New Version of 'Huckleberry Finn' Eliminates N-Word

By Jett Wells Posted Jan 4th 2011 01:49PM

New Version of 'Huck Finn' to Eliminate the 'N-Word'

Mark Twain's classic 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is a piece of literary history, but publishing company NewSouth is electing to update the story for modern times by getting rid of the N-word. Publishers Weekly reports a new version of the novel along with 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' will switch out the ever-controversial N-word for "slave."

"This is not an effort to render Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn colorblind," said Twain scholar Alan Gribben. "Race matters in these books. It's a matter of how you express that in the 21st century."

The project led by Gribben, a 69-year old English professor tapped to write the introduction for the edition, began when he read the book out loud to his students over the years and consciously replaced the word with "slave." After several local teachers reached out to him about the same concerns, Gribben felt a change was desperately needed in order for Twain to keep his place in today's classrooms.

'Huckleberry Finn' is still largely considered one of the most controversial novels directly because of its context with slavery, and has been threatened to be removed from classrooms for decades.

"After a number of talks, I 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 said.

The N-word appears 219 times, and Gribben knows making the change won't be smooth.

"I'm hoping that people will welcome this new option, but I suspect that textual purists will be horrified," he said. "Already, one professor told me that he is very disappointed that I was involved in this."

The new edition, 'Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn: The NewSouth Edition,' is set for release in February.

Is 'Huck Finn' better without the word, or do the changes tarnish Twain's work? Tell us in the comments.

Tags: Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Comments

(50)

Tuesday 04 January

By Jeff

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Pure Censorship. This will lead to an all out rewriting or banning of "objectionable material"

Wednesday 05 January

By cathtop90

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I love The I-nter'rac'ial R-o-m-an'ce! It is so nice. My bo'yfriend and i both think so. He is a s-ae-x-y bl'ack man,lol. I know him via *** (BlackwhiteCupid)* .*{C00M} *** a nice pla'ce for bla'ck wh'ite si'ngles, to int'eract with each other…no bounds or extremes in front of tr'ue lo've. . …@love it

★★★★★★ ;)
don't take opening a book to see but are carried at 200 decibels all over the city. Now that is offensive.

This is often how African Americans refer to each other, so I don't see why it is still such a derogatory term. If it is, then why is it tossed around so often to address each other?

By reddog

it has always been ok for blacks to use n word just dont let a white man say it lol

By Ms.Write66

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Not the point, Jeff. Stick to the issue.
What we do amongst ourselves is our business, just like what you do amongst yourselves is your business. Secondly, you say this is OFTEN how African Americans refer to each other. That is untrue. Young men of American and Latin decent (say under 25) will do that, the adults don't like and don't condone it. If you hear it often, then you're watching the wrong programs or you're in the wrong neighborhood.

By dirtybirdindc

You say black use it all the time you try to use to a black man's face ,oh teeth on the ground lmao

By kmsc2c

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This is not how African Americans often refer to themselves. You have been listening to to many rap cds.

By Nisa

My problem with replacing the N-word with slave is that it inappropriately gives a false impression of the work and the times that produced the work. That word and racism in general were large parts of society in that time and to remove the word gives the false idea that people then were as conscious of the negativity of that word as we are today. Huckleberry Finn works best as a literary study of the culture of the time, and this attempt to remove that word will not help people of today understand people of that era.

By harriet tubman

YUP

Racism is still alive today, so I don't think our children need to hear it spoken 219 times to help them understand the hate and fear of a bygone era.

Friday 07 January

By cheryl

Well said.

By Michelle

Well said and exactly why this "rewriting" is wrong.

Thursday 06 January

By Mr.MiniMites

Fully 100% Agree. This is shameful what is happening.

By RTW

I agree..Leave it alone..Or maybe start editing all History books?..Where does it end?

By penny

You are so right Nisa, It is so sad that we live in a time that we feel we have to change the works of Mark Twain because we don't think people are smart enough to know that was another time and that is the way they talked right or wrong. It is better to know real history then try to color it.

By Amanda

I think this is a huge slap in the face for all those who were slaves. I find it incredibly disrespectful and far more offensive than the N-word. People need to know what life was like in that time period and they need to feel the strength of that word. Words are very powerful.

By Curtis

The word is stark, bare and very inflammatory, but the impact of the text loses something without it. Instead, they should stop considering Huck Finn to be appropriate to teach to young people, since it is not, especially in this day and age. Mark Twain himself was surprised to find that it was considered appropriate for ids, so perhaps educators should follow his lead.

Agreed.

By Nico Toscani

You are 100% correct. It is NOT a book for children, nor was it ever meant to be. Censorship in the name of political correctness is still censorship.

By joe

Hmm, I suppose as long as the original is still available... However, changing the word definitely changes the book and it's impact on the reader.

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