Video Information
On March 4, 2023, Behind the News televised a segment backgrounding the decision to revise some of Roald Dahl's language. The segment includes the views of some primary school children on the issue.
On February 19, 2023, Channel 10's The Project televised an overview of the debate over revising Roald Dahl's books. This was followed by a brief panel discussion.
On February 21, 2023, FRANCE 24 English televised an overview of the Roald Dahl revision debate given by the channel's culture critic Olivia Salazar Winspear.
On August 12, 2017, PBS News Hour televised the opinion of Asian-American children's author, Grace Lin, in which she argues that the racism in some classic children's books should be discussed with young readers, rather than having the books banned or altered.
On January 31, 2015, Reading Rockets televised a talk by Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita, Ohio State University on the continuing need for more ethnic diversity in the books published for United States children.
On March 13, 2023, Sky News commentator Peta Credlin was televised criticising recent revisions to Enid Blyton's children's stories.
On June 22, 20211, WION (World Is One News) televised journalist and commentator, Palki Sharma Upadhyay, defending the cultural legacy of the past and arguing that censoring literature (including the works of Enid Blyton) is not the best way of dealing with issues such as racism and misogyny.
On February 24, 2023, Bookish Realm televised a discussion by its host, Ashley Silvera, in which, while acknowledging objectionable aspects of Roald Dahl's books, she argued that the books should not be altered.
On April 5, 2022, BBC News televised a segment treating a growing parental movement in the United States to have school boards vet the reading material made available to children. The segment focuses on the efforts of a mother in Texas who has succeeded in having some books she considers 'vulgar' removed from school library shelves.
On June 19, 2018, BBC Newsnight televised a discussion between a novelist and a publisher giving their views on the need for and the effect of sensitivity readers.
On February 23, 2022, the BBC Radio 4 program Front Row broadcast a discussion between sensitivity reader Philippa Willitts and author Zia Heider Rahman giving opposing views on the need for sensitivity readers.
On April 10, 2013, Alternative for Britain televised a report of a protest against a planned commemoration of Enid Blyton's work because some of her books racist attitudes.
|
Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton: should classic children's books be altered?
- Web links, documents and video clips
OnInternet information
On March 14, 2023, oversixty.com.au published a comment and analysis by Natasha Clarke titled 'New censorship target for "sensitivity readers"'. The opinion piece is critical of the recently announced changes being made to books written by Enid Blyton.
The full text can be accessed at 
On March 14, 2023, news.com.au published a text titled '"Ongoing process": Enid Blyton's Famous Five books edited to remove "offensive" words' The report cites some of the changes made to Enid Blyton's work and presents arguments for and against the process.
The full text can be accessed at
On March 12, 2023, The Australian published a report titled '"Ass", "shut up" axed in Blyton kids' book edits' which details some of the changes being made to Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' series to remove outdated and possibly offensive language.
The full text can be accessed at
On March 10, Bu Today published a comment by Sheila Cordner, a senior lecturer in humanities in Boston University's College of General Studies, titled 'Revising Roald Dahl's Classic Children's Books Is a "Dangerous Portent of Future Censorship"'. The opinion piece argues that this action will simply encourage more general censorship of children's books and suggests that such revisions sacrifice a learning opportunity for children.
The full text can be accessed at
On March 3, 2023, The New York Times published a comment and analysis by Matthew Walther titled 'The Truth About the "Censorship" of Roald Dahl'. Walther argues that the objections to the alterations to Dahl's work are misplaced as there is a very long history of amendments being made to classic texts. Walther's concerns lie with the commodification of authors' work by mega corporations.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 28, 2023, The Christian Science Monitor published an article titled 'Times change. Should classic children's books?'. This is a detailed report which includes substantial quotations from those supporting and opposing changes to classic texts.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 28, 2023, writing.ie published a comment by Irish children's writer and illustrator, OisÃn McGann, titled 'The Roald Dahl Debate: Editing Dead Authors'. The opinion piece argues that books undergo an ongoing editing process while their authors are alive, often for valid reasons. It claims that the need for this is not removed with the writer's death.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 22, 2023, Arts Hub published a comment and analysis by Amra Pajalic, an Australian author, editor, and teacher with a Bosnian background. The article is titled 'To update or not to update, that is the question...' This is a complex discussion of the arguments for and against revisions, including the views of Pajalic and those of other authors and educators.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 21, 2023, Mamamia published an article titled '"This is absurd." Why everyone is talking about Roald Dahl's books' The report backgrounds the decision to alter the language of numerous Roald Dahl children's books and gives the views of numerous critics of the revisions.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 21, 2023, yahoo!news published a comment by Brooke Hill titled 'A page too far: Why rewriting Roald Dahl's books isn't the answer'. Hill discusses the work of Dahl and Blyton and argues that they should be used by parents as learning opportunities rather than altered.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 21, 2023, FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) published a comment by Jeff Cieslikowski titled 'Roald Dahl or Roald Dull? Publisher scrubs "offensive" language from classic children's books'. The opinion piece argues that the alterations remove much of the entertainment value of the texts and cut across authorial rights.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 20, 2023, Big Issue published a comment and analysis by Mark Burrow titled 'Editing Roald Dahl isn't "woke". It's capitalism'. The article argues that publishers are concerned primarily with sales and that rather than participating in some form of culture wars they are attempting to supply consumers with books they will buy.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 20, 2023, The Herald Sun published an opinion piece by Susie O'Brien titled 'New Age rinse applied to Roald Dahl classics is an abomination'. The comment argues that the changes made to Dahl's work are unnecessary and undermine readers' sense of historical context.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 20, 2023, The Guardian published a report titled 'Roald Dahl rewrites: edited language in books criticised as "absurd censorship"'. The article details some of the criticisms being levelled at the alterations to Roald Dahl children's books.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 20, 2023, Independent published an article titled 'Philip Pullman suggests Roald Dahl books should go "out of print" amid edits controversy'. Author Philip Pullman is quoted arguing that Dahl is not a classic author in the same sense as Charles Dickens, and that rather than altering his texts they should be allowed to go out of print so that children can be encouraged to read more contemporary authors.
The full text of this article can be accessed at
On February 20, 2023, Time published a substantial article titled 'Why Rewrites to Roald Dahl's Books Are Stirring Controversy'. The report gives a background to previous controversies around Dahl's work and details some of the objection's to altering his books.
The full text can be accessed at
On February 19, 2023, The Guardian published an article titled 'Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive', outlining some of the changes being made to the language used in well-known Roald Dahl children's books.
The full text can be accessed at
On June 22, 2021, Premier Christianity published an opinion piece by Calvin Robinson, a senior fellow at Policy Exchange and a Subject Matter Expert at the British Department for Education. The comment is titled 'Don't cancel Enid Blyton'. Robinson defends Blyton's work against calls for bans or wholesale revision. He urges parents to read and discuss these stories with their children.
On June 17, 2021, Big Issue published an opinion piece by Chiara Bullen titled 'Why criticism or disapproval shouldn't be dismissed as "cancel culture"'. The opinion piece argues that too often criticisms of authors as racist or otherwise bigoted is dismissed as an attempt to remove them from the cultural debate.
The full text can be accessed at
On November 27, 2018, Independent published an opinion piece by Ceri Radford titled 'Enid Blyton 50 years on: Let's be more critical about books venerated in the past' which argues that it is time to move on from some of the values imbodied in many classic children's stories.
The full text can be accessed at
|
|
