/lit/ - Literary Censorship Watch

Name
Options
Subject
Message	Max message length: 12000
files	Drag files here to upload or click here to select them 0.00 / 50.00 MB Max file size: 32.00 MB Total max file size: 50.00 MB Max files: 5 Supported file types: GIF, JPG, PNG, WebM, OGG, and more

E-mail
Password	(used to delete files and posts)
Misc

Literary Censorship Watch Scribe 03/28/2023 (Tue) 09:33:02 No. 577

I decided to make a thread to catalogue the current wave of literary censorship we are seeing and, I suspect, will continue to ramp up as time goes by. Fortunately, this board is so slow that there's no danger of this thread getting buried. First up are Roald Dahl's children's books. For an in-depth look at just how much was altered from the original text, see the article linked below. >https://archive.is/krLMa These changes stirred up enough outrage that the publisher announced that the original versions of the books would be kept in print after all (for now, anyway). >"The Roald Dahl Classic Collection" from the Penguin imprint will feature the original texts of 17 of Dahl's children's books while the publisher said they would also keep the recently published and separate Roald Dahl books for young readers under the Puffin imprint. The Puffin versions of Dahl's books are meant for younger readers who are new to reading. >https://archive.is/FhlXO The second major news of censorship to break this year was for the James Bond novels. No word yet as to whether any unedited version of the novels will remain in print. >Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, the company that owns the literary rights to the author’s work, commissioned a review by sensitivity readers of the classic texts under its control. >The Telegraph understands that a disclaimer accompanying the reissued texts will read: “This book was written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered offensive by modern readers were commonplace. >“A number of updates have been made in this edition, while keeping as close as possible to the original text and the period in which it is set.” >The changes to Fleming’s books result in some depictions of black people being reworked or removed. >https://archive.is/WJy0R The most recent news is that Agatha Christie has had her work subjected to this treatment since 2020. >The new editions of Christie’s works are set to be released or have been released since 2020 by HarperCollins, which is said by insiders to use the services of sensitivity readers. It has created new editions of the entire run of Miss Marple mysteries and selected Poirot novels. >Digital versions of new editions seen by The Telegraph include scores of changes to texts written from 1920 to 1976, stripping them of numerous passages containing descriptions, insults or references to ethnicity, particularly for characters Christie’s protagonists encounter outside the UK. >The author’s own narration, often through the inner monologue of Miss Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot, has been altered in many instances. Sections of dialogue uttered by often unsympathetic characters within the mysteries have also been cut. >https://archive.is/UNGz6

Scribe 04/16/2023 (Sun) 08:42:28 No. 578

R.L. Stine accuses publisher of changing Goosebumps books without permission: "I've never changed a word" >Amid controversy that he allegedly removed references to weight, mental health and ethnicity from his classic "Goosebumps" books, R.L. Stine pushed back by tweeting that any alterations were done without his permission. >"The stories aren't true. I've never changed a word in ‘Goosebumps.’ Any changes were never shown to me," he wrote Monday. >The edits made in the name of inclusivity included changing the description of an alien characterized as having "at least six chins" to being "at least six feet six" tall. Another alteration condensed the description of an African-American character formerly described his ethnicity by name and compared his walk to that of "rappers on MTV videos" to succinctly describe his "brown skin" instead. >The changes also came on the heels of edits to other popular books, including some by "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" author Roald Dahl and the man behind the "James Bond" series, Ian Fleming, but the changes to Stein's books were formerly thought to be self-imposed. >Scholastic told Fox News Digital in a recent statement that the revisions were made in attempt to keep the language consistent with modern audiences, writing, "For more than 30 years, the Goosebumps series has brought millions of kids to reading through humor with just the right amount of scary. Scholastic takes its responsibility seriously to continue bringing this classic adolescent brand to each new generation. >"When re-issuing titles several years ago, Scholastic reviewed the text to keep the language current and avoid imagery that could negatively impact a young person’s view of themselves today, with a particular focus on mental health." >https://archive.is/c4tvh

Scribe 04/17/2023 (Mon) 07:01:21 No. 579

Jeeves and Wooster stories censored to avoid offending modern readers >Jeeves and Wooster books have been rewritten to remove prose by PG Wodehouse deemed “unacceptable” by publishers, the Telegraph can reveal. >Original passages in the comic novels have been purged or reworked for new editions issued by Penguin Random House. >Trigger warnings have also been added to revised editions telling would-be Wodehouse readers that his themes and characters may be “outdated”. >One warning states that the writer’s prose has been altered because it was judged to be “unacceptable” by Penguin, a publishing house which enlists the services of sensitivity readers. >The disclaimer printed on the opening pages of the 2023 reissue of Thank you, Jeeves states: “Please be aware that this book was published in the 1930s and contains language, themes and characterisations which you may find outdated. >“In the present edition we have sought to edit, minimally, words that we regard as unacceptable to present-day readers.” >The warning adds that the changes “do not affect the story” of the novel, which is the first full-length work to feature the famed comic creations of idle gentleman Bertie Wooster and his resourceful valet Reginald Jeeves, a pair portrayed by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in a 1990s ITV adaptation. >The Telegraph can reveal that edits have also been made to the 2022 edition of Right Ho, Jeeves, which carries the same disclaimer warning the reader of outdated content, and stating that changes have been made to Wodehouse’s original text. >Wodehouse has become the latest author to have their work altered, after novels by Ian Fleming and Agatha Christie were purged of words deemed at odds with modern sensitivities. >An examination of the revised Wodehouse novels reveals that racial terminology has been removed or replaced throughout. >In the 1934 novel Right Ho, Jeeves, newly reissued by Penguin, a racial term used to describe a “minstrel of the old school” has been removed. >In Thank You, Jeeves, whose plot hinges on the performance of a minstrel troupe, numerous racial terms have been removed or altered, both in dialogue spoken by the characters in the book, and from first-person narration in the voice of Bertie. >A number of Jeeves and Wooster books are being re-released by Penguin, despite previous editions being issued only slightly more than a decade ago. The previous editions were not censored. >These include an upcoming new edition of Summer Lightning from the Blandings Castle series, the standalone novel Uncle Dynamite, and the story collection The Inimitable Jeeves. >Penguin has been asked to confirm whether alterations have been made to Wodehouse’s prose in these texts, and if they will also be printed with trigger warnings, like other works in the run of new editions. >It is understood that trustees of the writer's literary estate control the bulk of the copyrights for Wodehouse, who lived from 1881 to 1975, and became noted as a prolific author of more than 90 books, a body of work which is often hailed as the funniest in the English language. >https://archive.is/EA7gY

Scribe 07/03/2023 (Mon) 04:02:28 No. 609

They are going to come for everything before the 1960s, and eventually the period of 1960s-2020 Floydism will be seen as "problematic." I wish I was posting here sooner as I could have mentioned pdfdrive.com, now defunct because of the internetarchive case. Internetarchive lost, the woke publishers won. The whole purpose of this was to punish internetarchive for providing copies of old, unreconstructed books. Now that the case is done they can begin the real labor in earnest. Just download every pdf you can find of books you like while you still can.

Scribe 07/03/2023 (Mon) 18:43:36 No. 610

Wasn't there some recent (like months ago now I think) news about Dr. Seuss books being taken off the shelves and being rewritten for "modern sensibilities?"

Anonymous 07/03/2023 (Mon) 18:53:34 No. 611

>>610 I remember when they straight up banned 6 of his books a couple years ago. https://web.archive.org/web/20230703185029/https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-dr-seuss-controversy-what-educators-need-to-know/2021/03

Quick Reply


Sage Bypass Check