Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: 'Peter Rabbit' children's book series under attack as 'problematic': 'Owe a debt' to African slave folk tales

  1. #1
    #DeSantis2024 Teh One Who Knocks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    5280' Above Sea Level
    Posts
    256,044
    vCash
    10966
    Mentioned
    20 Post(s)
    Thanks
    23,810
    Thanked 113,085 Times in 59,902 Posts

    Woke 'Peter Rabbit' children's book series under attack as 'problematic': 'Owe a debt' to African slave folk tales

    By Jeffrey Clark | Fox News




    Beatrix Potter, an author who is known for children’s stories like "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and died in 1943, is being accused of taking her stories from African slave tales.

    Dr. Emily Zobel Marshall, a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and an expert in Postcolonial theory recently made waves in the literary world after she alleged that Potter’s beloved children tales are more likely than not taken from "Brer Rabbit," in stories that originally date back to pre-colonial Africa.

    "Her tales owe a debt to the Brer Rabbit stories told by enslaved Africans working on American plantations that needs to be fully acknowledged," Marshall wrote in an article published May 19.

    Brer Rabbit, Marshall explained, was a "cunning trickster was known for outwitting his often more powerful animal adversaries using brains rather than brawn." Peter Rabbit, on the other hand, is famous for wearing a blue jacket and coming up with mischievous plots.

    Marshall added that Potter’s attempts to "steer readers away from her sources are problematic" and that while the books are viewed as a part of British culture, they are, in fact, about "resistance and survival tactics of the plantation life of enslaved people in the Americas."

    Marshall did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.



    "Peter Rabbit" is not the only children’s book series that has come under attack from academics.

    This year, author Roald Dahl's old books have made international headlines after Puffin altered numerous descriptions of certain characters' physical appearances, removed references to some characters being fat and changed some language to be gender-neutral.

    Augustus Gloop, the chubby character featured in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," is now described as "enormous," while Mrs. Twit, a character from "The Twits," is described as just "beastly" instead of "ugly and beastly."

  2. #2
    Shelter Dweller lost in melb.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Down Under
    Posts
    23,762
    vCash
    7596
    Mentioned
    18 Post(s)
    Thanks
    18,671
    Thanked 7,553 Times in 5,206 Posts
    Marshall added that Potter’s attempts to "steer readers away from her sources are problematic" and that while the books are viewed as a part of British culture, they are, in fact, about "resistance and survival tactics of the plantation life of enslaved people in the Americas."
    I can see a very faint familiarity. So what?

    "Her tales owe a debt to the Brer Rabbit stories told by enslaved Africans working on American plantations that needs to be fully acknowledged," Marshall wrote in an article published May 19.
    Nothing is owed to anyone.

  3. #3
    #DeSantis2024 Teh One Who Knocks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    5280' Above Sea Level
    Posts
    256,044
    vCash
    10966
    Mentioned
    20 Post(s)
    Thanks
    23,810
    Thanked 113,085 Times in 59,902 Posts
    You sound like a White Colonizer

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •