Posted by John Lambert on January 17, 2011 at 11:51:32 user John.
In Reply to: Re: Speaking as a Bowdleriser (was Re: SA Theatre Production)... posted by D on January 17, 2011 at 07:02:54:
I'm going to play Deveil's Advocate here. If the originals of literary works had been "Bowdlerized" in the first place, would it really matter? For example, would we be the poorer if Shakespeare had Lady MacBeth saying "Out, dreadful spot" or "Out, ghastly spot."? It's not the occasional word that makes great literature, it's the plot, the characters, the dislogue, etc.
My public library was in error by chucking out all Enid Blton's books because of the occasional "bad" word. I don't see any harm in substituing "black" for the dreaded "n" word. I think somewhere she may have used the "c" word for a Chinese too. A bowdlerised version of Blyton's works with suitable amendments so children don't go around calling each other racial names seems acceptable to me. In any case, it's not the kids who would make the fuss, it's the parents.