Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moreen Simpson: Dumbing and dulling-down of books has to stop

The news about changing language in Roald Dahl's work is just the latest skirmish in the bizarre battle to censor books.

Roald Dahl's publisher recently announced plans to review and update language used in some of the author's books (Image: urbanbuzz/Shutterstock)
Roald Dahl's publisher recently announced plans to review and update language used in some of the author's books (Image: urbanbuzz/Shutterstock)

The news about changing language in Roald Dahl’s work is just the latest skirmish in the bizarre battle to censor books, writes Moreen Simpson.

Has the world gone skite?

Every week, new so-called “woke” sharnie dubs emerge to challenge us to offend a’body from Cove to Clatt. Now it’s author Roald Dahl’s British publisher, Puffin Books, carrying out a major disinfection of his best-selling children’s work. Ootski diabolic words like fat, ugly and black (as in the colour of a tractor, nae kiddin’) lest the little-darling readers throw an aghast hairy canary.

It’s the latest skirmish in the bizarre battle to censor books to “protect young people from cultural, ethical and gender stereotypes”, according to the Dahl-detectives, word police dumbing and dulling-down prose until its original magic is lost.

Sad to say, my alma mater, Aberdeen University, has not been taking literary purging lyin’ doon. Last month, I near tiddled masellie (apologies to continent, innocent craiters) when I discovered it had slapped “trigger warnings” on various famous works, like JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, to alert their English literature scholars to “odd perspectives on gender” which might be “emotionally challenging”. Have ye ever lugged such guff? Surely those undergrads have survived the hugely greater emotional ordeal of a King Street student party?

To add insult to injury, the heart-stopping Railway Children and oor very ain Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s wondrous Sunset Song are also included among texts students might find distressing because of “racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, colonialism, slavery, violence”. Fit aboot daunting Doricism?

The uni’s latest foray into the delights of detoxification is a programme to “decolonise” the curriculum across the campus. OK, so there needs to be more ethnic minority representation, but the PR justification is gobbledygook. “Because all disciplines taught and researched at all British universities have been historically influenced by Eurocentric colonialism and its cultural concept of race.” As Manuel would say: “Que?”

Later adapted by Disney, Aberdeen University has issued ‘trigger warnings’ to students for JM Barrie’s Peter Pan (Image: Walt Disney)

As I wage war on academics, I have to ‘fess up my mum may have been a Pioneer Purger. While sitting my Honours English in 1970, I’d take the question papers home and she – left school at 14, read only magazines and newspapers, never a book – would sit and study them in detail, nodding knowingly. As if she was au fait with all the reasons for Hamlet’s procrastination.

Her demeanour changed the day I brought home the American literature paper, which included an extract from a book for us to analyse. As she read, she became increasingly outraged. Then the explosion: “They shouldnae be gettin’ ye tae read filth like this! Far did they find it? Dirty Willie’s book shop on the Boulie?”

The passage was the admittedly shocking brothel scene from Catch 22. But little did she know the untold harm she had done to four-year-old Mo when she read her Peter Pan.


Moreen Simpson is a former assistant editor of the Evening Express and The Press & Journal, and started her journalism career in 1970

Conversation