A follow-up to my earlier post about sexuality in YA, more specifically in His Dark Materials
Legolas Send a noteboard - 14/09/2010 11:13:45 AM
I just found something on Wikipedia that's rather interesting and that I wasn't aware of at all, perhaps that's just me. Quoting from Wikipedia:
Pullman's publishers have primarily marketed the series to young adults, but Pullman also intended to speak to adults. North American printings of The Amber Spyglass have edited passages describing Lyra's incipient sexuality, which Pullman intends as a reevaluation of the tale of Adam and Eve. "This so-called original sin is anything but. It’s the thing that makes us fully human."
The changed lines are italicized below:
"Marzipan" chapter (UK edition):
"As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She found a stirring at the roots of her hair: she found herself breathing faster. She had never been on a roller-coaster, or anything like one, but if she had, she would have recognized the sensations in her breast: they were exciting and frightening at the same time, and she had not the slightest idea why. The sensation continued, and deepened, and changed, as more parts of her body found themselves affected too. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn't known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, deep in the darkness of the building she felt other doors opening too, and lights coming on. She sat trembling, hugging her knees, hardly daring to breathe, as Mary went on:"
"Marzipan" chapter (Canadian & US edition):
"As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn’t known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, she felt the other doors opening deep in the darkness, and lights coming on. She sat trembling as Mary went on:"
Seriously? They cut out a number of sentences that didn't even have anything explicitly sexual in them? The bizarre part is that passage isn't even the most sexually charged one in the book, as there's a passage later on in which Lyra and Will kiss and make out (whether they go further than that is unclear, but Pullman has said no when asked). So for a few sentences describing perfectly normal feelings in abstract and entirely unoffensive terms, American publishers felt the need to start censoring a book? Very strange.
Pullman's publishers have primarily marketed the series to young adults, but Pullman also intended to speak to adults. North American printings of The Amber Spyglass have edited passages describing Lyra's incipient sexuality, which Pullman intends as a reevaluation of the tale of Adam and Eve. "This so-called original sin is anything but. It’s the thing that makes us fully human."
The changed lines are italicized below:
"Marzipan" chapter (UK edition):
"As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She found a stirring at the roots of her hair: she found herself breathing faster. She had never been on a roller-coaster, or anything like one, but if she had, she would have recognized the sensations in her breast: they were exciting and frightening at the same time, and she had not the slightest idea why. The sensation continued, and deepened, and changed, as more parts of her body found themselves affected too. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn't known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, deep in the darkness of the building she felt other doors opening too, and lights coming on. She sat trembling, hugging her knees, hardly daring to breathe, as Mary went on:"
"Marzipan" chapter (Canadian & US edition):
"As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn’t known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, she felt the other doors opening deep in the darkness, and lights coming on. She sat trembling as Mary went on:"
Seriously? They cut out a number of sentences that didn't even have anything explicitly sexual in them? The bizarre part is that passage isn't even the most sexually charged one in the book, as there's a passage later on in which Lyra and Will kiss and make out (whether they go further than that is unclear, but Pullman has said no when asked). So for a few sentences describing perfectly normal feelings in abstract and entirely unoffensive terms, American publishers felt the need to start censoring a book? Very strange.
A follow-up to my earlier post about sexuality in YA, more specifically in His Dark Materials
- 14/09/2010 11:13:45 AM
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Umm
- 14/09/2010 02:54:55 PM
503 Views
It isn't equivalent to sex, no, but it is said to be the implicit cause of it. *NM*
- 14/09/2010 09:54:00 PM
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Your title line is hilarious. Gold Star for Legolas! *NM*
- 14/09/2010 03:00:49 PM
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Thank you, I'll be here all week. 
*NM*
- 14/09/2010 03:02:12 PM
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*NM*
- 14/09/2010 03:02:12 PM
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Shit. Then who will be here next week? I need entertainment then, too. *NM*
- 15/09/2010 04:06:40 AM
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*NM*
- 15/09/2010 04:06:40 AM
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Not explicitly sexual? But it said "breast"! We must protect our children from this filth!
- 15/09/2010 04:22:58 PM
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Could have just changed it to chest. It wasn't a sexualized "breast" in that context. *NM*
- 21/09/2010 04:03:00 PM
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