“Alice in Wonderland” and “Peter Pan” were suspected of racist content

What’s wrong with classic books

The Western world continues to do weird things with children’s works. Now such masterpieces of world literature as “Alice in Wonderland” (a symbolic name for the situation) and “Peter Pan” have come under the blow of political correctness. The writings are part of a collection of children’s stories that have been warned of “white supremacy.”

Probably, even Alice did not imagine that she would end up in such a wonderland… But she got there. York St John’s University warned students that the stories may contain “colonialist narratives” and the words and illustrations may appear “racist”.

The Rees-Williams Children’s Literature Collection website contains 3 thousand volumes. The collection includes fables, fairy tales, adventure stories, religious works, yearbooks and history books. The list of “wrong” works included “Peter and Wendy” by James Barrie and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.

Most of the books in the collection date from the 19th – early 20th centuries, but there are also copies from the late 18th century.

The warning states: “Over the 150 years of children’s writing featured in this collection, colonialist narratives centered on white supremacy and racist and Orientalist practices in both artistic and historical storytelling have become widespread. “It is therefore possible, although unlikely, that items in the collection will contain language and visual imagery that is racist and many people may find the content upsetting and offensive.”

It adds that the university seeks to explain why such works are preserved “when their potential to cause harm remains.” The works allegedly provide evidence of “the racist marginalization and stereotyping of peoples through children’s literature.”

“Here at York St John’s University we unequivocally reject the stereotypes and offensive narratives contained in these documents,” the warning reads.

Why didn’t we like such cute children’s works, which have clearly stood the test of time? Well, for example: in the stories about Peter Pan there are references to “savages” inhabiting Neverland.

Also, some scholars suggest that the hookah-smoking caterpillar in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is an Orientalist image that uses stereotypes of the exotic East.

The collection of 3,000 volumes was assembled by James Rees-Williams, who worked as a librarian in York St. John in the 1970s.

A university spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: “As custodians of the Rees-Williams Collection, we have a responsibility both to provide access to historical books and to inform our students and other users of the contents of our institutional archives and special collections, which many would find offensive and out of date.” . This guidance has been in place since 2019 and is in line with our ongoing commitment to tackling racism as a Charter of Racial Equality Bronze Award holder.”