6 ms·

> What books were banned by "the left"? Not banning but altering would be one form of censorship, e.g., "Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed o

> What books were banned by "the left"? Not banning but altering would be one form of censorship, e.g., "Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive": * https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/18/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-to-remove-language-deemed-offensive https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/18/roald-dahl-boo... "Why I Decided to Update the Language in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Children’s Books": * https://lithub.com/why-i-decided-to-update-the-language-in-ursula-k-le-guins-childrens-books/ https://lithub.com/why-i-decided-to-update-the-language-in-u... "D&D: WotC’s New Batch Of Errata Removes Racial Alignments, Retcons Drow": * https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/12/dd-wotc-removes-racial-alignments-retcons-drow-in-new-batch-of-errata.html https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/12/dd-wotc-removes-raci... To quote George Orwell's 1984: "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." The past is being rewritten (as opposed to leaving the original language and simply putting a forward in explaining things).

tshaddox 3y ago
Weren’t all of those changes done willingly by the publishers/copyright holders of those works?
- throw0101b 3y ago
  Maybe, maybe not; it's hard to tell: how many folks are willing to stake their livelihood on saying "no" to a potential mob of progressives that will 'cancel' them? Saying to them "what is written is written; make your own (new) stories with the words you want".
  - tshaddox 3y ago
    Then it sounds like you’re just describing normal persuasion, rather than using state power or violence. At that point, the heart of the disagreement isn’t over methodology (“censorship is bad”) or broad human rights (“freedom of speech is good”), but simply over whether you personally like the first version of the book or the new version.
djur 3y ago
D&D has been revised dozens of times over the past few decades, and racial alignments have been more honored in the breach for nearly as long -- one of the most popular characters in the D&D books is a chaotic good drow, and such "good renegades" are an extremely common appearance at tables. The past is not being rewritten. This is WOTC being responsive to the desires of (some of) their customers. The Dahl publishers have confirmed that they are only making changes to editions published for schools, and the original unedited books will still be published. Dahl himself authorized changes to his work to keep them marketable. There's no evidence that the Le Guin books would have been kept from publication if those mild changes had not been made. It appears that we're only even hearing about it as a response to the Dahl controversy. All together, this seems like piecemeal evidence of works being updated to satisfy contemporary mores, which is something that has been done continually for centuries, not a sign of a growing ideological trend.
- jl6 3y ago
  > Dahl himself authorized changes to his work to keep them marketable. Is that the same Dahl that said: “I’ve warned my publishers that if they later on so much as change a single comma in one of my books, they will never see another word from me. Never! Ever!” “When I am gone, if that happens, then I’ll wish mighty Thor knocks very hard on their heads with his Mjolnir. Or I will send along the ‘enormous crocodile’ to gobble them up.” He was referring to his Norwegian roots and to his earlier story of “the greediest croc” in talking to Bacon, who apparently felt just as strongly about the subject, telling him: “There must be no changes to an artist’s original work when he is dead for any reason whatsoever.” Crossing himself in jest, Dahl replied: “I just hope to God that will never happen to any of my writings as I am lying comfortably in my Viking grave.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/roald-dahl-threatened-publisher-with-enormous-crocodile-if-they-changed-his-words https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/roald-dahl-thr...
  - djur 3y ago
    Well, he's right that his publishers will never see another word from him. A decade before that quote, Dahl was convinced by the NAACP and others to revise the Oompa-Loompas to avoid the implications of their being "black pygmies".
HKH2 3y ago
RL Stine said his books got edited for him without his knowledge too.

tshaddox 3y ago

Weren’t all of those changes done willingly by the publishers/copyright holders of those works?

throw0101b 3y ago
Maybe, maybe not; it's hard to tell: how many folks are willing to stake their livelihood on saying "no" to a potential mob of progressives that will 'cancel' them? Saying to them "what is written is written; make your own (new) stories with the words you want".
- tshaddox 3y ago
  Then it sounds like you’re just describing normal persuasion, rather than using state power or violence. At that point, the heart of the disagreement isn’t over methodology (“censorship is bad”) or broad human rights (“freedom of speech is good”), but simply over whether you personally like the first version of the book or the new version.

djur 3y ago

D&D has been revised dozens of times over the past few decades, and racial alignments have been more honored in the breach for nearly as long -- one of the most popular characters in the D&D books is a chaotic good drow, and such "good renegades" are an extremely common appearance at tables. The past is not being rewritten. This is WOTC being responsive to the desires of (some of) their customers. The Dahl publishers have confirmed that they are only making changes to editions published for schools, and the original unedited books will still be published. Dahl himself authorized changes to his work to keep them marketable. There's no evidence that the Le Guin books would have been kept from publication if those mild changes had not been made. It appears that we're only even hearing about it as a response to the Dahl controversy. All together, this seems like piecemeal evidence of works being updated to satisfy contemporary mores, which is something that has been done continually for centuries, not a sign of a growing ideological trend.

jl6 3y ago
> Dahl himself authorized changes to his work to keep them marketable. Is that the same Dahl that said: “I’ve warned my publishers that if they later on so much as change a single comma in one of my books, they will never see another word from me. Never! Ever!” “When I am gone, if that happens, then I’ll wish mighty Thor knocks very hard on their heads with his Mjolnir. Or I will send along the ‘enormous crocodile’ to gobble them up.” He was referring to his Norwegian roots and to his earlier story of “the greediest croc” in talking to Bacon, who apparently felt just as strongly about the subject, telling him: “There must be no changes to an artist’s original work when he is dead for any reason whatsoever.” Crossing himself in jest, Dahl replied: “I just hope to God that will never happen to any of my writings as I am lying comfortably in my Viking grave.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/roald-dahl-threatened-publisher-with-enormous-crocodile-if-they-changed-his-words https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/roald-dahl-thr...
- djur 3y ago
  Well, he's right that his publishers will never see another word from him. A decade before that quote, Dahl was convinced by the NAACP and others to revise the Oompa-Loompas to avoid the implications of their being "black pygmies".

HKH2 3y ago

RL Stine said his books got edited for him without his knowledge too.