The "rewriting" of Roald Dahl's texts sparks global outrage and suspicions about its legality

Changes to Roald Dahl's original texts made by his publisher and the body that manages his legacy in pursuit of a more inclusive message have sparked widespread global outrage.

As a summary, a tweet from the writer Salman Rushdie: "Roald Dahl was no angel, but this is absurd censorship."

Or the thousands of complaints from readers, on social networks or opinion columns.

Or the words of the very same British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, through a spokesman: "It is important that literary and fictional works are preserved and not touched up."

The modifications number in the hundreds, the majority related to issues such as weight, gender, mental health, violence or race, with the aim of being respectful of all sensibilities, and affect the author's most famous novels, of

to

, going through

The writer cannot comment on the matter, since he passed away in 1990.

For this reason, among other reasons, some experts even doubt the legality of this rewriting, at least if the case occurred in Spain, by virtue of the right to the integrity of the work recognized by the Intellectual Property Law.

The State, according to two lawyers consulted by this newspaper, could even act to guarantee the preservation of the original work, if it ran the risk of disappearing with the appearance of the modified one.

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One Hundred Years of Magic by Roald Dahl

The men of the clouds (Cloud-Men) in

are now not men, but people (Cloud-People).

The little foxes in

are now female.

A mention of Rudyard Kipling in

has been changed to another of Jane Austen.

Things like these have happened to Roald Dahl's children's works in the latest editions published by the British label Puffin, all in agreement with The Roald Dahl Story Company, which is dedicated to managing the writer's legacy, and which is owned by Netflix since the audiovisual giant took over the rights to the works in 2021, also in view of its multiple adaptations to movies and series.

There are no longer "fat" or "ugly" in Dahl's novels.

It was revealed by the British newspaper

, which also publishes the explanation of the changes that can be read on the copyright page of each work: “This book was written many years ago, so we regularly review the language to ensure that everyone can read it. continue to enjoy it today.

Netflix, contacted by the same newspaper, sent the publisher, since the operation was carried out before its acquisition.

In Spain, the publisher in which these Dahl stories are published is the children's and youth section of Alfaguara: “Alfaguara Infantil y Juvenil has the rights in Spanish to Roald Dahl's books and publishes them throughout the Spanish-speaking territory.

No changes have been made to these editions.

Given the news that has emerged in the United Kingdom, our editors will consult if they propose changes and what type of orientation they suggest before making any other statement ”, explain sources from the editorial.

Dahl's books have been translated into 63 languages ​​and sold more than 300 million copies worldwide, which is why he is considered one of the most relevant youth literature authors in history.

The transgressive and free portrait of the little ones is precisely one of the most adored elements of his work,

A cake decorated as the book 'Matilda' by Roald Dahl at a London cake fair.

Neil Hall (Reuters)

Censorship?

Political correctness?

“It seems to me that it crosses the line with censorship and political correctness.

I am 42 years old.

I read Roald Dahl books as a child.

I did it again when I was older, as a teacher.

And I returned to resume them with my daughter”, sums up Begoña Regueiro Salgado, professor of Children's Literature and Literary Education at the Complutense University of Madrid and director of the UCM Literary Education and Children's Literature Research Group (ELLI).

To the expert, like millions of fans around the world for decades, these novels are fascinated as they were originally written.

And she adds: “He is not an author that one approaches at the age of four.

Children who read to you already have judgment.

We are overprotecting them and that is not helping them.

On the contrary, she questions his judgment and his ability to understand.

Of course I am concerned about the gender perspective, or that it is wrong to call someone 'fat' or 'ugly', but education itself takes care of explaining that”.

Regueiro says that the case has been the subject of debate in his research group.

And almost all the interviewees already show prior knowledge of the matter, an indication of the extent to which it has transcended the sector.

"What is needed is that adults (teachers, families, booksellers...) who are the mediators between the texts and the little ones, sharpen our training to make them see that the world has not always been the same, that humanity has a very It has been long and has been able to improve in certain aspects”, Pilar Núñez Delgado, professor at the Department of Language and Literature Didactics at the University of Granada, also specialized in books for young people, adds.

Faced with the general rejection of retouching the text, some interviewees cite alternative solutions such as an introductory text,

that serves to contextualize when and by whom it was written.

Or footnotes.

At the same time, comparisons beyond Roald Dahl himself are also multiplying.

For example, if we should omit that children were exploited in factories and mines during the industrial revolution.

Or if the time will come when

“the episode of Sancho Panza's cloak” is suppressed from

There are those who insinuate whether it would be acceptable to soften a painted execution with brushstrokes, who recall the racism and misogyny present in Quevedo's work or the moment in which the protagonists of Los

, Enid Blyton's celebrated literary saga, went from drinking ginger beer to soda in later editions.

“Imagine that from time to time a revision was made to check if a work fits with the tastes of that time”, adds Núñez Delgado.

For Xosé Ballesteros, head of the Kalandraka children's and youth label, it is about going precisely in the opposite direction: “Literature has to be good, above all.

We know that a lot of garbage is published, not only for adults but also for children and young people.

And the commercial is often taking precedence, not in the sense of selling many books, which I would love.

Publishers should aspire to disseminate works that last, with the vocation of becoming classics”.

Ballesteros observes a "curious" resemblance to another recent protest, but one that came from the opposite political space: in 2015, the then mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, elected at the head of a center-right coalition, banned several guilty children's books, allegedly , of “gender ideology”.

Among others, he ended up banning a classic like

, by Leo Lionni.

Hence, the publisher describes the retouching as an "attack" against Dahl's books and affirms that "it rains, it pours", since children's literature has long faced an internal discussion about the alleged excess of messages and instructing children.

The editor also underlines the injustice of "disrupting the style of someone who cannot give an opinion", since Roald Dahl died in 1990, at the age of 74.

A boy reads a copy of 'James and the Giant Peach' by Roald Dahl.

Astrid Riecken (The Washington Post via Getty Im)

And there, apart from the discussion on ethics and opportunity, the case also steps on the legal ground.

In Spain, article 14 of the Intellectual Property Law grants the author, among others, "irrevocable and inalienable rights": "Demand respect for the integrity of the work and prevent any deformation, modification, alteration or attack against it that implies prejudice to their legitimate interests or damage to their reputation”.

Would it be true in this case?

“Dahl wrote that and that's it.

The work and copyright are above whoever manages and now touches up their legacy”, says Carlos Sánchez Almeida, an expert lawyer in intellectual property.

His professional colleague Andy Ramos makes a similar interpretation: “When an author wants to use language and connotations to convey certain ideas, whether offensive or not,

In fact, both consider that an action on the part of the State would hypothetically even be possible, as a guarantor of freedom of expression and the right of access to culture.

"If the original work ends up being eliminated from the market and only the altered one is kept, the Administration could ask the judge to publish the first one," Ramos believes.

"Readers have the right to know an artistic work as it was made," adds Sánchez Almeida.

To the point that, however "anecdotal" it may be, Ramos would see a claim as consumers possible to find out the exact characteristics of the work being acquired.

As if, somehow, Dahl's new publications fall into false advertising, unless they clarify at the beginning that it is not exactly the original text.

Willy Wonka's character from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', played by Johnny Deep in Tim Burton's film version.

Ambassadors of inclusion

The proofreading of Dahl's texts was done in collaboration with the Inclusive Minds company and its "ambassadors of inclusion", people with diverse life experiences dedicated to detecting where a text may be disrespectful of all sensibilities.

Some teachers interviewed by the

highlighted that not only children's tastes are changing, but they even find certain points of view obsolete and certain passages offensive.

For the rest, it is not the first time that Dahl's work has been controversial, as on previous occasions he had been branded as misogynistic, crude, amoral, anti-Semitic or racist, for example due to the Oompa Loompas, the tribe of little helpers of Willy Wonka who, as noisy domesticated pygmies, work in his chocolate factory [by the way, in the new edition these beings are gender neutral].

Or Wonka himself, a being of amoral behavior: a vegetarian who seduces children with succulent and pernicious sweets.

The author's family apologized in 2020 for his anti-Semitic comments: they were "incomprehensible to us," they said.

Dahl himself, throughout his life, made variations to his stories to avoid these criticisms.

Now the author is gone.

The Roald Dahl Story Company has explained that its intention has been to maintain "the arguments, the characters, the irreverence and the scathing spirit of the original text."

The challenge that arises is how to maintain Dahl's appeal, often consistent in these small transgressions, with the new sensibilities.

And without his permission.

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