World Wednesday: Racism in Old Literature

   For a while now I have been collecting all my favourite books from childhood. Among my top priorities to dig out of old rare dusty piles - Abebooks, in other words - were the "Adventure Series" by Enid Blyton. But I couldn't get just any old paperbacks, oh no. They had to be the hardback ones with the fantastic Stuart Tresilian illustrations, just as I had borrowed from the library a hundred times over. (I drew the line at needing copies with the original dust covers, however, which were in the $200 range.)

   Once I had the stories in my possession, I sat down in delight to flip through and relive the adventures of Philip, Jack, Dinah, Lucy-Ann, and of course the parrot Kiki. With many an "I say" and "jolly clever!", these children went on outrageous adventures, outdid the crooks, and somehow managed in any predicament to have plenty of tinned food on hand. Not far in, though, I was astonished to find how much more "politically incorrect" were dear old Enid's writings than I had remembered.

  Probably more well known for the land of Noddy (and it's offending golliwogs), Blyton equally incorporated the racism of her British worldview into The Island of Adventure, The Mountain of Adventure, and the rest. Probably without giving it a second thought.

   From the villainous JoJo in the first book of the series, a "coloured man" who "rolled his eyes in a peculiar way", to this poor "negro" in this picture being chased by "bad mens", to the mention of "nasty little slinky Japanese servants", one does not have to look far to find somewhat shocking racial stereotyping and disrespectful language.

   The question is not whether the racism in these books is inappropriate - of course it is, as well as the bigotry of the age from which it springs. The question isn't even if the author's intentions were good or ill. When I visited Enid Blyton's hometown in England, one of the locals was quick to tell me the rumour that the famous author was not actually a very nice person. Whether or not she was unpleasant, or the sweetest lady you can imagine, innocently affected by contemporary views, this type of literature is doubtless a product of its era and the prejudices that were accepted at the time. 

   The question is, what do you do with this literature? My first thought on re-perusing the "Adventure Series" was - would I let my kids read these? 

   Well, I grew up on them, devoured them, in fact, and they didn't seem to do me much harm. I certainly did not turn out to be a supremacist or a xenophobe. I was raised with basic courtesy and respect for others, all equal in human dignity, and this was definitely not going to be overturned by a few Enid Blyton novels.

   Some editions have attempted to make it all better by altering the originals and editing out any insensitive material, such as replacing black JoJo with Caucasian Joe. Personally I find this silly. I don't think it is right to change any author's original work. Throw out, possibly, but never change. If you don't care enough about their book to let it be as they intended, why do you care about reading it?

   Moreover, despite what were probably the good intentions of publishers, I also think it may be more  offensive to edit out the problems of racial bigotry in literature rather than acknowledging them. Prejudice is a part of history, it has happened, still happens, and sadly will probably continue in various forms. To politely pretend it wasn't there in the first place is an insult to those who have suffered from it. Finding racism in old literature could be an opportunity, not to condone, but to acknowledge this aspect of history and to learn from it. 

   So would I let my kids read these Enid Blyton stories? - the answer is yes. I would still like to share with them the charm that I found in the books as a child. When my little son Peregrine is old enough for me to read him all the volumes on my shelves (cant wait!) and we get to sections that contain outdated racial prejudice, I will choose to explain the context and make a simple learning point about the historical era and what is got wrong about understanding humanity and race. Then we will move on and enjoy the rest of the story. There is no need to turn the book only into an example of something wrong while losing all that is good and fun about it. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater! :)

  Just like any instance of teaching appropriate social behaviour, I don't have to be afraid that my book-loving child will be doomed to go around ignorantly calling people n*ggers if I have taken the opportunity to explain that it is considered rude.

  In Enid Blyton's stories, which have been relished by many children, there are certainly examples of an outdated worldview of racial prejudice. The same worldview can be seen in adult literature of the same period, such as the tales written by John Buchan, once a Governor General of Canada, who is one of my favourite authors. My solution is not to reject these stories or remove the parts deemed inappropriate, but to read them as all literature should be read, within its historical context, however imperfect that context may be.

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