THE CHALLENGE OF TWAIN
By Janet G.
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Recently it's been nearly impossible to read a newspaper, listen to the radio, or surf the web without coming across a discussion about the new, edited version of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, first published in 1884, is a biting commentary on Post Civil War entrenched attitudes, particularly racism. Written in antebellum vernacular, it was almost immediately proclaimed a literary masterpiece; however, enthusiastic praise for the book was juxtaposed with equally vehement criticism for perceived racial stereotyping and unnecessarily course language.  At the center of the criticism was the use of word "nigger" throughout the book, which appears a total of 219 times.
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The public's love/hate relationship with Huckleberry Finn continues to this day.  According to the American Library Association, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a frequently "challenged" book. The ALA defines a challenge as not merely an objection but "an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others."  Alan Gribben, a Mark Twain scholar at Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama, is the editor of the revised edition of Huckleberry Finn , published by NewSouth Books. In it, the offensive n-word is replaced by the word "slave".Â
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When Gribben took part in Big Read Alabama, a state-wide reading program that had selected The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as its book for 2009, he "was sought out by local teachers, and to a person they said we would love to teach this novel, and Huckleberry Finn, but we feel we can't do it anymore. In the new classroom, it's really not acceptable." Gribben, who has dedicated his career to teaching Twain, is obviously single-minded in his desire to circumvent challenge and promote Finn, but at what cost? Certainly those who create great books would not wish to see their work altered to suit society's prejudices of the moment.  It seems that Gribben rewrote Finn because it is not always pretty when students confront head-on the raw vulgarity of racism. Should it be? Â
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Twain was very enthusiastic about NOT being politically correct. He was pleased when the Concord Massachusetts Public Library decided not to add his book to their collection. "This will sell us another 5 thousand copies for sure!" he said. Of course Twain knew he was being offensive. That was the point.  He also knew that after reading the n-word for the 200th time, readers might become inured to the ugliness of it, the better to illuminate an awful reality...that evil is utterly treacherous. In Huck Finn's world, bigotry was perpetrated by even "good-hearted", ordinary people, who did nothing but neglect to question the moral norms of their time.
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The nature of evil doesn't change.  We still live in the shadow of bigotry, even as a cornerstone of our national philosophy is equality. This is why the lessons of Huckleberry Finn are as important now as they ever were.  Teachers who find the task of teaching Finn daunting need and deserve the support of their colleagues and communities.  There are many ways to help students see past the affront on the surface, to the spirit within.  From the outset, it is crucial to place Huck Finn in historical perspective. Students can learn about Socratic irony, the technique of saying something that contradicts the literal words. They could read Twain's letter to the Dean of the Yale Law School, in which he expresses his feelings about the tremendous wrong of slavery, and its legacy, racism.Â
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But don't shy away from a significant and powerful teachable moment. Telling the unvarnished truth IS that important, as important as the ultimate triumph of Huck's humanity.
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Comments: 71
They are expecting layoffs in the near future and she thought being at the center of controversy might not be the smartest thing to do under the circumstances.
My daughter read the book; I read it in college, because I finished high school outside the US;
To do away with a vernacular is like putting a blank piece of paper over the characters; it is like hushing their mouths and blinding the eyes of readers so we cannot see.
If we could not read about days past when serious racism was much more than we could ever imagine it now, well it would be pretty soon when we might think? just read the old books. There wasn't any racism in them.
No one in my daughter's school here objected to the book.
If we cannot read about days past when serious racism was then much more serious than we could ever have imagined it to have been...
@Kathryn: of course!
Not only should it not be ...it can't be. It is never pretty when students (actually) confront head-on the raw vulgarity of racism.
Mr. Gribben may have honorable intentions, but his honorable intentions clash with the dishonoring of Mark Twain with the bastardization of Twain's work by the misrepresentation of his historical fiction.
If Gribben has really dedicated his career to teaching Twain...he would teach Twain...not a fraudulent version of Twain.
I think you nailed it Slim
Eg.: How does one prepare a child for a discussion about AIDS?
Goodbye censors.
Not in my town, thank goodness. We have a public and private library in my town and the directors are excellent. Our libraries are the center for a lot of our town's activiites - art shows, book clubs, author talks, musical concerts, historian presentations, ESL tutoring, town-related committee & commission meetings, etc. One of the reasons I chose this town to raise my children in was the libraries and their high quality.
Good libraries are more than just a place to store and circulate books - they are the impromptu universities for the continuing education of a community's residents, both young and old. I hope they will forever be alive, well, and non-virtual.
in our liberal civil society and rightly so,
but this is written in the language of the day,
and so it should stand in the original text.
Originally of course the N-word was no insult:
Black was considered offensive so a cultured
classical euphemism was used instead:
The word for 'black' in Latin is 'niger'
pronounced as if with two g's.
This is the ancient origin of the African
Countries Niger and Nigeria too.
In the same way that "retarded"
was a euphemism for "slow",
which was a euphemism for "stupid",
well-meaning gentry only invented
new insults to replace the older
more honest names.
Now we refer to Africans as Blacks
in order not to give offense;
it would be funny if it were not so sad.
an honest teacher running through
the history of the word above
could do a lot to de-mystify the word
and take the hurt right out of it,
before starting on the book.
Done right, a black class would
respect you for your honesty.
You understand.
Well said and exactly why we need to keep teaching Finn.
If it is not possible to read about the "mistakes" of the past (language, history, sciences), we will never grow up. Students cannot anymore judge between right or wrong... or make their own judgement.
I can remember when "Banned in Boston" was a much sought after objective. The song "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" was one of the many victims(?) of the Beantown censor.
Thanks, Bill, for posting this thought-provoking work...
I am not the author, merely one who appreciates the good work of others. This author deserved a showing among those similarly inclined.
I don't recall that the language was an issue.
As a musician, I believe the arts hold a critical place in education. Music, literature and the visual arts should NEVER be censored or 'cleaned up'. I read a news item not long ago about parents in TX, I believe, who petitioned the school board to take a book out of a history class. Their problem with the book? It included pictures of classical Roman and Greek statues that were naked. Can you believe it? We're back to putting fig leaves on the human form in art. This is what happens when the arts are neglected in formal education.
Art in its various forms are an expression of our humanity, both good and bad. They reflect in the rawest sense our social flaws, as well as our greatest achievements. They should never be modified in any way for that reason. For to censor or modify art is to negate our own humanity and history. For shame, Mr. Gribben.
This book, and almost ALL books of that age were racist because thats the way the world WAS then!
If you take the language OUT of books, what do you have left?
NO imagination, and isnt THAT what we read for?
To imagine what it was like, or to imagine how it was?
This is like taking "WE THE PEOPLE" out of the constitution!
Get a GRIP!
Being politically correct is just that, and its fine, if you are a POLITICIAN!
I grew up on Twains books, and it didnt make me racist, it made me wonder what it was like to live on the river.
What it was like to run away.
What it was like back THEN!
And its a VERY good glimpse into the reality of the time.
What next, delete ALL books because the INK is black?
Better look again, the pages are WHITE!
It takes BOTH to MAKE a book!
Sorry to be late - I haven't been at Gather much lately! Found this in my email.