Explained: why it is important to note the failures of Enid Blyton, not to erase his work


Citing the death of children’s author Enid Blyton on November 29, 1968, the Times UK obituary reports: “Miss Enid Blyton, who died yesterday, was perhaps the most successful children’s author. and the most controversial of the post-war years.

Controversies over Blyton’s work – its intellectual merit, inherent racism, and problematic views on the genre – have continued throughout his life. His books have been taken from libraries around the world, his stories struck off the curriculum. Between 1930 and 1950, the BBC refused to dramatize her work, describing her as a “stubborn secondary” in internal correspondence.

An old debate revived

The English Heritage charity, which installs iconic blue plaques at sites that were once the work or living quarters of British culturati, has fueled this debate with its latest update of information associated with the Blyton plaque. “Blyton’s work was criticized during his lifetime and after for its racism, xenophobia and lack of literary merit. A 1966 Guardian article noted the racism of The Little Black Doll (1966), in which the title doll, Sambo, is not accepted by its owner until her “ugly black face” is “cleaned” by the rain. In 1960, publisher Macmillan refused to publish his story The Mystery That Never Was for what he called his “weak but unattractive touch of old-fashioned xenophobia” … “the update now includes .

He mentions the Royal Mint’s rejection of Blyton for the commemoration of a 50 pence coin in 2016 because “advisory committee minutes indicate that she was” racist, sexist, homophobic and not a highly regarded writer. ” “. Although the update is part of the charity’s attempt to reassess controversial aspects of British culture, it has reportedly said it has no plans to remove the plaque from outside the house from Blyton to London.

What is the problem

The shortcomings of Blyton’s prodigious production have been the subject of debate for decades. Her problematic gender politics, perhaps most apparent in her Famous Five series, divides the fields into feminine and masculine, in which scientific fathers remain locked in studies; cheerful aunts and mothers produce picnic baskets and “smashing” teas; girls do the dishes after meals and are almost always feminine and need to be chaperoned; tomboys are aberrations and never as wise or mature as a “real” boy. Later awakened interpretations made Famous Five star George a fluid genre, but Blyton, by all indications, wasn’t thinking that far.

Blyton wrote most of his work between 1928 and 1960, a tumultuous period in world history. In the United Kingdom, it was not until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 that all men and women over the age of 21 were granted the right to vote on an equal footing. equality. While World War II would see more women entering the workforce, before that, for a majority of middle-class women, a life of domesticity was the norm.

It may be possible to contextualize Blyton’s views on gender roles from this angle, but his unspoken commentary on race was untenable even for its time – one that saw two world wars against fascism. In almost all of his books, “gypsies” and strangers are portrayed as sinister, often dishonest. In her hugely popular series Noddy, the antagonists are almost always golliwogs – a racial caricature of a black rag doll, first presented by designer and author Florence Kate Upton in 1895. In series for older children, like the Famous Five, Black or Dark-skinned characters are often presented as heartless or presented in a comic light (in Five Go To Smuggler’s Top, 1945, a dark-skinned boy is called Sooty, and he is refers to himself and his white half-sister as “Beauty and the Beast”).

Popularity vs flaws

As the late ’80s and early’ 90s initiated numerous purges of its texts – golliwogs gave way to goblins, references to corporal punishment were ironed out, as were references to rigid gender norms – Blyton’s popularity has not waned. In 2008, she was voted Britain’s favorite author, ahead of Roald Dahl and JK Rowling. Her books have sold 600 million copies and she remains a favorite among children across the subcontinent, including India, though authors such as Jamaica Kincaid, Michael Rosen and Rowling express unease at her views.

How do you reconcile this unease with Blyton’s narrow view of the world with his continued popularity? And, does the growing backlash against her require putting her prolific work of over 600 books on the back burner?

The pragmatic answer, of course, is that while it is essential to recognize and emphasize Blyton’s failures, it is impossible to purge the literary canons based on the vices of the writers. What our revisionist reading can initiate are conversations around fault lines, a recognition of the island world in which Blyton’s characters inhabit, and how much more joy a less exclusive universe could bring. English Heritage’s decision to call it out on its flaws while maintaining its remarkable appeal is a step in that direction.


About Karren Campbell

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