Canada removes pre-2008 school books over inclusivity
Reports claim Canadian schools are removing books printed before 2008 due to lack of inclusivity, though no official confirmation exists.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Canada removes pre-2008 school books over inclusivity
A book printed in 2007 is apparently more suspect than the same title printed in 2008. The criterion is not the text, but the publication date: Canadian schools reportedly withdrew collections prior to 2008 for lacking inclusivity, according to a social media message that adds a detail designed to shock, even Harry Potter wasn't spared. There is no official confirmation of this measure in available materials: it is unclear whether it is a general instruction, a guideline, or the decision of a specific district. Meanwhile, the date does the heavy lifting: everything published before that year falls under suspicion by default.
What is known about the removal and what remains unconfirmed
The starting point is a short message: books printed before 2008 are being removed, citing a lack of inclusivity. Removing a copy is not equivalent to banning it, because the title still exists, can be purchased, and read outside the classroom. This distinction matters less than it seems: if the filter is the printing date rather than the content, any reprint becomes tacit permission and any old copy becomes contaminated material.
The practical effect is twofold. Shelves are emptied, and the message is sent that anything old is, by definition, unacceptable. Regarding the actual scope—how many centers, how many titles, who signs the order—there is nothing definitive.
From Roald Dahl to Agatha Christie: when the book isn't removed, it's rewritten
If removal is the blunt version, rewriting is the silent one. Roald Dahl's books have been revised to remove words like fat that might hurt feelings, an adjustment presented as a style update. Agatha Christie's novels have also gone through the workshop, with "And Then There Were None" (originally "Ten Little Niggers") being the most affected, involving a title change and alterations to the nursery rhyme lyrics.
Here lies the crux. Rewriting is worse than banning, argues a recurring viewpoint: from a censored work, we know it exists and is banned, whereas a rewritten work hides the author's intent and leaves the editor deciding what was meant. Future readers won't know if they are reading Dahl or his corrector.
The dictionary as proof: 'fat' has eleven definitions
To gauge the extent of the adjustment, the dictionary entry for "fat" was cited. There are eleven definitions, and most have nothing to do with anyone's body: ranging from "jackpot" to "the fattest part of the ham," passing through "very bulky," "exceeding normal thickness," or Bolivian and Chilean usage referring to a pregnant woman. In English, however, the equivalent term carries connotations that blur in Spanish.
From this comes the most sensible nuance of the entire matter: a descriptive word is not the same as an insult. The problem lies not in the term, but in who decides when it offends.
Plato and Aristotle labeled 'sens': suspicion reaches the classroom
The revision doesn't stop at children's literature. New textbooks have reportedly labeled Aristotle and Plato as sens, according to journalistic information gathered alongside this issue. The detail has its irony: Aristophanes satirized Socrates, not Aristotle, who hadn't even been born when the playwright died.
The anecdote illustrates the mechanism. When the criterion for editing the past is present-day consensus, the result is not a fairer version of history, but a more comfortable one. And the list of victims grows on its own: Mark Twain, Delibes, anyone who portrayed their era as it was.
Paper backups: libraries, traces, and downloads
What was once a collector's hobby is now read as an insurance policy. Some accumulate over 5,000 inherited volumes lining the walls of several rooms, while others rescue 1970s editions from containers and flea markets to leave them at university exchange points. The second-hand market is saturated, and prices are the lowest in years, facilitating accumulation.
In parallel, downloadable libraries with more than 80,000 titles circulate, and the recurring suspicion is that digital format, updatable remotely, is the perfect scenario for tweaking a text without leaving a trace. Hence the repeated recommendation: download and save. A paper book doesn't update itself.
And what happens to public library shelves, donated funds, and boxes of old books that no one claims? No one has yet given an answer that doesn't sound like a move.
A book printed in 2007 is apparently more suspect than the same title printed in 2008. The criterion is not the text, but the publication date: Canadian schools reportedly withdrew collections prior to 2008 for lacking inclusivity, according to a social media message that adds a detail designed to shock, even Harry Potter wasn't spared. There is no official confirmation of this measure in available materials: it is unclear whether it is a general instruction, a guideline, or the decision of a specific district. Meanwhile, the date does the heavy lifting: everything published before that year falls under suspicion by default.
What is known about the removal and what remains unconfirmed
The starting point is a short message: books printed before 2008 are being removed, citing a lack of inclusivity. Removing a copy is not equivalent to banning it, because the title still exists, can be purchased, and read outside the classroom. This distinction matters less than it seems: if the filter is the printing date rather than the content, any reprint becomes tacit permission and any old copy becomes contaminated material.
The practical effect is twofold. Shelves are emptied, and the message is sent that anything old is, by definition, unacceptable. Regarding the actual scope—how many centers, how many titles, who signs the order—there is nothing definitive.
From Roald Dahl to Agatha Christie: when the book isn't removed, it's rewritten
If removal is the blunt version, rewriting is the silent one. Roald Dahl's books have been revised to remove words like fat that might hurt feelings, an adjustment presented as a style update. Agatha Christie's novels have also gone through the workshop, with "And Then There Were None" (originally "Ten Little Niggers") being the most affected, involving a title change and alterations to the nursery rhyme lyrics.
Here lies the crux. Rewriting is worse than banning, argues a recurring viewpoint: from a censored work, we know it exists and is banned, whereas a rewritten work hides the author's intent and leaves the editor deciding what was meant. Future readers won't know if they are reading Dahl or his corrector.
The dictionary as proof: 'fat' has eleven definitions
To gauge the extent of the adjustment, the dictionary entry for "fat" was cited. There are eleven definitions, and most have nothing to do with anyone's body: ranging from "jackpot" to "the fattest part of the ham," passing through "very bulky," "exceeding normal thickness," or Bolivian and Chilean usage referring to a pregnant woman. In English, however, the equivalent term carries connotations that blur in Spanish.
From this comes the most sensible nuance of the entire matter: a descriptive word is not the same as an insult. The problem lies not in the term, but in who decides when it offends.
Plato and Aristotle labeled 'sens': suspicion reaches the classroom
The revision doesn't stop at children's literature. New textbooks have reportedly labeled Aristotle and Plato as sens, according to journalistic information gathered alongside this issue. The detail has its irony: Aristophanes satirized Socrates, not Aristotle, who hadn't even been born when the playwright died.
The anecdote illustrates the mechanism. When the criterion for editing the past is present-day consensus, the result is not a fairer version of history, but a more comfortable one. And the list of victims grows on its own: Mark Twain, Delibes, anyone who portrayed their era as it was.
Paper backups: libraries, traces, and downloads
What was once a collector's hobby is now read as an insurance policy. Some accumulate over 5,000 inherited volumes lining the walls of several rooms, while others rescue 1970s editions from containers and flea markets to leave them at university exchange points. The second-hand market is saturated, and prices are the lowest in years, facilitating accumulation.
In parallel, downloadable libraries with more than 80,000 titles circulate, and the recurring suspicion is that digital format, updatable remotely, is the perfect scenario for tweaking a text without leaving a trace. Hence the repeated recommendation: download and save. A paper book doesn't update itself.
And what happens to public library shelves, donated funds, and boxes of old books that no one claims? No one has yet given an answer that doesn't sound like a move.
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (158 replies).
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