The Rewriting of Roald Dahl is ‘Propsposterous’

The censorship of Roald Dahl’s children’s books has set off a firestorm. From the man on the street to the British prime minister to author Salman Rushdie—who all know something about censorship—writers, public figures, and other observers have expressed their anger. They should be angry, because, as Dahl would say, the whole thing’s a bunch of despungable rummytot. 

As first reported by The Telegraph, the latest editions of Puffin’s Roald Dahl children’s books have been chopped, altered, and added to in order to bring them into conformity with contemporary sensibilities. To “protect children” the editors have exorcised from Dahl anything they deemed racist, sexist, body-shamming, or cruel. Purged are hundreds of references to someone’s size, intelligence, complexion, gender, attractiveness—or lack thereof. The overhaul is both alarming and profoundly ignorant. 

If the editors found Dahl’s material so objectionable, a disclaimer on the copyright page that the books were written many years ago and might contain language now deemed outdated or offensive would have sufficed. Readers could decide for themselves whether and how to proceed. Instead, the editors assigned themselves the right to strip future readers of the freedom to know what Roald Dahl had even written. But the editors hold past generations captive too. Dahl is no longer alive to either protest or approve the changes. This should alarm everyone. Is the precedent now set that henceforth whoever holds legal ownership of cultural artifacts that do not depict their values is free to change them until they do?

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