Does One Word Change 'Huckleberry Finn'? (original) (raw)

The Project Gutenberg A scene from Chapter 9 in the 1885 edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

A new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has generated much controversy because it will replace the word "nigger," which occurs 219 times in the book, with "slave." (The edition also substitutes "Indian" for "injun.") Alan Gribben, an English professor at Auburn University at Montgomery, proposed the idea to the publisher because he believes the pervasive use of that word makes it harder for students to read or absorb the book. In an introduction to the new edition, he wrote, “even at the level of college and graduate school, students are capable of resenting textual encounters with this racial appellative.”

The publisher, NewSouth Books, has been roundly criticized for making the word change. But is there never any justification for altering a classic -- even if the revised edition would serve a specialized audience (like high school students) or readers who feel assaulted and are unable to get past that epithet?

Read the Discussion »

• Part of Our Lexicon

• Literature’s Dual Life

Jane Smiley, author, "Private Life"

• Why Read That Book?

Paul Butler, Law professor and former prosecutor

• The Words of Pap Finn’s Rant

Shelley Fisher Fishkin, professor, Stanford University

• Obscuring the Past

Thomas Glave, author, "The Torturer's Wife"

• We Want Readers

James Duban, English professor, University of North Texas

• Bringing Context to the Page

Gish Jen, author, "World and Town"

• Dumbing and Numbing Down Jim

David Matthews, author, "Ace of Spades"

• Why Is ‘Slave’ Less Offensive?

Francine Prose, author, "Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife"

• What Would Frederick Douglass Say?

Mark Bauerlein, English professor, Emory

• A Teachable Moment

Timothy Jay, author, "Cursing in America"