View Full Version : Sanitizing Mark Twain
A new edition, carefully considered and edited by a scholar of Mark Twain, is removing all references to "n---er" in Twain's Huckleberry Finn and replacing the offensive word with "slave." Also "injun" will be excised.
Think that's a good idea?
Would you buy this book? Do you think your tax dollars should buy it at your public library?
It's kind of like "sweeping under the carpet" words or ideas that disturb us. Personally, I don't think we should try to rewrite (literally) history. A classic like Huck Finn should remain the way it was written to remind us of a certain period in history. What is the scholar's purpose and agenda in replacing certain offensive words? What a slippery slope.
Polliwog
I don't like the idea of censoring it, BUT, on the other hand, if it means getting millions of kids to be exposed to it and perhaps sparking some conversation among themselves about it, it could be a good thing.
I don't like the idea of censoring it, BUT, on the other hand, if it means getting millions of kids to be exposed to it and perhaps sparking some conversation among themselves about it, it could be a good thing.
Why can't kids be exposed to the original version?
Why can't kids be exposed to the original version?
Because it is doubleplusungood thoughtcrime.
Oh give me a break (the concept, not Bae's comment). Please, if the word offendeth thee, get a sharpie. Mark Twain's literature is epic not just for some nicey-nice disney story line but for the actual metier, flow and historical context. What plebian, pedestrian censorship.
Well said kib. My sentiments exactly.
ApatheticNoMore
1-12-11, 4:13am
Yes it's about historical context, leave it alone.
Gingerella72
1-12-11, 12:50pm
Let's just whitewash all historical writings lest someone be offended by the truth, shall we? Good grief. This is where parents and teachers could step in and teach children why it's wrong to use those words today, explain the differences in culture and how what was acceptable then isn't acceptable now, etc. If a child isn't old enough to understand those lessons, they're too young to be reading it in the first place. Laziness on the parents and teachers' behalf shouldn't be a reason for censorship.
loosechickens
1-13-11, 11:34pm
Absolutely, strongly, emphatically.......LEAVE IT ALONE. It is what it is. It reflects faithfully a period in history where that speech was common. Sanitizing history, remaking reality and forcing today's views on yesterday's beliefs does nothing but make us look like the Victorians who felt the need to cover up the "nakedness" of ancient Greek statues.
Not only should it be left alone, but the original book opens a wonderful opportunity to talk with kids about our past, mistakes made, things learned, changes that occurred, and why we will always be a better country for looking with open eyes at reality, whatever that reality might have been.
I have the same thoughts about the recent attempts to "dumb down" the Little Women book, because somehow it was thought that the language was just "too hard for today's kids". Obviously generations of kids managed to figure it out, so I'm sure the pampered little darlings of today could as well.
Bah, humbug on the whole thing........bask in it bae and Iris Lily.....because this is one area in which we are in complete agreement!
Here is what Dr. Cornel West said on Facebook, and he sums up my sentiments beautifully:
"Mark Twain was a literary genius and a bluesman who grew from a racist Confederate soldier to a mature solider of freedom on behalf of black people, yellow people and all others. Huck Finn is a funky text, because it tells the truth about America. Don’t deodorize it for the reality-denying audience of contemporary America."
...
I have the same thoughts about the recent attempts to "dumb down" the Little Women book, because somehow it was thought that the language was just "too hard for today's kids". Obviously generations of kids managed to figure it out, so I'm sure the pampered little darlings of today could as well. ..
I don't know if there's a particular new edition you are speaking of, but there have always been simplified versions of the classics for children and I suppose they have their place in children's literature. The idea beind them is that a good story is a good story, and introducing it early to children at a simple level will give them a foundation to enjoy the real thing later.
I don't know if I buy that entirely, it really depends on the title.
But then, the Lambs' Tales of Shakespeare is a classic in itself. It's a re-working of famous literature for children.
What's interesting these days is the graphic novel treatment of so many classics. I flipped through a Japanese anime version of Jane Austen's Emma last week. The anime version is more of a new work that a reworking, it's not trying to dumb down the original but is artisitically different than the original. But is ure has fewere words that the original! ha ha.
I've also heard black/African American scholars say they disagree with this version. Using the "n word" in an historical context is different than using it as contemporary verbal attack.
I think by the time children are old enough to read Huck Finn (I believe the reading level is middle school or above) they are old enough to understand the nuances of context.
I think by the time children are old enough to read Huck Finn (I believe the reading level is middle school or above) they are old enough to understand the nuances of context.
Agreed, and heaven forbid we should actually take time to TALK to our children about what they are reading, explaining the differences between how that language was used then and now. Sanitize=laziness.
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