A steady backlash has been brewing against the censorship of British author Roald Dahl’s beloved classics after the publisher decided to “edit” his prose in fear of offending woke sensibilities.
As Breitbart News reported, several passages in the books from Roald Dahl have been “extensively rewritten by its publisher to align with a woke agenda.” Those books include such beloved classics like Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Witches.
“The wonderful words of Roald Dahl can transport you to different worlds and introduce you to the most marvellous characters. This book was written many years ago, and so we regularly review the language to ensure that it can continue to be enjoyed by all today,” publisher Puffin Books said of the changes.
References to obesity, women’s role in society, and “turning white” were edited to fit modern sensibilities to align with wokeness.
While some leftists have giddily defended the change, others have strongly voiced their disapproval, including author Salman Rushdie and United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed,” tweeted Salman Rushdie.
Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed. https://t.co/sdjMfBr7WW
— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) February 18, 2023
When a user said that Rushdie threw breadcrumbs to the “censorious left” by admitting that Dahl was “no angel,” he responded: “He was a self-confessed antisemite, with pronounced racist leanings, and he joined in the attack on me back in 1989… but thanks for telling me off for defending his work from the bowdlerizing Sensitivity Police.”
Dahl’s family publicly apologized for his past antisemitism in 2020. “We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his absolute worst, Roald Dahl can help remind us of the lasting impact of words,” the statement said at the time.
Bestselling author Philip Pullman appeared Monday on BBC Today where he illustrated the absolute senselessness of the censorship, considering Dahl’s books are already in every school and library.
On Monday, bestselling author Philip Pullman appeared on the BBC Today show to point out how the original versions of Dahl’s books are already in schools, libraries, and children’s homes. “Are you going to round up all the books and cross them out with a big, black pen?” he said. “If Dahl offends us, let him go out of print.”
United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also criticized the move.
“When it comes to our rich and varied literary heritage the prime minister agrees with the BFG that we shouldn’t gobblefunk around with words, ” a spokesperson for Sunak said.
“It is important that works of literature, works of fiction, are preserved and not airbrushed,” they added.
Not all have criticized the censorship of Dahl. Writing in The Guardian, Gabby Hinsliff argued that Dahl’s estate just made a wise business decision by appealing to modern audiences.
“The industry is simply updating classics to appeal to millennial parents. The main problem seems to be the quality of the prose,” she wrote.