Democratic Underground - New edition of 'Huckleberry Finn' to lose the 'n' word

New edition of 'Huckleberry Finn' to lose the 'n' word

What is a word worth? According to Publishers Weekly, NewSouth Books’ upcoming edition of Mark Twain’s seminal novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will remove all instances of the “n” word—I’ll give you a hint, it’s not nonesuch—present in the text and replace it with slave. The new book will also remove usage of the word Injun. The effort is spearheaded by Twain expert Alan Gribben, who says his PC-ified version is not an attempt to neuter the classic but rather to update it. “Race matters in these books,” Gribben told PW. “It’s a matter of how you express that in the 21st century.”

Unsurprisingly, there are already those who are yelling “Censorship!” as well as others with thesauruses yelling “Bowdlerization!” and “Comstockery!” Their position is understandable: Twain’s book has been one of the most often misunderstood novels of all time, continuously being accused of perpetuating the prejudiced attitudes it is criticizing, and it’s a little disheartening to see a cave-in to those who would ban a book simply because it requires context. On the other hand, if this puts the book into the hands of kids who would not otherwise be allowed to read it due to forces beyond their control (overprotective parents and the school boards they frighten), then maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to judge. It’s unfortunate, but is it really any more catastrophic than a TBS-friendly re-edit of The Godfather, you down-and-dirty melon farmer? The original product is changed for the benefit of those who, for one reason or another, are not mature enough to handle it, but as long as it doesn’t affect the original, is there a problem?

What do you think, Shelf-Lifers? Unnecessary censorship or necessary evil?

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/01/03/huckleberry-finn-n-word-censor-edit/

From the replies to the article:

I happen to know the editor of this edition. He’s a world-renowned Twain scholar (search his name on Google books and see how many hits you get). He loves Twain and has devoted his academic life to the study of Twain. He does not favor censorship of Twain. This project resulted from visiting many small towns in Alabama, on a recent speaking tour, and being told by teacher after teacher after teacher that these teachers loved Twain but could not teach Twain because the book was considered so painful by so many readers — simply because of one word. Like it or not, that is the situation in many schools today. Of course, anyone who knows the book well will know that it condemns slavery and that Jim, in many ways, is the real hero of the novel. Gribben’s edition is merely an effort to make sure that more people have the chance to read the novel. Once they read it, many of them will get “hooked” and will want to read the real thing. The edition will have a lengthy preface explaining the nature of the edition and how the edition came to be. No one will ever be able to mistake it for the “original” edition.

Ironically, anyone who reads Gribben’s edition will know that the word “slave” is replacing the “n” word, and so the irony and impact of the book will not be entirely lost — not at all. The book will stimulate more discussion and study of Twain, which is always a good thing. I urge anyone who is troubled by censorship (as all intelligent people should be) to wait until the edition appears before passing judgment on it. By the way, the edition pictured by EW is NOT Gribben’s edition, which will make its intentions quite clear and explicit. Gribben is a good man who loves Twain and wants more people to have the chance to fall in love with Twain themselves.

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