Enid Blyton’s beloved Famous Five and Malory Towers books have captivated young readers since the 1940s. However, many of the author’s keywords have been removed in current editions to avoid offending. Innocent uses of words such as “queer,” “gay,” and “brown” (when referring to tanned faces) have been replaced with alternative terms.
The outrage over the “woke” rewrites of Roald Dahl’s children’s classics by Puffin Books has also stirred controversy, with Booker-prize winning novelist Salman Rushdie criticizing the censorship.
Enid Blyton, born in East Dulwich, south London, in 1897, introduced youngsters Julian, Dick, Anne, tomboy cousin Georgina, or George, and her dog Timothy in her first Famous Five adventure, Five on Treasure Island.
The 1942 edition frequently used the adjective “queer,” although never in reference to sexuality.
The current Hodder Children’s Books edition, available in 2023, however, removes the word entirely and replaces it with “peculiar,” “odd,” “strange,” “funny,” “weird,” and “amazing.” Similarly, a description of a “brown-faced fisher-boy” has been changed to a “suntanned fisher-boy.”
In addition, spanking children, common 80 years ago, is not mentioned in the current Famous Five edition. In the 1942 version, Uncle Quentin had said of his daughter: “Where’s George? She wants a spanking.” Now, he says: “She wants a good talking too.”
Furthermore, respect for elders appears to have gone out of fashion, as Julian no longer addresses Uncle Quentin as “sir” when apologizing.
Blyton’s 1946 classic, First Term at Malory Towers, which launched a series about Darrell Rivers’ education at a Cornwall girls’ boarding school, has also changed.
In the current edition, words such as “slave” and “slap” have been replaced with less aggressive alternatives.
Enid Blyton has previously faced criticism for descriptions of a car-jacking by “black-faced Golliwogs” and for writing about doll Sambo, who was unpopular because of his “ugly black face” until it turned white in the rain. The parent company of Hodder Children’s Books, Hachette Children’s Books, declined to comment on the changes made to Blyton’s original text.
»Enid Blyton removes sensitive keywords in book to avoid offence«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯