ambassadors when looking to reprint older titles,” says Strick.

I depends how the ambassadors are compensated. It looks like it might be per phrase changed :-) There is an incentive then to see things that are not there and edit random bits just to point to it say “look at all these wrong phrases we fixed”. Everyone wins - the ambassadors , and those who hired them. Nobody would ever criticize or comment because that’s just inviting being labeled all sort of things.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#292

Post by oska »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #235
swatcoder wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know very little about the beliefs or personal lives of nearly any artist whose work I enjoy, but I know that most people carry beliefs and histories that I would disagree with, so I have to assume that this is no less true of the artists. It seems like fretting over the occasional artist that’s been “outed” is a convenient way to pretend that rest of them are somehow saints, when in reality nearly all of them have…

Things do have a historic context, if one admits to hating Jews in the second half of the twentieth century then that speaks an awful lot about his attitudes as a writer.

> that speaks an awful lot about his attitudes as a writer

How?

Especially when, to my knowledge, there is no anti-Jewish content in his children's books.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#293

Post by smelendez »

jonahx wrote: post #238
russdill wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be a hard choice with young children. I grew up watching Christmas Story every year. My son is two and I'm very hesitant to continue that tradition when he's a bit older. I don't want him to think that mocking people for their accents is something to be encouraged. It'd be nice to have a version of the movie where that scene is modified or redubbed because the movie is a creative treasure. Of course, once he r…

> It can be a hard choice with young children. Is it though? A modified version of the scene seems like a dishonest solution to a problem that has good, straightforward solutions: - Don't show them (if its a conversation you don't want to have yet) - Show them and then discuss the scene Norms change time... different people think different things are ok... these are lessons children need to learn just like any other.

I think this is the approach they took in the play version: the restaurant staff sang with American accents and made some joke about what people were expecting, which seems fair.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#294

Post by creato »

heavyset_go wrote: post #122
jemmyw wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But also have we reached cultural stagnation, that old media still out competes new ones by such orders of magnitude Where is the next Dahl? Why is there no modern Beatrix Potter? Kids still love those stories and style of writing, which is less trite than most of the modern children's books. It does feel like stagnation, with lots of content being churned out but none of it with great staying power. Instead the ol…

> Where is the next Dahl? Working 3 jobs just to pay rent, they don't have the time or resources to write.

You think people in Dahl’s era had more time and resources for leisure than today?

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#295

Post by KyeRussell »

gotoeleven wrote: post #247
krona wrote: post #231

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered... Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right. - George Orwell

[flagged]

As much as this is an obvious joke, it’s lazy and dangerous. Quite easily distinguishable from what this post is about. Conflating rewriting history with treating historical fictional works as living documents are two separate things, that deserve separate space for debate.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#297

Post by cafard »

ilyt wrote: post #167
darth_avocado wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole idea that colonial history needs to be swept under the rug is absurd. In fact it needs to be preserved, talked about and taught in a context of modern society. That’s how we stop the history from repeating itself. - A person who grew up in a former colony

The people wanting that seem to be entirely fine with repeating that history.

One can read Kipling with one's eyes wide open (the more so for the eyebrows constantly raised) and find his views on race revolting, yet still have to admit that he was something of a genius.

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#298

Post by oska »

Aflynn50 wrote: post #148
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Dahl was a man of his time Everyone is a product of their time. People apparently need to be told this now.

Adults don't, but children might. These books arn't consumed by people who are particularly aware of the cultural context of the ear in which they were written. Things are going to very much taken at face value. A lot of things have changed in the last 60 years.

> These books arn't consumed by people who are particularly aware of the cultural context of the ear in which they were written

Part of reading these books as a child or adolescent is being introduced to the cultural contexts of other times (and perhaps places). When a modern child reads a Victorian children's book, for example, they pick up pretty quickly that it's coming from a different cultural context. And this is a great way to learn about some of the more 'confronting' aspects of other cultural contexts in a pretty non-threatening way (they're just words on a page).

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#299

Post by jasonhansel »

josephg wrote: post #240
MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #128

It turns out that Dahl was a real antisemite, to me that is more of an issue: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/dec/06/roald-dahl-fam...

I don't want to downplay antisemitism - its a real problem. But why does that bother you, given he's dead? Matilda was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. There's something in it that hits me right in the soul, even as an adult. I hear you when you say his antisemitism is an issue for you - but - I just can't see how that has any bearing on my relationship with his books. As a child I didn't understand, and no…

To be clear, The Witches is full of obviously intentional antisemitic tropes: https://www.heyalma.com/is-roald-dahls-the-witches-antisemit...

Re: Hundreds of changes made to latest editions of Roald Dahl's books

#300

Post by gardenhedge »

DanHulton wrote: post #121
aflag wrote: post #113

I'm a non-native English speaker. What's wrong with screeching?

"Screeching" in english (at least North American english) is typically a gendered derogative. You generally wouldn't say a man was "screeching", not unless you also wanted to imply he was effeminate. By avoiding the word, you avoid insinuating the target's gender is part of the issue, and/or avoid insinuating that the target is effeminate when they "should not" be, i.e. you avoid homophobia.

nonsense
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