Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Classic Books and Censorship

The question on adaptations of classics brought this issue to mind. I'd be curious to hear from other parents if their children have picked up on old-fashioned language and had to be "re-directed".

I clicked on that other topic because I thought it would be about changing/deleting racial epithets in the old classics such as Huckleberry Finn. I have a library of classics from my childhood that DS has access to, so I haven't bought adaptations.
We finished the original version of Alice in Wonderland just last month.

I think the author's original work should not be censored. It's art. Art shouldn't be censored, imo. Kids will hear all sorts of horrid remarks. Most sensitive parents know to teach the reason one shouldn't repeat them. So, when something comes up in a classic we are reading together, I tell DS that in the era the book was written, the passage or phrase was tolerated and why it's not today. (If in fact it was ever tolerated!)

Then there are the words that have fallen into disuse or have changed/added a new meaning over time. An example is the word queer. My son read the word in a book (Alice, probably), and began using it to describe something as being odd. For instance, he came to me after waking up and said his arm felt queer. (I think DS had been sleeping on it.) I told him that while he used the word correctly, most people don't use the word any longer in that way and that the word could be considered derogatory. I knew if he went to school and said his arm felt queer, he'd be in for it!

I'm not saying parents who don't allow the full version of classics to be read are wrong, it's just not right for us.

I think it's fair that an age-appropriate adaptation of Huck Finn should have language edits that remove terms that, given the lack of social education, a young child could misuse in an offensive way.

The original should be the original, for a great many important reasons.

It should be expected that, at a certain point, someone who enjoyed Huck Finn as a child in adapted form would seek out the original. By this time the reader should either be already educated about the social issues surrounding certain terms, or be prepared to learn about them, with the book as a useful aid to that.

Since that "certain point" will occur for different people at different times, and it's entirely subjective as to when that is, it makes sense to allow everyone to make their own decisions.

So, while I generally follow the same course you do (go ahead and introduce the archaic language, and use it as a discussion of how the meanings of words and social values change over time), I certainly understand anyone who takes a different approach.

We haven't run in to word issues often yet. The only one I recall was the "n" word in an early Hardy Boy book. He somehow skipped it (he has vision issues and sometimes skips words or lines)and I tried not to stare or look too shocked. It really took me by surprise.

Generally though like Ametrine said I take it as a teaching moment... "he/she isn't talking very nice" or what do you think (character B) felt like when (character A) said that? He knows about strong words and hyperbole so it isn't hard to have a healthy discussion. At 6, he self edits pretty well and turns off TV or books that get inappropriate. I don't really expect that to last though.

Wow, I don't remember anything like that in the Hardy Boys! I guess it didn't register at the time, because it wasn't so inflammatory when I was a kid. It was just another word, which certain people of a certain time used.

My daughter giggled recently about "gay" in The Wizard of Oz, and I had to tell her what it meant and that she could say it. And that even if it were the other kind, they weren't being mean, and that was ok too.

We have an Uncle Remus book, and the originals of everything, so we're obviously not of the belief that words should disappear from literature and leave everyone in the future wondering where they came from. History is history. If particular words could disappear from the planet, in memory and in writing, and leave no holes, it wouldn't be a bad idea -- but they can't.

We read a lot of Enid blyton which uses gay and queer correctly and has characters called fanny and dick. I only change words if I can't read it out loud comforably. I certainly don't want to get into a discussion over homosexuality with my six year old and since he is an advanced reader I don't want to make changes while he is looking over my shoulder.

I think your home will have a stronger influence on his language than books for the most part though I do remember trying to speak like the characters in farmer boy once and my father telling me not to speak like an American.