New edition of Huck Finn being edited

[phranchk]

They're taking out all instances of the word "******" and replacing it with "slave."

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/0...uckleberry-finn-to-replace-n-word-with-slave/



I personally think that this is a form of censorship. This is a classic novel and the word had a different context and meaning at the time of writing. I'm not a fan of it being changed.



Thoughts?

 

[Ymono37]

They're taking out all instances of the word "******" and replacing it with "slave."

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/0...uckleberry-finn-to-replace-n-word-with-slave/



I personally think that this is a form of censorship. This is a classic novel and the word had a different context and meaning at the time of writing. I'm not a fan of it being changed.



Thoughts?

Horseshit... it's like there's no idea of context anymore.



Sorry for the shitty version:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRS6gW_k1uc[/media]

 

[supraman]

Leave it as is. Do not edit it. The wording of the book was current to the times

 

[jakobeast]

If I heard right, they will be making 2 versions. One with "******" and "injun" removed or replaced, and the classic version.

 

[MassHavoc]

**** Hinn.

 

[BiscuitintheBasket]

They're taking out all instances of the word "******" and replacing it with "slave."

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/0...uckleberry-finn-to-replace-n-word-with-slave/



I personally think that this is a form of censorship. This is a classic novel and the word had a different context and meaning at the time of writing. I'm not a fan of it being changed.



Thoughts?

Actually I think the "******" is being replaced with the far worse word of "slave".



I think the worse part is that this change misses a major point of the art that is Huck Finn.



And talking to the innercity bros that are working for me (via a gov't outreach program that brought that mad computer sklz my way), they agree that "slave" is very very very slanderous and demeaning, especially in the context and setting that "******" is used in the story.

 

[bookjones]

This whole story makes my skin crawl and my head hurt. Like so. . .

It is blatant censorship which is repugnant enough but that they are couching and rationalizing this travesty under some contemporary "Me Generation" blanket of political correctness makes it---though hard to believe---even MORE pernicious and infuriating! {{{shivers}}}



I have a hard time believing that this Gribben fellow is in fact a "Twain scholar"---that is just not rationally possible when you try to apply that moniker to his role in this project. It is just patently at fundamental odds with the moral that Twain was actually trying to convey by completely and intentionally saturating the novel in the very language and dialect he did. I can not realistically even consider this literary quack a "Lit" person let alone a a specialized authority on Twain---no true studier and/or admirer of literature would advocate for expurgating a text and most certainly NOT the novel whose merits are likely the most often debated as the "Great American novel". What a hack and what a travesty hack job he and the publisher job are imposing on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The parents who advocated for and would encourage this edition for their children should be equally derided for their suspect moral high-horsing and self-congratulatory naive beliefs about "re-writing" and perverting history to sanitize life for their emotional and intellectual convenience. What imbeciles. It's wholly vile all around.

 

[CLWolf81]

To me, it was a sign of the times back then. It may be offensive to the black community to even use the "N" word or the word "slave"... but a majority of them will not ever forget their own history.



To that alone, I don't think it should be altered. You're changing the words of a classic novel just to be politically correct? Forgive me, but that in itself is wrong.

 

[JOVE23]

This whole story makes my skin crawl and my head hurt. Like so. . .

It is blatant censorship which is repugnant enough but that they are couching and rationalizing this travesty under some contemporary "Me Generation" blanket of political correctness makes it---though hard to believe---even MORE pernicious and infuriating! {{{shivers}}}



I have a hard time believing that this Gribben fellow is in fact a "Twain scholar"---that is just not rationally possible when you try to apply that moniker to his role in this project. It is just patently at fundamental odds with the moral that Twain was actually trying to convey by completely and intentionally saturating the novel in the very language and dialect he did. I can not realistically even consider this literary quack a "Lit" person let alone a a specialized authority on Twain---no true studier and/or admirer of literature would advocate for expurgating a text and most certainly NOT the novel whose merits are likely the most often debated as the "Great American novel". What a hack and what a travesty hack job he and the publisher job are imposing on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The parents who advocated for and would encourage this edition for their children should be equally derided for their suspect moral high-horsing and self-congratulatory naive beliefs about "re-writing" and perverting history to sanitize life for their emotional and intellectual convenience. What imbeciles. It's wholly vile all around.

What she said.



Also, if they want to get rid of the N word, my Southern self can think of a few other slurs to include...

 

[jaxhawksfan]

You have problems with the content or wording of a book? Don't fucking read it. Simple.

 

[bri]

You can't change history or erase the past no matter how unpleasant it was.

 

[jakobeast]

It is I believe in an effort so they can teach it in schools.



Really? You don't want a very open and honest discussion about language and its use in a school? Asshats?

 

[JOVE23]

This is akin to the networks butchering Blazing Saddles so it can be seen on television.

 

[bookjones]

This is akin to the networks butchering Blazing Saddles so it can be seen on television.

It's fucking indecent and insulting is what is is. I mean COME ON! Twain? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? What fucking balls of insane hubris people.

 

[jakobeast]

What about "To Kill a Mockingbird"? That book is littered with the word ******.

 

[nana]

This whole story makes my skin crawl and my head hurt. Like so. . .

It is blatant censorship which is repugnant enough but that they are couching and rationalizing this travesty under some contemporary "Me Generation" blanket of political correctness makes it---though hard to believe---even MORE pernicious and infuriating! {{{shivers}}}



I have a hard time believing that this Gribben fellow is in fact a "Twain scholar"---that is just not rationally possible when you try to apply that moniker to his role in this project. It is just patently at fundamental odds with the moral that Twain was actually trying to convey by completely and intentionally saturating the novel in the very language and dialect he did. I can not realistically even consider this literary quack a "Lit" person let alone a a specialized authority on Twain---no true studier and/or admirer of literature would advocate for expurgating a text and most certainly NOT the novel whose merits are likely the most often debated as the "Great American novel". What a hack and what a travesty hack job he and the publisher job are imposing on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The parents who advocated for and would encourage this edition for their children should be equally derided for their suspect moral high-horsing and self-congratulatory naive beliefs about "re-writing" and perverting history to sanitize life for their emotional and intellectual convenience. What imbeciles. It's wholly vile all around.

This makes me ill.



It appears that just as this American classic was misunderstood at its first publishing, it continues to be misunderstood in some circles today. It has long been the (attempted) victim of various forms of censorship, misguided of course, as varied as they may have been.



This latest effort is actually quite fitting, as Twain was making commentary on and satirizing the racism he observed in society at the time. This is the story of a boy who follows what his heart and soul tell him about his friend, rather than what the collective belief of the time dictated. It draws a fascinating parallel to the modern form of this dilemma. Our collective belief of the offensive nature of a term (and it is the ugliest) is stifling the reader's free will to have their own visceral reaction to the story, just as Huck followed his own gut (rather than the cultural mores of the time) in his relationship with Jim.



How grotesquely ill-informed is it that they are suffocating the freedom of an American original that is, probably above all else, a story about the pursuit of freedom. As much as some things change, I suppose they also stay the same.

 

[nana]

Oh, and books, I've never seen a more apropos copy+paste of Edvard Munch.

 

[puckjim]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J5UXwHD2YY&sns=em[/media]

 

[bookjones]

This makes me ill.



It appears that just as this American classic was misunderstood at its first publishing, it continues to be misunderstood in some circles today. It has long been the (attempted) victim of various forms of censorship, misguided of course, as varied as they may have been.



This latest effort is actually quite fitting, as Twain was making commentary on and satirizing the racism he observed in society at the time. This is the story of a boy who follows what his heart and soul tell him about his friend, rather than what the collective belief of the time dictated. It draws a fascinating parallel to the modern form of this dilemma. Our collective belief of the offensive nature of a term (and it is the ugliest) is stifling the reader's free will to have their own visceral reaction to the story, just as Huck followed his own gut (rather than the cultural mores of the time) in his relationship with Jim.



How grotesquely ill-informed is it that they are suffocating the freedom of an American original that is, probably above all else, a story about the pursuit of freedom. As much as some things change, I suppose they also stay the same.

The pathetic irony of the entire situation is so enormous it's truly like a farce no? These people who advocate for expurgation are either entirely dumbass or else are being willfully dense and/or ignorant (which is my #1 pet peeve!) in their defiance of context and the very precise creative motivations as to why writers like Twain or say Richard Wright used the language they did because it is clearly obvious to most everyone else with a lick of damn common sense. Of course I already knew that Huckleberry Finn is perennially banned by libraries and school districts across this nation (it is something like the 3rd or 4th most banned title ever I believe) but man this is taking it to a whole new and insidiously original level for this title---people believing that they know "better" words to use in a Twain novel than Twain himself? It's completely laughable in a very palpably insane and tragic way. And yes, you are 1000% right that things *do* pretty much stay the same on the censorship front---all one has to do is make periodic visits to the sizable Banned Books section of the ALA website or even just follow the annual exploits and see the facts and figures during Banned Books Week every fall. People are hellbent on making or keeping others ignorant in this country. . .always have been and seemingly always will be as part of our very national makeup. {{{sighs}}}

 

[nana]

The pathetic irony of the entire situation is so enormous it's truly like a farce no? These people who advocate for expurgation are either entirely dumbass or else are being willfully dense and/or ignorant (which is my #1 pet peeve!) in their defiance of context and the very precise creative motivations as to why writers like Twain or say Richard Wright used the language they did because it is clearly obvious to most everyone else with a lick of damn common sense. Of course I already knew that Huckleberry Finn is perennially banned by libraries and school districts across this nation (it is something like the 3rd or 4th most banned title ever I believe) but man this is taking it to a whole new and insidiously original level for this title---people believing that they know "better" words to use in a Twain novel than Twain himself? It's completely laughable in a very palpably insane and tragic way. And yes, you are 1000% right that things *do* pretty much stay the same on the censorship front---all one has to do is make periodic visits to the sizable Banned Books section of the ALA website or even just follow the annual exploits and see the facts and figures during Banned Books Week every fall. People are hellbent on making or keeping others ignorant in this country. . .always have been and seemingly always will be as part of seemingly our very national makeup. {{{sighs}}}

In a word, Yup.



If there is one positive here which we may glean...

You just made me remember, please do not vilify me, but I have never read Native Son. Studied both of Wright's other two major works, Uncle Tom's Children and Black Boy, but never Native Son. I must add that to my list.