Mark Twain – Philip Nel

On Reading the Expurgated Huck Finn; or, Why We Should Teach Offensive Novels

October 17, 2014Philip NelCensorship, Children's Literature, Education, Mark Twain, Race, Racism, Robin BernsteinCensorship, Children's Literature, Education, Mark Twain, Race, Racism, Robin Bernstein4 Comments

As you may recall, three years ago NewSouth Books published an edition of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Adventures of Tom Sawyer in which editor Alan Gribben replaced the n-word with “slave,” and the in-word (“Injun”) with “Indian.” Many (including yours truly) criticized Gribben’s decision, and most critics focused on Huckleberry Finn. But

Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Offensiveness

Yes, you’ve all heard about NewSouth Press publishing Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer without the “n” word. But a couple of important points are getting lost in all the uproar. As Natalia Cecire points out on her blog, the “political correctness” circus-goers are missing the point. I find it more noteworthy that such Bowdlerization is