Children’s literature has often been a censorship battleground. Recently, it was reported that publisher Puffin had hired ‘sensitivity readers’ to scrutinise British best selling writer Roald Dahl’s books and rewrite portions they deemed offensive. As per reports, among other changes Oompa Loompas are now gender neutral, Augustus Gloop is now ‘enormous’ instead of ‘fat’ and Mrs Twit won’t be referred to as ‘ugly’.
I spoke to Smitha Nair at Scroll along with author Sowmya Rajendran about my views on the rewriting of old children’s books, characterizations in which, or portions of which, are today considered offensive.
Writer and host: Smitha Nair Producer: Karnika Kohli Graphics designer: Rubin D’Souza For the latest news and analysis – https://scroll.in
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