Rewording mid 20th Century novels- yea or nay?
brianlux
Posts: 42,038
Agatha Christie novels reworked to remove potentially offensive language
Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have passages edited by sensitivity readers for latest HarperCollins editions
Several Agatha Christie novels have been edited to remove potentially offensive language, including insults and references to ethnicity.
Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries written between 1920 and 1976 have had passages reworked or removed in new editions published by HarperCollins to strip them of language and descriptions that modern audiences find offensive, especially those involving the characters Christie’s protagonists encounter outside the UK.
Sensitivity readers had made the edits, which were evident in digital versions of the new editions, including the entire Miss Marple run and selected Poirot novels set to be released or that have been released since 2020, the Telegraph reported.
The updates follow edits made to books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming to remove offensive references to gender and race in a bid to preserve their relevance to modern readers.
The newspaper reported that the edits cut references to ethnicity, such as describing a character as black, Jewish or Gypsy, or a female character’s torso as “of black marble” and a judge’s “Indian temper”, and removed terms such as “Oriental” and the N-word. The word “natives” has also been replaced with the word “local”.
Among the examples of changes cited by the Telegraph is the 1937 Poirot novel Death on the Nile, in which the character of Mrs Allerton complains that a group of children are pestering her, saying that “they come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I don’t believe I really like children”.
This has been stripped down in a new edition to state: “They come back and stare, and stare. And I don’t believe I really like children.”
In the new edition of the 1964 Miss Marple novel A Caribbean Mystery, the amateur detective’s musing that a hotel worker smiling at her has “such lovely white teeth” has been removed, the newspaper added.
Sensitivity readers are a comparatively recent phenomenon in publishing that have gained widespread attention in the past two years. They vet both new publications and older works for potentially offensive language and descriptions, and aim to improve diversity in the publishing industry – though some are paid extremely low wages.
Though this is the first time the content of Christie’s novels has been changed, her 1939 novel And Then There Were None was previously published under a different title that included a racist term, which was last used in 1977.
Agatha Christie Limited, a company run by the author’s great-grandson James Prichard, is understood to handle licensing for her literary and film rights. The company and HarperCollins have been contacted for comment.
Other midcentury authors whose works have been revised
Roald Dahl
Dahl’s
publisher, Puffin, hired sensitivity readers to rewrite substantial
parts of the author’s text to make sure the books “can continue to be
enjoyed by all today”; however, it will also continue to print the
original editions.
On the chopping block were offensive descriptions of characters’ physical appearances, such as the words “fat” and “ugly”, as well as antisemitic references, for instance to the characters’ big noses in The Witches.
Gender-neutral terms were also added – where Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Oompa Loompas were “small men”, they are now “small people”. The Cloud-Men in James and the Giant Peach have become Cloud-People.
Ian Fleming
To
mark 70 years since Casino Royale, Fleming’s first book featuring the
British spy James Bond, was published, a full set of the thrillers will
be reissued. This time, they will contain the disclaimer: “This book was
written at a time when terms and attitudes which might be considered
offensive by modern readers were commonplace.”
Many changes are to remove racist language. In Live and Let Die, Bond’s comment that would-be African criminals in the gold and diamond trades are “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought, except when they’ve drunk too much” has been changed to “pretty law-abiding chaps I should have thought”.
Others are to remove sexist language; for example a scene where Bond visits a nightclub in Harlem, and a reference to the “audience panting and grunting like pigs at the trough” has been changed to “Bond could sense the electric tension in the room”.
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I'll say at the outset here that I am very much in favor of and encouraged by efforts to stem racism. That is long, long, long overdue.
At the same time, I don't think trying to erase history is the way to do that. If in the past an author used racist vocabulary in their writing, I say let it stand. You cannot change a writer's viewpoint by altering their words.
And beyond that, I'm concerned about the emphasis on people's reactions to these authors work as being "sensitive". I think it's a bad idea to encourage people to be overly sensitive about words. As it is, there is a whole generation (or two or three) are becoming overly-sensitive people enough as it is without creating more drama over words (and yet, ironically, those same generations are systematically being desensitized to violence). If you find those authors wroks offensive, find something else to read. Unless you are still in grade school, no one is making you read those books.
For me, these are works by authors I don't particularly care for anyway so I haven't delved into them much- as far as I can recall, I have only read one book each by Christie, Dahl and Fleming- so whatever is done to those books is not going to affect my reading much. I just find it a bit odd that there is so much over-sensitivity to words. There are no "bad" words, there are only bad intents and other people's perspectives that don't fit with one's own. If you don't like an authors perspectives and/or their use of particular words, don't read them. Or if an author uses words that are generally avoided today, be intelligent enough to view them in their historical perspective or within the context in which they were used (e.g. Mark Twain). Changing their words does not change the intent of the author, especially dead authors. You simply cannot do that.
Comments
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
www.headstonesband.com
already addressed that....
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
Well the good news I suppose is , it's limited to reprints only , no? They aren't recalling all old version copies.....
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Those who erase history are bound to repeat it. Leave it as is. Understand the historical context of the writing.
Take out pronouns related to God? She would be pissed!
For sure!
It's been an ongoing topic for years. Don't change it.
I'd want to know if the same people wouldn't mind rewriting the bible to remove some things in there? I mean they do threaten to cut a baby in half.
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
I do enjoy ol George chopping down the cherry tree and his macaroni in a hat too.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
The true meaning of that song.
The “macaroni” in question does not, however, refer to the food, but rather to a fashion trend that began in the 1760s among aristocratic British men.
On returning from a Grand Tour (a then-standard trip across Continental Europe intended to deepen cultural knowledge), these young men brought to England a stylish sense of fashion consisting of large wigs and slim clothing as well as a penchant for the then-little-known Italian dish for which they were named. In England at large, the word “macaroni” took on a larger significance. To be “macaroni” was to be sophisticated, upper class, and worldly.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
crt white washes history? more like corrects whats already white washed, you mean.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14