All negro words disappear from Agatha Christie’s murder

The negro word Agatha Christie disappears Ten little negroes From the French translation of his popular crime novel. Book from now on They were ten (There were tenThe grandson of novelist James Pritchard announced Wednesday.

Prichard, who cared about Christie’s legacy, stressed on French RTL radio that when he wrote the book, “The language was so different and we used words that we have forgotten today.” The word Negro was used 74 times in the original text.

Above all, Agatha Christie wanted to entertain her readers and there was nothing that could go further than offending one of them.

Pritchard explained his decision on the new translation. The novel that was originally Ten young niggers He got the title, written by Christie in 1938, and the French translation appeared in 1940. In the United States, crime is decades old. and then there Were None Released under the title. In the Hungarian translation Ten little soldiers Obsession Ten Native Americans It also appeared under the title.

Negro Island has also been changed in the book, and the new French translation already includes the definition of Soldier Island.

The crime, of which about 100 million copies have been sold worldwide, has been the subject of a number of films and TV shows, including 1974 with Charles Aznavour. and then there Were None (Ten Native Americans).

The title change of the novel sparked widespread controversy on social media. “A few months ago, with many thousands of light hearts, we just laughed because the uneducated were pissed off at the title. From now on, this inculturation triumphs over triumph and reigns,” Raphael Incheven, a French philosophy teacher and radio personality, commented on Twitter.

Cover photo: Jack Taylor / AFP