Posted on 01/04/2011 7:18:59 PM PST by markomalley
Mark Twain wrote that "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." A new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" will try to find out if that holds true by replacing the N-word with "slave" in an effort not to offend readers.
Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who is working with NewSouth Books in Alabama to publish a combined volume of the books, said the N-word appears 219 times in "Huck Finn" and four times in "Tom Sawyer." He said the word puts the books in danger of joining the list of literary classics that Twain once humorously defined as those "which people praise and don't read."
"It's such a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers," Gribben said.
Yet Twain was particular about his words. His letter in 1888 about the right word and the almost right one was "the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
This is a tough call. The word in question is a repulsive word and other books have been banned from school libraries for offensive language.
It’s not a tough call at all. It’s censorship, is what it is.
I think Bowdlerization is the term.
“Censorship” is a pretty ugly word, too.
“Censorship” is a pretty ugly word, too.
Words aren’t repulsive. People can be though. You know going in the words are there, so don’t read them. Changing the books only screws with the authors original intent of using them in the first place
All of that has to be brought over in that book. Eliminating it is to make the slaveowners look like nice guys.
Hell, no, this is NOT a “tough call.” This is cultural insanity. If Mark Twain were still around, he would have more than enough new material on hand to keep him churning out satires til this country waves the final white flag of surrender.
Absolutely. The "N" word is offensive today, more so because we have been sensitized to it. Removing it from Twain's books will completely change the main characters. They are creatures of their day, and very lifelike--let them be. If some blacks want to keep their kids from reading Huck and Tom, that is their loss and their small mindedness.
Why not also take out all the unsavory references about Injun Jim--after all he was a "noble savage"--not.
Good grief!
vaudine
Hope you have on your asbestos jammies.
“Play those rhythmically suggestive tonal patterns Caucasian male adolescent.”
And while we’re at it, let’s fix the Old Testament to get rid of that nasty anti-gay rhetoric.
Mark Twain is spinning in his grave......
“Play that funky music, white boy.”
Don’t mean to criticize, but it was Injun’ JOE, not Jim. It was Nigger Jim.... (Oh my God, I did it! I used the “N” word! I am such a bad person, now I will probably go to Hell for my insensitivity.
Oh, that's so much better! :-/ I'm sure if I went up to my buddy Nate tomorrow and said "Hey slave, how's it going?" he'd be sooo relieved I didn't use "the N word" ...
Here's a thought - leave the text as it was originally written. It is an artistic, creative work. The author no-doubt intended to evoke certain imagery. Do these fools imagine themselves the equals or even better writers than the author? They think they can evoke the same emotions without the "offensive" words? Hey, how about you libtard fools give the rest of us a little credit - I think we can appreciate a work and take it in context without you having to sugar-coat it and dumb it down for us. Oh, that's right, the elitists are practicing discrimination and prejudice against us "regular folk" - but don't try to tell them that...
Just slap yourself lightly in the mouth, pass your hand once lightly over your head and forgive yourself.
vaudine
That's not entirely true. Many of the founders were slave owners through inheritence but were repulsed by slavery and fought it. One of them set his slaves free which resulted in laws being passed that prevented the others from freeing theirs.
Slavery was not a ... pardon the pun... black and white issue.
Why stop there? I think it’s time to paint over that demeaning gown that Mona Lisa is wearing and put her in a professional business suit. And none of that idiotic smile crap either. We need a good angry feminist frown.
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