No Golliwogs in new Noddy books

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aruna

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6359248/Noddy-returns-without-the-golliwogs.html

Political correctness gone too far, or a good move to "avoid controversy"?
Noddy returns without the golliwogs

Noddy returns to Toyland later this month in the first official new book for more than 45 years, but the golliwogs have been banished from his circle of friends.


In a bid to avoid any controversy for Noddy's 60th birthday, the golliwogs will not appear in the latest book. Enid Blyton's granddaughter, Sophie Smallwood, who wrote the new adventure, had considered including the characters but decided it would be too controversial – a decision which has been described as "unnecessary" by fans of the series.

As a child, I devoured all the Noddy books and was never upset by the presence of Golly. I don't remember the villainous gollies at all.
I was more upset but the absense of any black characters in most childrens' books of the time. I think they should keep Golly; it would only be racist if all the gollies were "bad", but Golly was Noddy's best friend. Having an all-white cast of characters is far more racist.

The dolls were popular at the time that the stories were written, but were later considered racist, prompting publishers to reissue the books replacing the golliwogs with other characters, with the white-faced Mr Sparks becoming the proprietor of the garage and the evil goblins Sly and Gobbo becoming Toyland's main villains.
 
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Susan Gable

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aruna

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hmm. title of the thread is a bit off. Should read "Noddy books" instead of "Enid Blyton books". Not all her books had Gollies, and she didn't write the new books anyway!
 
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Misa Buckley

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I'm not sure where I sit on this one. Gollywogs remind me of the Black-and-White Minstrals, where white people blacked up, and that makes me feel uneasy.

However, in this case I do think that having no coloured characters is a bad thing.

There needs to be more diversity in children's books, and I mean that across the board.
 

seun

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What next? Get rid of all the posh dickheads Blyton's books are full of?

"I say, Julian. A poor person asked me for tuppence yesterday."
"Really, Dick? Whatever did you do?"
"Why, I reported him to the constable, of course. Then I had a scrumptious tea of cake with lashings of ginger ale."
 

dpaterso

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hmm. title of the thread is a but off. Should read "Noddy books" instead of "Enid Blyton books". Not all her books had Gollies, and she didn't write the new books anyway!
That better?

-Derek
 

aruna

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I'd be all for seeing Golly brought into this century, with a more realistic appearance and costume (plenty of black dolls don't look like golliwogs). I think the book took the easy route by removing him. However, I do think it was right of the author to consider how things have changed. It's one thing to accept something in its historical context (the old books), but another to say it should be allowed to continue (in the new books) because it was acceptable in the past.

I agree with this, though I think the author made the wrong choice by cutting the black character out altogether.
 

ChristineR

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Golliwogs are deeply offensive to a large segment of the population, and this is a book for preschoolers. I don't see how you can cast this as political correctness. People simply wouldn't buy the books if it had those images in it. And most toddlers have never seen a golliwog doll nowadays anyhow.

As far as children reading the books in context, they can always look at the originals when they're old enough to understand the whole history of race and golliwog dolls.

I think that people are reading this from their own point of view--when you were little, you liked the books, and knew what a golliwog was, and didn't see it as an offensive stereotype. Children who have never seen it won't know it's missing.
 

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Yeah, the best choice would be to change the characters to be black english dolls who look like people (as much as noddy looks like a person!). But in 2009 there's no way you can publish a new book with that golliwog image in it--an image that has its roots in decades of racist iconography. There's no reason for kids to have toys or book characters that consist of outlandish and offensive racist stereotypes. Just because things are beloved doesn't mean they are good.

I don't think it's PC gone too far, and I don't think it's done to avoid controversy. I think it was done because racist imagery is hurtful to little kids, and kid's books shouldn't hurt little kids.
 

raburrell

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My son just started watching this recently, and I was a little surprised to see the two goblin-type characters (Sly and Gobbo, I think?) Maybe it's just me, but they seemed kind of Shylocky and antisemitic. I don't tend to get too uptight about 'PC' type debates one way or the other, but this one caught me by surprise.
 

CaroGirl

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kid's books shouldn't hurt little kids.
Unless it's through paper cuts and sharp corners.

Isn't racism associated with the very name "golliwog?" Wasn't that the origin for the extremely derogatory term "wog?" Might be a bit akin to having a book for children with characters called Chink, Jap and Spic, no?
 

aadams73

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This is honestly just ridiculous. It's a kid's book. I read the originals and I never thought there was any link between gollywogs and black people. I was smart enough to know they were just toys like the rest of the characters.

I was also disgusted when I bought new editions of the Faraway Tree books and discovered that Fanny and Dick are now Franny and Rick. All these politically correct do-gooders need to find another hobby--maybe something positive like volunteer work.
 

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No link between golliwogs and black people?

Personally I would leave that determination to black people but I see them as an objectification of a racial stereotype that has thankfully gone extinct, and this is part of it.

Noddy's friends represent common toys, the golliwog is no longer a common toys and most kids wouldn't even know what it was. It is no loss. People who like the old versions can collect vintage copies.
 

CaroGirl

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Old versions of fairy tales and children's stories are often updated to be more modern and appealing to a changing audience. Take Nancy Drew, for example. She's recently undergone a major overhaul that includes the addition of a cell phone and a hybrid car. She's also gone to college. This reflects the modern girl while it maintains Nancy and her stories as true "girl power," with strong moral values.

I think, as long as the essence of Noddy as a character and the values he represents aren't affected by the modernization of the stories, go for it. Why not update it to appeal to modern children? Whether removing or renaming the gollywog character is best way to update the stories, however, is debatable.
 

Evaine

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It must have been a slow news day at the Telegraph! The golliwogs were replaced by goblins twenty years ago!

The Noddy books aren't the only Enid Blyton books that have seen revisions over the years, either. She wrote one book for small children called "Dame Slap and Her School".
It's now called "Dame Tickle and Her School".
 

bsolah

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No link between golliwogs and black people?

Personally I would leave that determination to black people but I see them as an objectification of a racial stereotype that has thankfully gone extinct, and this is part of it.

QFT.

Golliwogs are another racist stereotype. It's not 'political correctness' - it's just not being an offensive racist git. If you find that an attack on your 'freedom' to be offensive than you obviously have no understanding of the oppression and racism that minority racial groups face.
 

Steam&Ink

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OK, so I remember a charmingly illustrated children's book called "Little Black Sambo" from when I was a five. I don't think it bred any discriminatory thoughts into me as a five-year-old, but I can't deny that it's a racial stereotype and the phrase "Black Sambo" typifies early paternalistic and racist attitudes towards Africans.

I don't, however, think these old books need to censored - but I also don't see the good in perpetuating the stereotype in new books. No child will be hurt by not reading about the Golliwogs in a new Blyton book.
 

Steam&Ink

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The Noddy books aren't the only Enid Blyton books that have seen revisions over the years, either. She wrote one book for small children called "Dame Slap and Her School".
It's now called "Dame Tickle and Her School".

It would have been "Dame Slappentickle" but that would have been X-Rated... :evil
 

Priene

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Just a little perspective, because words can have different meanings in different countries. In the UK, the term wog is highly offensive. It may come from golliwog, although it's not certain. It's inconceivable that a UK publisher would use the term in an entertainment context.
 

Stijn Hommes

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I was also disgusted when I bought new editions of the Faraway Tree books and discovered that Fanny and Dick are now Franny and Rick. All these politically correct do-gooders need to find another hobby--maybe something positive like volunteer work.
I guess now we know why Dick and Dom in da Bungalow got cancelled...

I'll be forwarding this one to Lenore Skenazy (if you don't know here, try google). I'm sure she'll have an apt response to this madness.
 

Priene

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I read the originals and I never thought there was any link between gollywogs and black people.

You obviously never stood on a football terrace listening to morons chanting Wogs out.
 

aruna

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See, where I grew up wog wasn't an insulting word. And back in the 50's -- which was the decade I read those books -- nobody thought to be offended by golliwogs, least of all we children.
What I do remember from Enid Blyton, though, was that there never was even one little black girl in all those books. And I remember particularly one Famous Five book in which Anne was startled in her sleep by a Face at the Window. She was so scared she wet her knickers and next day she said to Julian: "Oh, Julian, it was so terrifying, and what if it was a black man?"
I never forgot that sentence.
 

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This is a no brainer. A childrens book shouldnt have anything remotely deemed offensive whether we are talking about race, sexuality, religion and so on.

I believe children should be free to develop their own stereotypes later on in life, unlike the rest of us who had them shoved down our throats
 

ChristineR

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Interesting note. Most Americans have never heard the term wog, and if they have heard, they've only heard it used by Scientologists to mean people who haven't yet discovered how wonderful Scientology is supposed to be. Scientology critic Mark Bunker blogs about it here. He was in the habit of referring to himself cheerfully as a wog, and had no idea that anyone other than Scientologists would care.
 
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