News that Mark Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is being edited to replace the “N” word with “slave” prompts HTMLGIANT to (rightly) ask, “Is this the beginning of a national clean-me-so-we-feel-better literature trend?”. Enid Blyton’s Noddy books suffered the same fate in 2009, and Tintin au Congo is not without its controversy. The reasoning behind the latest move:
“This is not an effort to render Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn colorblind,” said Gribben, speaking from his office at Auburn University at Montgomery, where he’s spent most of the past 20 years heading the English department. “Race matters in these books. It’s a matter of how you express that in the 21st century.”
The idea of a more politically correct Finn came to the 69-year-old English professor over years of teaching and outreach, during which he habitually replaced the word with “slave” when reading aloud. Gribben grew up without ever hearing the “n” word (”My mother said it’s only useful to identify [those who use it as] the wrong kind of people”) and became increasingly aware of its jarring effect as he moved South and started a family. “My daughter went to a magnet school and one of her best friends was an African-American girl. She loathed the book, could barely read it.”
First posted: Wednesday, January 5th, 2011.
