Huck will now only call Jim a "slave." - Page 2

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 10:33am

Almira - I wish I could be as optimistic as that. Sure, ideally what you said would come to pass, but we all know the strange stranglehold the conservatives have, especially in the south, on reason and free-thinking.

I also agree with Roscoe -- I'd rather the book be banned so free thinking people can seek it out on their own rather than presenting a watered down version to feed sheep. I don't think so many people, who grew up listening to conservative view as THE ONLY WAY OF LIFE, are going to suddenly want to seek out the original on their own. What's worse, I'd fear that some of the people who do may misread the book as PROMOTING racism, and then going with the thinking "Hmm, they're shielding us from this, it must be right somehow."

Cynical, I know, but sadly all too realistic a possibility. The ONLY proper way to deal with literature in a classroom is to go with the ORIGINAL text (why I won't even teach "modern" Shakespeare) and actually EXPLAIN to the students what the intent was and figure out with them what can be taken from that.

I also agree with Roscoe - Twain's name shouldn't be on this new book - it's no longer his book.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 11:09am

It will absolutely be successful- if a teacher has the option of teaching the "N-Version" or the "Non-N-Version" he/she will ABSOLUTELY choose the latter.

Because as we've seen in numerous discussions here, the word has such power now that using it in any context- even typing it on a discussion board during a discussion- gets you branded a racist and provocateur. Parents already have driven this book out of many schools- now they can say "Here, you can teach THIS version!" and appear tolerant. I love Big Brother.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 11:57am

Joe - the trouble isn't teacher choice here -- if I was given a choice I have no doubt I would choose the original. We don't get to pick the edition we teach from - if this version is what's available, especially if a mandated book - the teacher isn't going to HAVE a choice.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 12:20pm

Twain scholar Alan Gribben and NewSouth Books plan to release a version of Huckleberry Finn, in a single volume with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, that does away with the "n" word (as well as the "in" word, "Injun") by replacing it with the word "slave."

So, what are they going to call "Injun Joe" now? "Indian Joe"? "Native American Joe"? "Joe"?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 12:45pm

Indigenous Person Joe

Even those silly movie adaptations I mentioned did not even dare to change his name for PC.

I definitely think most teachers, and mostly the good teachers, would not touch this version with a ten foot pole. The teachers afraid of administrators, parents, or their own students are probably going to prefer this version but I really think the parents and administrators are going to be championing this version. Hell, I don't think any librarians would want this book within the reach of a child/student.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 12:58pm

Does anyone else remember the old Fisher Price story tapes? When I was little we had the Tom Sawyer one (as well as Hans Brinker, Wizard of Oz, The American Revolution, Four Fairy Tales, and Rip Van Winkle / Gullivar's Travels) and he was known as "Injun Joe" even in that edition.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 1:40pm

Agreed Jason- change "teacher" to "administrator, principal or school board" in my post and I stand by it.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 2:01pm

In that case, I 100% agree with you.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 8:53pm

Whe I was very little I thought it was one word-Injunjoe- When my teacher read it to us, it wasn't until got Classic Comics(remember them?) that I learned it was 2 words and refered to his heritage ( wasn't he also supposed to be a half breed?) I think the reason I got confused was that he spoke the same southern english as the other "lower classes" did. Only when I saw the movie did I realize he had a deep gutteral scary voice.

First Nations Joe would be my choice.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/5/11 at 10:56pm

I can’t wait for their new version of Mein Kampf!

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/6/11 at 1:39pm

Here is the intro to the book in question:

http://www.newsouthbooks.com/twain/introduction-alan-gribben-mark-twain-tom-sawyer-huckleberry-finn-newsouth-books.html

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 1/6/11 at 1:52pm

Oh, please. Huck Finn is a period piece and needs to be preserved as such. I'm all for racial sensitivity, but changing words that are now seen as derogatory compromises the integrity of the piece.

Said the English major.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 1/6/11 at 1:52pm

Double posts make Glinda sad.

Updated On: 1/6/11 at 01:52 PM

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/6/11 at 1:54pm

I actually have yet to see an actual DEFENSE of this move by anyone OTHER than the editor. On other message boards the idea is also being universally panned. Hopefully this terrible idea will just fade away as the mistake it is.

[Almira]

Posted: 1/6/11 at 3:49pm

Here is an NPR interview with the editor. My favorite moment is when his arguments start losing steam and he defensively suggests that those who want the n-word retained have some sort of fetish for it.

There is one female caller who defends the new edition.

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/05/132681463/publisher-edits-twain-classics-to-remove-slurs?ft=1&f=5

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/6/11 at 5:34pm

I just read the interview, didn't listen, but the professor came off as kind of a jackass.

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 1/7/11 at 12:06am

Gee great, I’m sure that removing the n-word will make the book more accessible to schools. After all, why engage students in a complex discussion of how language contributes to racism? I mean, now the students could talk about the important stuff, like how awesome it would be to travel around the country on a raft and not have to worry about the intricacies of racism in the lives of the characters in the book and its relation to how racism operates in our lives today. And hey, they don't even need to worry about how language evolves over time and why the n-word still affects us so much, they can just talk about Huck's silly misadventures.

It's not like Mark Twain wanted to highlight the mistreatment of black people in the book.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 1/7/11 at 1:38am

I've been reading a lot about this over the past few days, both pro and con. Bear in mind, I'm in school for Library Science - where censorship and Freedom To Read are constant hot-button issues (which I champion greatly) - and I've finally come to the conclusion of, "Meh."

Just... "Meh."

From everything I've read, this edition is not the big deal it's being made out to be. It's not seeking to supplant the original text, and the original text is in no danger of disappearing. (I distinctly remember two different version of Huck Finn from my childhood that never used That Word, and there was no outrage because there was no media coverage.)

From everything I've read, this edition will have a preface that explains the changes in language and the reasons behind those changes, so there's no danger of anyone reading this version and mistaking it for the original text. Huck Finn is one of the most frequently challenged books in the public school system, and (from what I've read so far) this edition is being published SOLELY to give teachers the chance to include this book in their curriculum in an environment where one student's overprotective parents can prevent an entire class from learning the actual message of a book. I can support that idea, even if I think the execution of that idea might be a little clunky and misguided.

Overall, I think the "outrage" might be giving this edition more attention than it is ultimately worth, and may serve to sustain it long after it would have ordinarily fallen into obscurity.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/7/11 at 12:10pm

I read this book after watching the Ken Burns documentary on Mark Twain.

It's by a female African-American Twain scholar named Jocelyn Chadwick-Joshua. She appears in the documentary and discusses Twain with enormous appreciation and enthusiasm.

She emphatically believes that the book, as Twain wrote it, should continue to be taught to high-school students.

And wonderwaiter--she references a 1985 edition that removed "offensive words.


The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Huckleberry Finn

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/7/11 at 1:16pm

I blame Lucie Arnaz!

Years ago, she wanted all the I Love Lucy episodes purged of smoking. I think the thing that stopped it is that nobody had an explanation for why Lucille Ball sang bass by the end of her career.

Updated On: 1/7/11 at 01:16 PM