Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Ethiopia's salt trails
For centuries merchants have traveled to Ethiopia to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. Slideshow
Sponsored Links
Scholar reissues Huckleberry Finn minus the "N"-word
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama |
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - A U.S. scholar's decision to publish a new edition of Mark Twain's novel Huckleberry Finn -- with the "N-word" excised in a bid to make it more accessible to readers -- has drawn howls of protest.
Twain scholar Alan Gribben said he decided to reissue the 19th century classic "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" replacing the slur with the word "slaves" in all 219 places it occurs in the text because the original offended many readers.
Many school systems have banned or simply stopped teaching the books because of the epithet and because of a characterization of Native Americans that is also deleted from the new edition, said Gribben in a telephone interview.
"It is a shame that a single word can form such an impediment to students enjoying the greatness of the narratives and the sharpness of their social critique," said Gribben, a professor of English at Auburn University in Montgomery.
"The 'N-word' possessed, then as now, demeaning implications more vile than almost any insult that can be applied to other racial groups. There is no equivalent slur in the English language," Gribben writes in an editor's foreword.
But the publication set for February 15 has prompted an avalanche of criticism from people complaining about changes to the text, said Suzanne LaRosa, spokeswoman for publisher New South Books.
Dozens of people have telephoned and hundreds have sent emails of complaint.
"We are not fans of changing Mark Twain's words," said Cindy Lovell, executive director of The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri.
"They have stood the test of time. The book is an anti-racist book and to change the language changes the power of the book. He wrote to make us squirm and to poke us with a sharp stick. That was the purpose," Lovell said.
Huckleberry Finn, a satire of social attitudes in the South during slavery, is considered one of the greatest American novels. It tells the story of a boy's journey down the Mississippi River.
Gribben will jointly reissue another Twain classic, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" with epithets also deleted.
(Reporting by Verna Gates; Editing by Matthew Bigg and Jerry Norton)
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
My oldest kid (9) asked what the term ‘nigger’ meant, as he had heard it at school. I gave him a brief history lesson explaining the origin of the term, and how it was very offensive, and told him if he ever used it in conversation I’d tan his hide. Now he knows the word, and why it’s a negative term. He also knows why that shouldn’t say it. And he’s learned some American history. For those who feel we need to revise our roots and edit this book, the process of communication I described in this comment is called parenting. I believe it’s a better alternative than hiding our heads in the sand.
http://originalhuckleberryfinn.com
Follow Reuters