By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The publisher Puffin will be editing books by Roald Dahl to make them more inclusive, but will also release a version that is unedited.
The latter move came after a backlash by freedom of speech advocates who protested the idea of censoring Dahl’s books to make them more inclusive.
The works of beloved but occasionally controversial children’s author Roald Dahl are the latest to come under scrutiny for language deemed by some as offensive.
Puffin, the children’s imprint of Penguin Random House, was criticized this week after news outlets in the UK reported it had hired ‘sensitivity readers’ to go over the author’s books. Puffin then announced that language deemed to be offensive would be removed from new editions, igniting a storm of controversy over the idea of censorship.
Dahl’s works are hardly the only books to be undergoing this type of scrutiny both from those who feel older classics can be insensitive or non-inclusive, and others who see censorship as an assault on freedom of expression. For example, in March 2021 Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced they would be pulling some books from shelves due to what it said were racially insensitive depictions of Asian and Black characters.
One image in the otherwise delightful book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street depicted Asian people wearing what are often described as ‘coolie hats’, and term and image often considered offensive.
These types of struggles with diversity and inclusion have very real consequences, including legal issues that can come up in unexpected ways. For example, Disney, the world’s largest licensor, has come under intense fire from the state government in Florida for what Governor Ron DeSantis has called a “woke agenda.”
That opposition to Disney’s attempt to bring inclusivity into its programming has had very real and serious legal ramifications. Most recently, in early February, the state government unveiled a bill to turn control of the company’s special taxation district in Florida over to the state. DeSantis would then be able to appoint the five board members of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, giving the state direct control of the land upon which the company’s Disney World resort is located.
While the move has been decried by many as an assault on Disney’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression, that has not stopped the state from taking action. From the point of view of content creators, the landscape appears to have turned into a case of ‘damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”
On the one hand, failure to embrace inclusion and diversity can hurt the reputation of a brand among minorities and those who support inclusion. On the other, attempts to update classic books or films will often result in attacks on companies by those who see it as ‘cancel culture.’
Both can be extremely damaging to a company or brand, and also to any company associated with that brand through a licensing arrangement.
All of that helps explain why Puffin moved so quickly in its attempt to please both sides, issuing one ‘classic’ version of the Dahl books, and another that includes revisions made in the name of diversity and inclusion.
In practical terms, the changes made to books like The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or The Twits, have been made primarily to make the books less rude or offensive in the terms used to describe characters. For example, one rhyme from James and the Giant Peach originally read, ““Aunt Sponge was terrifically fat / And tremendously flabby at that,” and, “Aunt Spiker was thin as a wire / And dry as a bone, only drier.” Now it has been changed to say: “Aunt Sponge was a nasty old brute / And deserved to be squashed by the fruit,” and, “Aunt Spiker was much of the same / And deserves half of the blame.”
The changes came under fire immediately from the famous and the powerful in the UK. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the changes as an assault on free speech, while the renowned writer Salman Rushdie (who has paid dearly for his dedication to free speech) wrote on Twitter, ““Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed.”
Even Camilla, the Queen Consort, took time to weigh in on this debate. At a Clarence House reception for her online book club, she told authors : “Please remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination.”
On the other hand, the British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg agreed with the move, saying there’s nothing wrong with using less insulting language. “Suppose your mum wears a hairpiece due to chemotherapy and kids in your class call her a witch because they read in Dahl’s book that witches all wear wigs,” he tweeted.
Caught in the middle, Puffin opted to do its best to please both sides of a fractious debate. In a letter to staff obtained by the British press, Penguin Random House UK CEO Tom Weldon said the publisher agreed with “the importance of keeping Dahl’s classic texts in print,” adding, “Readers will be free to choose which version of Dahl’s stories they prefer.”
And for Puffin, there is a lot at stake. The 16-book set by Roald Dahl is currently sitting at number 2 on the Amazon children’s books bestseller chart, and the Roald Dahl Story Company has also been acquired by Netflix, which of course intends to turn the author’s work into a series of films and series.
The question will be whether writers and content companies will be able to continue walking the legal and ethical tightrope, at a time when reaction to the written word has become much more volatile and divisive.