As of: February 23, 2024, 4:38 p.m
By: Kathrin Reikowski
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A hairline, no gay lips: More dignity for the children's book hero Jim Knopf.
The classic children's books about the boy Jim Knopf should in future be free of racist language.
© picture alliance/dpa/Thienemann-Verlag
Jim Knopf without racist exaggerations, no more N-word in the text: “In the spirit of Michael Ende,” the Thienemann publishing house has revised a new edition.
Stuttgart – “After careful consideration,” the Stuttgart publisher Thienemann and the estate have redesigned a new edition of “Jim Knopf and Lukas the Locomotive Driver” by Michael Ende: Jim Knopf no longer appears racist and one of the book characters no longer says the N-word .
The long communication from the publisher, which was issued two days before the new edition was published, shows how carefully considered the considerations were.
“We have made very selective and careful changes,” says publishing director Bärbel Dorweiler to Die Zeit.
“We deleted the N-word, which appeared at one point in the book.
Jim’s black skin is no longer related to Luke’s dirty white skin, and other stereotypical descriptions have been reduced.”
In addition, Jim Knopf no longer has “bulky pink lips” in the colored illustrations.
“His facial features are recognizable and his skin tone is no longer the same as the color of his hair.” Already in her first answer she seems to suspect that in the near future she will have to justify things that sound self-evident.
Because she says: “And before any misunderstandings arise: The characters, their characters, the great adventure, Michael Ende’s narrative style has remained a matter of course.”
Careful considerations by the publisher - racism and the N-word from the Jim Knopf edition
The debate about racism in the Jim Knopf editions has been going on for a long time.
Among other things, the educator Christine Kassamma, who does educational work critical of racism, said in 2020: “
Unfortunately
, Jim Knopf is still read too often.” Her criticism: “Jim Knopf reproduces many clichés about the supposedly typical nature and appearance of black people .
Jim Knopf is what white people imagine a funny, cheeky, black child to be.” On the one hand, these exaggerations lead to the persistence of clichés that devalue and exclude a large part of society - and, on the other hand, to a lack of positive role models.
What images and ideas you have in your head determine how we filter, evaluate situations and behave, says Maisha-Maureen Auma, Professor of Childhood and Difference, among others.
A hairline, normal lips and no more pipe for little Jim - a comparison of the new and old book cover of Michael Ende's classic © picture alliance/dpa/Thienemann-Verlag |
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Jim Knopf: Changes were made in consultation with Michael Ende's heirs
The changes were made in consultation with the heirs of author Michael Ende and illustrator FJ Tripp.
The publisher itself says: “We are sure that we are acting in the spirit of Michael Ende, who was known to be cosmopolitan, respectful and always for children.” The new edition appears at a time when right-wing extremism is seen as a great danger by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is classified and top politicians call for the fight against racism.
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“In these adventure stories, Michael Ende has drawn a counter-image to the National Socialist ideology that he himself was confronted with in his youth,” writes the publisher.
“At the end of the early 1960s, Michael deliberately only put the N-word in Mr. Sleeve’s mouth to point out the lack of cosmopolitanism of this typical subject.”
Racism surrounding Jim Knopf: “Today it’s more difficult”
“A crucial argument is that our society is much more diverse today than it was in the 1960s,” says Dorweiler.
“In school classes and families there are many more children with a migrant background, many more children who are black themselves.
They too should be able to read Jim Knopf with pleasure and profit, because the stories are worth it.
And they haven't lost any of their relevance, as they talk about the friendship of different people, about accepting strangers or things that are different." The publisher had long insisted on leaving the N-word in the text.
Now a different conclusion has been reached, “also because many children today no longer know the N-word until they come across it in a book.”
Today it is “difficult” anyway, says Dorweiler.
“Just this week I heard a young woman tell me how no one wanted to sit next to her in elementary school because she was black.” And she concludes: “I don’t think we can prevent experiences like this by making changes to books .
But we can help make our society more open.” The editions by Jim Knopf with the original black and white illustrations are available unchanged, according to the publisher.
In the future they would contain a descriptive afterword.
It remains to be seen whether all the changes will be enough to stop hurting anyone.
(cat)