After the controversy, Roald Dahl’s books will not be retouched in Spanish

Children’s books by a British writer Roald Dahlsome paragraphs of which have been modified so as not to offend sensitivities, they will not be retouched in their Spanish editionsboth in Spain and Latin America, sources from the Alfaguara publishing house, which owns the Spanish-speaking rights, reported on Tuesday.

Editions of children’s novels written by the popular British author, who died in 1990, will remain in their Spanish edition, after their English publisher Puffin Books carried out a review to ensure they are suitable “for the enjoyment of all minors” in such a manner that the new editions removing or modifying expressions considered potentially offensive.

“After conversations with the Roald Dahl Society Company, Alfaguara Infantil y Juvenil will maintain its editions with the author’s classic texts without modifying its publications in Spanish,” publisher sources told EFE.

In English, the revision involved removing adjectives such as “fat” or “ugly” and references considered controversial about mental health, violence, gender and race in books such as Charlie and the chocolate factory, The witches oh Matilda.

The controversy was not long in coming and even the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunakfor whom “it is important that literary works and works of fiction be preserved and No modificationsby defending “the right to freedom of speech and expression”.

british author Salman Rushdiewho was stabbed to death last August by a Muslim fanatic after being sentenced to death years ago by the Iranian regime after the publication of satanic versesnoted on Twitter that while Dahl was “no angel”, he is a “absurd censorship”.

The Dahl family apologized in 2020 for antisemitic remarks that he expressed during his lifetime.

This is not the first time that a debate about modifying or banning old books of children’s and youth literatureas was the case in 2021 with the burning nearly 5,000 pounds in schools across Canada, including the comics of Tintin, Asterix there lucky Lukebelieving that they were propagating stereotypes about indigenous peoples.

the comics of Asterix They underwent changes in the representation of black characters, lowering the color and size of their huge red lips, when they were re-released in the United States in 2020, according to publisher Papercutz.

Tintin in the Congo was sued in Belgium by a Congolese who unsuccessfully demanded restrictions on its distribution.

Also in front of the complaint of the readers of Where’s Wally?from the British Martin Handfordfor a late 80s image in which a woman appeared on the beach in “toples”, the 1997 edit was edited and the lady was wearing a colorful bra.

In 2019, half a thousand books were “arrested” from libraries, schools and universities in the United States, a censorship of which not even the saga of the Harry Potter.

Likewise, the famous literary saga has been corrected The fiveof Enid Blytonin which racist and sexist expressions have been removed to adapt to new generations of readers.

In this line, characters like a pink prince, a non-ferocious wolf or a blonde witch have established themselves as a deconstruction of traditional tales.

Source: EFE

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