bowdlerization
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌbaʊdləraɪˈzeɪʃən/
- Literature
:
bowdlerización
- The bowdlerization of classic literature often leads to a loss of the author's true voice.
Examples
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Many parents are concerned about the bowdlerization of fairy tales in children's books.
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Critics argue that the bowdlerization of historical texts alters our understanding of the past.
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Another quite different phenomenon affecting such transmission is bowdlerization and the like.
Academic text (2001) -
I suspect that such bowdlerization moves our God-talk farther away from, not closer to, the heart of most people's experience of relation to the divine.
Academic text (2001) -
I will say, though, your gross oversimplification (and bowdlerization) of their actual party platform is humorous.
Blog text (18) -
The Court's reasoning, of course, elevates the "needs of society" over the rights of individuals without a clear argument to justify the bowdlerization of the constitutional text.
Blog text (34) -
"To any lover of Hank Williams and country music, Bennett's schmalzy pop 'cover' seems like the worst sort of bowdlerization, but Hank didn't see it that way."
Fiction book (1990) -
Lidz's bowdlerization of the text is in keeping with his uncomplicated portrait of Harlem and his cartoonish characterization of hoarding.
Academic text (2016) -
Idylls of the King is a fairly typical Victorian bowdlerization that accepted the prevailing attitude of the time that Le Morte d'Arthur was little more than 'bold bawdry and open manslaughter.'
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
119
4.8
A system that removes parts of books, films or news that people find harmful
8
8.5
Preparing and editing text to make it ready for publication and remove private information
8
4.2
A person removes words or parts of a text when editing
3
6.9
Stopping parts of speech or writing that people find offensive
1
8.9
Removing parts of a book or play to make it less offensive
Removing parts of a book or film that people find offensive
To remove parts that people find offensive from a book or play
Antonyms
How Censored
7
7.2
- Literature
1
9.9
119
4.8
- US
2
5.5
126
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
bowdlerization = bowdlerize (semi-transparent) = bowdlerize + ation
The noun is regularly formed from the verb, but understanding the verb depends on knowledge of the proper name Bowdler and the practice of expurgation.
Etymology
Bowdlerization comes from the name of Thomas Bowdler, who in the early 1800s made versions of plays with 'offensive' parts removed so they were 'safe for families'. So bowdlerization now means cutting or changing parts of a text to make it less offensive, often making the work feel less true to the original.