Enid Blyton fans react to 'racist' label - DW (English)

Aware of the controversy surrounding Enid Blyton's books, DW's Brenda Haas recalls how they were a form of escape during her childhood in a rubber plantation in Malaysia.

Cucumber sandwiches and ginger beer. Castles, caves and caravans. Gooey macaroons. An enchanted forest. And a dog called Timmy. 

I'd wanted them all. 

As a 7-year-old growing up in a rubber plantation in the southern state of Johor in Peninsular Malaysia, Enid Blyton's The Famous Five and The Five Find-Outers books were pure escapism. They turned me into a voracious reader, introducing me to people, places and things that were non-native to my corner of the world, but which fired my imagination nonetheless. 

But Blyton's works didn't always pass muster — especially when dealing with minorities.

The plaque on Blyton's former home will remain; English Heritage is only making updates to its online entries about blue-plaque recipients

'Racist, xenophobic and lacking literary merit'

On Thursday, English Heritage, a cultural foundation that commemorates famous British personalities by attaching blue plaques on buildings to mark their homes or workspaces, updated its online information associated with Blyton's plaque. 

"Blyton's work has been criticized during her lifetime and after for its racism, xenophobia and lack of literary merit," the foundation's website states, citing a 1996 report by The Guardian newspaper that explored Blyton's book The Little Black Doll, where the character of Sambo is accepted once its "ugly black face" is washed "clean" by the rain.

While maintaining that "her work still played a vital role in encouraging a generation of children to read," the website stated that the revision aims "to provide a fuller picture of each person's life, including aspects that people may find troubling." 

Reassessing the legacy of past authors

Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling's entry also now mentions his "racist and imperialist sentiments."

However, both authors' plaques will not be removed. 

This move is part of English Heritage's efforts in the wake of last year's Black Lives Matter movement to better reflect "the values or perspectives of people today." 

English Heritage wants to better reflect 'the values or perspectives of people today'

To cancel or not to cancel

Unsurprisingly, Blyton's name trended on Twitter as many weighed in on the news. 

This book by Enid Blyton is considered offensive today

Some shared the cover of one of her books, The Three Golliwogs, to underscore her xenophobia. In the original edition, two of the three bore names that were racial slurs.

Later editions, of which I own a copy, renamed the three to Wiggie, Waggie and Wollie.

Today, it can be argued that the seemingly hilarious misadventures caused by their identical looks belies a lazy, superficial stereotyping of ethnic groups. 

Acknowledging that parts of Blyton's writing would be deemed bigoted today, New Zealand born journalist and broadcaster Dan Wooton commented in the Mail Online, "When it comes to Blyton, it was particularly telling that English Heritage sneeringly referred to a 'lack of literary merit' in her work. Who matters more? Snobby literary types or the hundreds of millions who have lovingly consumed her work without any idea of Blyton's dodgy personal views?"

Meanwhile, James Wong, an ethnobotanist who presents the BBC's Grow Your Own Drugs program, asked on Twitter whether "it's the fury that matters and not the actual issues?"

"I can absolutely get how change can feel uncomfortable to some. I can even empathize how pointing out inequality can be interpreted by some people as an attack on their identity," but he also asks why people are suddenly so angry about it today, "as if it's hot off the press?" — after all, as he points out, the discussion surrounding racist elements in Blyton's works has been around for at least three decades.

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'The Little Witch' (1957)

  This classic of children's literature, by Otfried Preussler, was made into a film that came out in 2018. In a 2013 revision of the book, children getting dressed up as Blacks — described using the N-word — or a "Zigeuner" (gypsy) simply picked other costumes. The publisher's decision to change some words led to a heated debate in Germany.

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'The Little Ghost' (1966)

  Thienemann publishing house also decided to review Preussler's other classic books of German children literature, including "The Robber Hotzenplotz" books and "The Little Ghost" (made into a film in 2013). They reformulated for example the friendly ghost's reaction when he turns black. Such revisions shock purists: Should books be changed? And where should the line be drawn?

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver' (1960)

  Experts view Michael Ende's popular children's novel as an allegory against the Nazis' ideology. During his lifetime, the author updated his book, turning references to China into a fictional country called Mandala. However, the latest version keeps the one use of the N-word to describe the Black boy in the tale. The latest movie adaption of the work was recently released in cinemas (photo).

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  The 'Pippi Longstocking' series

  The N-word was already removed or replaced from the English version of Astrid Lindgren's popular books during the 1950s. The German version had been reworked in the 1990s; however, it kept the term with a footnote mentioning that it was outdated. In 2009, all references to Pippi's dad were replaced with the "South Sea King."

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'The Story of Doctor Dolittle' (1920)

  Hugh Lofting's classic was reworked for its 1988 edition; instead of coming from the "Land of the White Men," Doctor Dolittle is from the "Land of the Europeans." Similarly, references to the King of Jolliginki avoid mentioning the color of his skin. Despite efforts to make race invisible, the colonial ideologies of the time are still reflected in the plot and the depictions of the characters.

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (1964)

  In the original version of Roald Dahl's book, the Oompa-Loompas — small humans working in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory — are described as African Pygmies. The author made them come from a fictional country called Loompaland in a revised version from 1973. In the 1971 film (photo), they were played by actors with dwarfism and depicted as surreal creatures with orange skin and green hair.

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'And Then There Were None' (1939)

  The original title of Agatha Christie's masterpiece was "Ten Little N*gg*rs," based on the British blackface song that guides the plot of the mystery novel. The title of the US edition, released a month after the British one in 1939, used the last five words of the song instead. However, it has also had the problematic title "Ten Little Indians," which refers to an American rhyming song.

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'Tintin in the Congo' (1946)

  Initially published as a serialized weekly in the 1930s, Belgian cartoonist Herge later produced a colored version of the work and revised one violent big-game hunting scene in 1976. The volume was strongly criticized for its racist content by the late 20th century. There have been attempts to ban the book; in English, it is sold with an extra explanation of the historical context.

• 

  Should books with racist content be revised?

  'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' (1884)

  Mark Twain's iconic classic is viewed as an anti-racist satire. It is also among the first American works to use vernacular English — and coarse language. The word "n*gg*r," a common racial slur in the mid-19th-century, is used over 200 times in the book. One revised version from 2011 replaces the N-word with "slave." Critics believe it is wrong to whitewash the historical context of such books.

  Author: Elizabeth Grenier

Of imagination and escape

Blyton fans, however, shared how the stories she wrote awakened curiosity and imagination. 

Aseem Chhabra, who has authored biographies of Indian actors Irrfan Khan and Priyanka Chopra wrote, "I refuse to accept any criticism of Enid Blyton. I refuse to cancel how my childhood was shaped, with thrilling adventures, mysteries. As a child growing up in India, I loved imagining what jam tarts, buttery scones with strawberries and cream would taste like."

Former CNN anchor Monita Rajpal also tweeted about her strong connection with the books: "My love of reading began when I was enthralled with the adventures of Enid Blyton's Famous Five. The books didn't shape my view of the world, but they did take an often lonely little girl to different places. They planted a seed of curiosity." 

The first of book of 'The Famous Five' series, which has been popular among children for years

Others suggest temperance in dealing with works that were written in a day and age where "positive representation" and "inclusivity" were not yet part of the vernacular, and to communicate to young readers today how some of Blyton's worldviews do not reflect today's social mores. 

Wondering about the definition of 'gypsy' as a child

I must admit that even back then I used to wonder if I'd qualify as a gypsy on account of being brown. "Brown as gypsies" was a description she'd used for white children who got tanned in the summer sun.

Today, I know that one of these words is considered pejorative, while the other is a skin color still lacking adequate representation. 

But it doesn't cancel the escape her books afforded me, and which first made me fall in love with reading and writing.

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