As of: March 6, 2024, 11:51 a.m
By: Aranza Maier
Comments
Press
Split
Is that still contemporary?
Racist depictions and discriminatory language no longer have a place in some classics.
It’s not just “Jim Knopf” who is affected.
Only recently I accidentally came across a radio play by Enid's Blyton “The Five Friends” on Spotify.
As a child, I listened to an episode on cassette every evening and followed the adventures with excitement.
When I watched the radio play 15 years later, my jaw dropped when the friends were talking to a Chinese woman in the episode “The Five Friends and the Black Mask”.
It was hard to miss the fact that the voice actress tried very hard to speak with an extremely exaggerated Chinese accent.
Many children's books and radio plays from the past are no longer relevant.
© Imago
This stereotypical representation is particularly noticeable in earlier works of various kinds (which of course does not mean that it does not still exist today).
In addition to the “Five Friends”, Disney films are also a good example, because they contain some problematic scenes that would certainly no longer be animated today.
The positive news, however, is that both Disney and many other studios, publishers, etc. are now working on changes and notices that point out these stereotypical and discriminatory representations or remove them entirely.
One of the latest changes concerns the children's book “Jim Knopf and Luke the Engine Driver”.
You can find out exactly what was changed and which children's books also contain problematic depictions in our list:
1. “Jim Knopf and Luke the Engine Driver”
Whether book, film or series: Michael Ende's story of Jim Knopf and Lukas the train driver has enriched many childhoods and is still an integral part of many bookshelves today.
Decades later, the book, which was published in 1960, came under fire for frequently mentioning the N-word.
This is what older editions of “Jim Knopf and the Wild 13” looked like.
© Marijan Murat/picture alliance/dpa
In February 2024, the Stuttgart-based Thienemann-Verlag announced that it wanted to delete the N-word from all new editions.
In addition, the design was also adapted to Jim Knopf's skin color.
In a press release about the changes, the publisher said: “So that children who are now reading the books do not adopt these linguistic elements into their everyday vocabulary, the estate and the publisher have decided, after careful consideration, to delete the N-word and to use the stereotypical descriptions to reduce."
The classic children's books about the boy Jim Knopf should in future be free of racist language and stereotypes.
© Bernd Weißbrod/picture alliance/dpa
My news
Breakthrough in neuroscience: reading brain tissue from 3D printing
Here's how to find Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks in the sky reading this evening
Icelandic volcanic system has erupted again – is this normal?read
When the next full moon will be in the sky - read a list of all the dates of the year
Researchers calculate: Could the dangerous asteroid Apophis hit the Earth? read
58 mins ago
“Doomsday glacier” in Antarctica threatens to continue melting – researchers are working on a daring solution
2. “Winnetou”
Karl May's story of Winnetou, a Mescalero Apache chief in the Wild West, was first published in 1893.
When the story was made into a movie of the same name in 2022, an accompanying book was published by Ravensburger Verlag.
The portrayal of “Winnetou” recently came under criticism again © Bridgeman Images/IMAGO
This was heavily criticized because it portrayed the treatment of the indigenous population too harmlessly and promoted racist stereotypes.
The publisher then withdrew the book.
Mika Ullritz (l) as Winnetou and Milo Haaf as Tom Silver in a scene from the film “The Young Chief Winnetou” (undated film scene).
The film, which was released in cinemas on August 11th, has been criticized.
He exploits racist prejudices and uses a colonialist narrative.
© picture alliance/dpa/Leonine
3. “The Five Friends”
Editions of Enid Blyton's classic "The Five Friends" have now also been revised - because of racist and sexist statements.
In previous statements, for example, Anne had to miss out on adventures to help around the house, because that would be appropriate for a girl.
In the new versions, however, the whole group stays together and instead takes care of the household together.
Enid Blyton's children's book series about the Five Friends has now been revised © picture alliance / Caroline Seidel/dpa
Even entire names have now been exchanged: Aunt Fanny became Aunt Franny, as the word Fanny is a vulgar expression for vagina or butt in English.
Dick became Rick because...you know.
4. “Donald Duck”
In 2023, the American illustrator of Donald Duck, Don Rosa, announced that his major work “Uncle Scrooge – His Life, His Millions” would be withdrawn from sale.
Comic artist Don Rosa, for whom we have Donald Duck to thank © Claus_Felix/picture-alliance / dpa
The character “Bombie the Zombie” is central to Disney’s decision to no longer publish the comic.
The comic character was created by Carl Banks in 1949 and is a visual reminder of the racist clichés of that time.
5. “Pippi Longstocking”
The Swedish author Astrid Lindgren hit the jackpot in the 1940s with Pippi Longstocking.
Even today, the story about the little heroine, who lives alone with a horse and a monkey, is extremely popular.
The Swedish author Astrid Lindgren created Pippi Longstocking in the 1940s © agefotostock/IMAGO
But passages from “Pipi Longstocking in Taka Tuka Land” in which the N-word was used were later sharply criticized.
For this reason, Friedrich Oetinger Verlag decided in 2009 to delete terms that contain the N or Z word from new editions.
Pippi's father was renamed the "South Sea King".
Inger Nilsson as Pippi Longstocking in the 1970 film adaptation © United Archives/IMAGO
6. “The Little Witch”
Some changes were also made to Ottfried Preußler's children's book “The Little Witch” from 1957.
In the classic, in which a little witch would like to fly around with the big witches on the Blocksberg, discriminatory words such as the N-word were deleted in 2013.
“The Little Witch” by Ottfried Preußler has now also been revised © picture alliance / Armin Weigel/dpa
Would you like to read more on the topic?
Here are 21 racist and sexist TV moments that show that not everything used to be better.