Article: Why I read Blyton to my Children, by Suzy Howlett

[Suzy]

Ha ha! Pete, you can find it on Amazon!

[Suzy]

Courtenay - thanks for the thoughtful response. There is loads there for me to look at and re-visit. I have just cut down on my teaching hours, and am "semi-retired", so I feel a bit of research and writing coming on.....

[Courtenay]

Another thing I was just thinking about is how, when I was little (in the 1980s) and first encountering Enid Blyton books, I did roll my eyes a fair bit at the attitudes of "brothers must look after their sisters", "girls mustn't come on the dangerous adventures" and so on. But Mum persistently explained to me that that really was how people thought in those days and times have changed since then. I think that was what first really woke me up to the fact that I was privileged to be growing up in a family and society where it was accepted that girls are equal to boys and can do anything and be whoever they want to be — that it hadn't always been that way, that there had been a real struggle to achieve that equality, and that in many ways and in many places it was still ongoing. So I do agree with you, Suzy, that it's important and valuable for kids to encounter these "period pieces" in their original form and think and talk about how attitudes have changed and why.

[timv]

A first-rate article, Suzy - congratulations. I agree with every word. It's heartening to see people prepared to take the trouble to look at Enid's work beyond the easy modern stereotypes of dragging up examples of her being 'racist', 'snobbish' or whatever, and take the trouble to help a new generation to enjoy her books . If it is explained to young readers that books written decades ago when different attitudes and perhaps less careful language towards 'outsiders' were normal - and Enid was a child of the Edwardian era - they can bear that in mind and not feel uncomfortable about reading any of it.

There should be nothing awkward about liking both 'highbrow' and 'less sophisticated' reading material either; I have often switched in my career between academic level books needed for my work and Enid Blyton (or other old favourites), often on the same day! And I still like old school/ countryside stories (and Abba). Following your individual choices not social pressure is what matters.

I first read Island of Adventure and Mountain of Adventure as a child in the late 1960s and did not find the portrayals of Jo-Jo (as he seemed in his disguise as a 'dim superstitious manservant') and of Jack's relationship with Mafumu at all uncomfortable, beyond noticing that they seemed to use mild stereotyping. (Perhaps Julian trying to boss George relies a bit on a 1940s 'alpha male' stereotype, but it is realistic for the time) As others have said, in reality Enid is a lot more subtle than appears at first sight - Jo-Jo is a criminal mastermind fooling the white people who think he's a 'simpleton' and Mafumu is a strong and admirable character. The stereotypes that did make me wince a bit were the North Wales countryfolk in Mountain of Adventure (I have rural Welsh relatives and they do not sound like that or say 'look you'), though the gossipy Mrs Jones in Ragamuffin Adventure is quite accurate) and the thieving gypsies in Six Cousins Again. But possibly the stereotypes are a way of appealing to the audience by giving them what they wanted, as in so many sitcoms?

[Julie2owlsdene]

Yes, I agree a great article, Suzy.

I've checked out your book on Amazon too. Looks good, was it commissioned?

Enid for me is true escapism into a world that doesn't exist anymore, if you understand what I mean. Quiet roads, not many cars, night watchmen, etc. It's nice to go back in time with Enid's books, I think.

At the last school I chatted with, I asked some of the children, "Who liked to read Enid Blyton", and I have to admit I got a few blank looks, until the teacher held up a couple of the St cCare's books. And then a few hands went up. Maybe to some children today, the name Enid Blyton isn't as well known, as JK Rowling, or David Walliams!

[Eddie Muir]

Welcome to the forums, Suzy. I enjoyed reading your article.

I am a retired teacher and often used Enid Blyton books as class readers. My pupils loved to read and discuss them and use them as inspiration for their own stories. We did, of course, read books by numerous other authors including Dickens, Hardy, Anthony Buckeridge, Sue Townsend and Robert Westall - to name just a few of the many on our reading list. My own daughter and son, now grown up, also enjoyed reading books from a wide range of writers, including Enid Blyton. They same goes for my two grandsons, aged nine and six.

[Suzy]

Thanks, all. Courtenay, I might like to quote you (and some of you other thoughtful contributors) if I write that extended article - you make some great points! I will ask permission at the time, of course, and can keep things anonymous for anyone who want that.
Tim, I fully agree with the joy of switching between genres and "different heights of brow" as I like to call it. I do it all the time!
Eddie, I read Blyton to my class as a schoolteacher, too. As with you, it was part of a balanced diet, and the children loved it!
Julie, our novel Return to Kirrin wasn't commissioned, but very carefully doesn't breach copyright. My co-writer husband is a lawyer!
We would love Hachette to take it under its wing, if they like it. We have such cracking reviews, they might... There is a character with your name in it - Anne has twins called Julie and Johnny (Johnny speaks only in tv advertising jingles and catch phrases of the 1970s, which was fun to write - and not easy for Anne to cope with at times!)

[Rob Houghton]

Mind you, in another book in the same series, The Mountain of Adventure — the one with the most unusual plot, a sort of Flash Gordon-style '40s sci-fi for kids — I would say Enid does genuinely slip into standard racist stereotypes of that time, like a black American man who speaks pidgin English and calls himself "poor nigger" and Japanese villains who say things like "they much bitee, you be caleful!" (Not to mention Welsh people who are simple-minded peasants and end their every sentence with "look you, whateffer!" ) That's one of the very few instances I can think of where Enid's portrayal of other ethnicities REALLY goes over the line into something inexcusable. But it's certainly not how she usually wrote.

I haven't read one of her other books, The Secret Mountain, which I'm aware was excluded from the most recent reprinting of the "Secret" series — presumably because it's set in Africa and was seen as too ridden with bad racial stereotypes — but I know others here who have read it have said that's an unfair judgment. Maybe someone could explain further?

I agree to a certain extent about mountain - from a modern perspective, there are bad racial stereotypes - but again, they must be viewed within the context and attitude of the time they were written. I genuinely believe that Enid wasn't being racist, because I believe that to be 'racist' you have to know you are being hurtful and derogatory. I firmly believe Enid was using stereotypes typical of the day, which were widely seen in films, books and comics. I agree she misfired badly in many ways - but I do believe she did it in all innocence.

A woman who had a character called 'Mr Widdle' and wrote a story called 'Mr Widdle On The Train' and also had that story where Noddy tries to spend a penny in different places around Toyland, would surely not be using racist terms knowingly. Of course, the black man portrayed in 'Mountain of Adventure' is exactly how many African slave characters were portrayed by Hollywood - and 'Nigger' was a term often used innocently in Britain as a name for a dog or the colour of cloth or paint etc, so it had slightly different connotations to most people - especially innocent people like Enid, who I believe lived in a bubble of her own making for most of her life.

I don't really see anything racist in The Secret Mountain, except maybe some of the diologue, which again is heavily influenced by 'Hollywood natives' maybe - and the fact that Mafumu makes himself Jack's 'slave' - but this is only because he chooses to. I guess that's enough to get the book banned - but actually in Mafumu Enid creates a character who is sympathetic, heroic, very brave, very fearless, and helps the white children out of danger at every turn. He's very much the hero of the book. Again, its a shame that the only time Enid offers us a black character as a main protagonist, modern sensibilities have shut it down.

[Courtenay]

Oh, I'm also convinced that Enid did those racial stereotypes in all innocence — I assume she was just copying the kinds of portrayals that were already pretty widespread in the early to mid 20th century. I've never thought she was being consciously and deliberately racist even there. If she honestly wanted to promote the message that all black, Asian or otherwise non-white people are stupid, servile, evil, inferior etc., I'm sure she would have done it a lot more explicitly and frequently throughout her books, which she doesn't. I called The Mountain of Adventure out simply because the racial stereotypes in it (however well meant) are so much more blatant and negative than almost anything else Enid ever wrote that they shocked even me when I first read them, because they were so unlike the Enid Blyton I'm used to!

I've read stories by other authors from the same era that are far more disturbingly racist than anything I've ever seen from Enid — like the Christmas story I encountered a few years ago and mentioned in this thread: http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... 7&p=255290" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; That was published in the same year as The Mountain of Adventure and goes to show just what kind of attitudes and assumptions were around then and obviously considered perfectly acceptable to publish in a children's book. Enid's occasional racial bloopers are really quite tame compared to Kathleen Clark's explanation of why little black boys and girls have pink palms to their hands!!

Actually, I see further down that thread I linked to, Rob, you brought in a mention of Enid's short story The Little Black Doll — I haven't read that one either, but perhaps it's another one that Suzy could explore for how Enid treated assumptions about skin colour in quite a forward-thinking way by the standards of her time?

[Suzy]

Wow! So much to keep me busy! I'll be doing my PhD on the subject at this rate! I am looking forward to getting cracking on the expanded piece in a couple of weeks. Thanks, everyone, for such an interesting discussion, and I am glad I have come across this society, where the members can have such civilised exchanges. But then, we do all have something very much in common!

[Rob Houghton]

Yes - 'The Little Black Doll' is another interesting one, because in my view its Enid's attempt at saying 'we are all the same under the skin'. She does it in a slightly 'klunky' way perhaps but I believe her intentions were honorable. It was pretty radical for the time it was written, as I doubt that many writers were espousing the idea that the colour of our skin is immaterial.

[Rob Houghton]

Julie, our novel Return to Kirrin wasn't commissioned, but very carefully doesn't breach copyright. My co-writer husband is a lawyer!

Interesting. I thought that using characters and settings copyrighted to the rights holders, would be going against copyright.

I'm a bit at a loss to know how your Famous Five novel isn't against copyright, but my Famous Five novel would be. I've also written a Findouter novel and a Barney and Miranda novel - all of which would breach copyright unless Hachette took it on...

[Julie2owlsdene]

I think all of the novels we've all written for the website would breach copyright, Rob, as we've used the same titles e.g. Famous Five for the books we've written. Suzy's title novel says - Return to Kirrin, so it doesn't mention the name of Famous Five.

[Daisy]

I also wonder if the fact that the people featured in the book are not children makes a difference. Yes, they are called Julian, etc. but they are grown up. Just a thought. Julie's point about the title sounds a reasonable reason too!

[Suzy]

Yes, not using Famous Five is important, because that phrase is copyrighted. The interpretation of the laws of parody and pastiche are an important part, too. The EU law around this changed quite recently in our favour and made our novel publishable, even though the characters and setting are not disguised, but used naturally. Don't ask me the details, though - my husband is the legal genius!