Generations of children have been raised on the adventures of Enid Blyton

The creator of “The Five Club” faces accusations of “xenophobia”

  • Enid Blyton was one of the best-selling writers around the world.

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Generations of children all over the world have grown up on the adventures of the heroes of the “Club of Five,” the monthly series of novels by British writer Enid Blyton, but the British Heritage Society has begun to indicate in its summary that the British writer - who was among the best-selling around the world - faced criticism that took She has "racism and xenophobia".

In a statement received by Agence France-Presse, the English Heritage Association, which is in charge of overseeing the memory of famous personalities, announced that it had updated on its website references related to Enid Blyton (1897 - 1968), to include "an indication that the writer's product faced criticism from its racism."

Although this change took place in July 2020, the issue took on a new dimension, the day before yesterday, when the Daily Telegraph revealed it.

The matter sparked condemnation in the conservative media, which saw that the writer had become a new victim of the "culture of cancellation", which excludes figures whose views are considered unacceptable.

"The Five are being canceled," the Daily Express wrote, referring to the group of boys who are heroes of "The Five Club", one of the most famous collections of novels written by the writer, also known as the "Group of Seven" series, and Wei Wei stories for children.

The British Heritage explained that the reference, added to the page dedicated to Enid Blyton, was part of a broad plan, aimed at "giving a more comprehensive picture of each person's life, including aspects that people might find confusing".

On its website, the association mentioned the story of "The Little Black Game" (1966), which rain "cleanses" her face, and also pointed out that in 1960 Macmillan Publishing refused to publish the story "The Secret That Was Never", referring at the time to a "slight but hateful tinge". From the enmity of foreigners that has transcended time.”

"There are passages of Enid Blyton like the story, where the face of a toy is whitened, that are not writings that can be read by a child," David Buckingham, a professor of media at Loughborough University, who has written about Enid Blyton, told AFP.

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David Buckingham, professor of media at Loughborough University, said that Enid Blyton's positions were "in a way, an indication of her age."

He added, "This does not advance her innocence," recalling that the writer was extremely popular with children, but she was rejected by middle-class people, and that the BBC was boycotting her in the fifties (and even the sixties and seventies), because of the "poor quality." » from her writings.

• Conservative media outlets saw that the writer had become a new victim of the “culture of cancellation.”

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