Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined criticism of changes to Roald Dahl’s children’s books after a series of edits by their publisher led to a debate over when – if ever – it is acceptable to update texts for modern audiences.
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined criticism of changes to Roald Dahl’s children’s books after a series of edits by their publisher led to a debate over when – if ever – it is acceptable to update texts for modern audiences.
Dahl’s estate and Puffin Books asked so-called sensitivity readers — who check for potentially offensive content — to review his works, which remain hugely popular with children in the UK. Changes made as a result included editing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, published in 1964, to describe character Augustus Gloop as “enormous” rather than “fat.”
Sunak’s spokesman Max Blain told reporters that works of fiction should be “preserved and not airbrushed.”
Borrowing a word invented by Dahl in his novel The BFG to signify playing with language, Blain said: “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.”
“We have always defended the right to free speech and expression,” Blain said.
There have been changes across a range of Dahl’s books. References to colors have changed: In The BFG, The Big Friendly Giant’s coat is no longer black while in The Twits “a weird African language” is no longer weird, according to the Roald Dahl Story Company.
The changes led to criticism from novelist Salman Rushdie, who called the edits “absurd censorship.”
His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman told BBC Radio that Dahl’s books “should be allowed to fade away” rather than be changed if they are deemed offensive. “If Dahl offends us, let him go out of print,” Pullman said.
Dahl died in 1990, aged 74, and his legacy has been frequently debated in recent years. In 2020, his family apologized for the author’s antisemitic comments, saying they had caused “lasting and understandable hurt.”
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