Regular readers of the LS know how we feel about thought control through the implementation of Newspeak. (We think it is retarded).
Apparently, there are at least a few out there who have a hard-on for eradicating crimethink. In their latest effort, a newly sanitized edition of Mark Twain’s classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, will be published as part of a collection that is more suitable for classroom consumption, i.e., sans all uses of the “n-word.” In its place, the publishers, NewSouth Books, have inserted the word “slave.” Also deemed too offensive for print: “injun”
H/T Evren Seven
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I’m wondering if Jason Fischer may have exercised just a moment of self-censorship by referring euphemistically to the “n-word”. That would be ironic.
No doubt. I’m not a huge fan of the word, but I considered for a moment using it to emphasize my point.
Sigh. This is awful.
A triumph of capitalism and crybaby parents.
Is there amy way to fight this?
*any (auto correct)…
My commentary on this is that it will create an interesting quandary for parents. If a school offers both versions to student are you going to be the parent that insists your kid get the one with the racial slurs?
If you’re privileged person with privileged kids it’ll sound a lot like the Southerners sound when they defend the Confederate flag.
I’m not really convinced this is a bad idea per se. Simplified versions of classics have been used as teaching tools for years, and the replaced language in Huck Finn really is a complex issue for kids young enough to read the book but unable to take in the larger issues of the language, the connotations of using it in general, and why Twain used it specifically in this book.
By late elementary school — say, kids of 11 or 12 or so (when I was first introduced to it) that sort of thing can be discussed and have its place, but otherwise, the language isn’t hard, and it could be a good book in many ways for kids to be read to as early as say 5, and a bright reader of 7 or 8 could take it on.
That said, I’m sure dome dipwad will screw it up and use it to avoid offense instead of explaining to a capable audience the context involved, but that’s not the fault of the tool.*
*I don’t see anyone throwing a fit because nobody stages original productions of Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little s” anymore.
What is the grade level this book is aimed at?? Is it the 3rd Grade Reader version or do they want to sanitize the word “nigger” from 11th grade literature class? The grade level the revised edition is intended for would make a difference in this discussion.
BTW — I am amused at the phrase “n-word”. My god, is the word “nigger” more toxic than the word “fuck”? I choose to use the words that are most likely to communicate what I am trying to say. “The F-Bomb” and “the N-word” still require the person receiving the message to think of the word! Fuck.
If I was in any way associated with the estate of Mark Twain, I would be going bonkers right now…
This is just as stupid as the people who proposed that C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia should be purged of all of the reference to Christianity. You just DON’T MESS WITH THE CLASSICS!
Boycott it.