"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right." ~ Mark Twain ~
Posted on 01/03/2011 7:16:53 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
A PUBLISHER is planning to release a new edition of two of Mark Twain's classic novels that replaces the racial slurs used throughout the books with less offensive language.
NewSouth Books will release a single volume containing both novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, overseen by Twain scholar Alan Gribben, Publisher's Weekly said. In both, the n-word is replaced with the word "slave" and the word "Injun" is removed.
"This is not an effort to render Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn colourblind," said Mr Gribben, the head of the English department at Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama. "Race matters in these books. It's a matter of how you express that in the 21st century."
The n-word appears 219 times in the current edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, including the table of contents. The racially-charged language has resulted in the book being banned from many grade school curricula and libraries over the decades despite its status as a classic of American literature.
Mr Gribben said he was inspired by speaking with teachers who were disappointed that the language in the book prevented them from teaching it.
“They said 'we would love to teach [Tom Sawyer] and Huckleberry Finn, but we feel we can't do it anymore.' In the new classroom, it's really not acceptable," he said. "For a single word to form a barrier, it seems such an unnecessary state of affairs."
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
It’s a sad day when political correctness trumps classic literature.
Oh brother! Next up, Showboat.
Mark Twain is rolling his eyes in his grave.
Why do these people want to improve the image of such folk? Are they terminally stupid or what!
It’s time to burn the books!
Just ban it altogether. To butcher it removes the true meaning of the story’s. This is from Australia? They’re the most un pc people you will ever meet
1984 plus Fahrenheit 451
Just what the world needs—”African-American Jim” and “Native-American Joe!”
I did not see the movie, but I heard that in the Demi Moore version of Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne runs away with Dimmsdale.
Also, a remake of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has Jim crossing the river into freedom.
This was the job of Winston Smith in “1984”, to go back into the archives and re-write them to match the current needs and beliefs of INGSOC. In Fahrenheit 451, books (and anything in print) were illegal, the TV and radio statements of the government could never be refuted using references, only memory.
And due to copyright issues, Free Republic can no longer archive the original versions of news stories (but individuals can archive them as long as they don’t put the article online).
I’m in a dark mood, I hope I am not seeing where this is all going.
SACRILEGE!!!
Excellent point!
At least at Williamsburg we can see how slaves were treated.
Just re-read both books.
Actually it’s a move that will put both wonderful stories into circulation again and that’s not so bad for kids, especially boys. The originals will still be there for adults.
Something’s going to have to be done about “gay,” too. For the same reason. And Jim calling the boys “honey.”
George Carlin’s 7 words you can never say publicly are now part of the language. Replaced by other words.
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right." ~ Mark Twain ~
Then it’s not Mark Twain. It’s some PC (insert word). We’ll have to go to Canada to buy an original print version.
You can say Nigga in popular culture, but not the word that ends with -er. WTF is the diff?
What about N***** Jim? I always thought he was a good guy. He helped Huck survive on the island and kept him from seeing the dead guy in the floating house.
I love Sam Clemens. If I ever had kids I would have given all of them the middle name Langhorne.
Exactly! I predict that eventually, out of a mix of political correctness and esteem-building, all references to slavery will be removed from history, at which point it will be impossible to claim that the Confederacy was racist.
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