Is their only choice to appropriate that of the West?

Maybe that’s it.

Could it be that after a couple of centuries of subjecting whatever literary tradition the Islamic world has too the same treatment they’re giving poor Pinocchio there’s nothing left that hasn’t been sanitized to the point of unreadability?

Another possibility is that appropriation is exactly what they have in mind; Western culture, particularly American, is compelling enough that appropriating our cultural/literary icons is inherently a good idea.

“But as long as they don’t try to pass the changes off as the work of the original authors I don’t see the ethical problem.”

is morally corrupt. The Islamists who would pervert Twain’s art for their own purposes are plagarists, plain and simple. Have they no fiction within their own culture that appeals to modern readers? Is their only choice to appropriate that of the West?

Nels, this is the second time you made this point. However, unless you have information other than what was stated in the article, it seems that is exactly what the publishers were trying to do:

The clumsy insertions by Islamic publishing houses have caused controversy in Turkey, which has been a strongly secular state since the 1920s.

Also, your analogies are way off the mark. In the case of the song and the classic comics they were trying to make a buck off of these works. However, there was no intent on their part to use them for “propaganda” purposes as is the case with the publishers. In the scheme of things these alterations of classic works to make them appear to be “Islamic” is clearly not a big deal but it is something that one should object to.

Was “A Fifth of Beethoven” (70’s disco song based on the symphony) “unacceptable”? It might not have been a very good song beyond its source material, but because copyright laws don’t extend hundreds of years the song could be made, and the market can decide for itself.

I don’t see how this is much different than the comic book adaptations of classic books like Robin Hood or Three Musketeers, heavy on the action to draw in (mainly) boys who might not otherwise hear the stories.

As long as the Turkish books don’t attach the authors’ names to these bastardized versions I don’t see a problem with it.

You are really reaching now Nels. First of all, nowhere in the article does it say that. In any case, whether or not they included the author’s name, it is not acceptable for them to take someone else’s work and change it in order to attempt to extol Islam.

This is no different than how the Grimms butchered popular fairy tales to make them compatible with 19th Century middle-class morals.

As long as the Turkish books don’t attach the authors’ names to these bastardized versions I don’t see a problem with it.