As long as original version still available, tweaking Twain is OK, professor says
Changing words in "Mark Twain鈥檚 classic book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is fine as long as the original version still is easily available for readers, says Gerald L. Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences and director of the Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis.
A new edition of the"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," scheduled to be published in February by NewSouth Books, substitutes the word 鈥渟lave鈥� for the 鈥渘-word鈥� and 鈥淚ndian鈥� for 鈥渋njun鈥� throughout the book.
The publisher has been accused of censorship and altering a classic of American literature for the sake of political correctness. Early argues that this is just another case of tinkering with texts in order to create a version that best serves its audience.
鈥淲e change texts all the time,鈥� Early says. 鈥淔or instance, we make children鈥檚 versions of the Bible, Homer and Shakespeare.
鈥淲e have abridged versions of many books for all sorts of reasons. Joel Chandler Harris鈥� Uncle Remus tales have been revised, rewritten, the dialect changed for modern readers.鈥�
Early says that removing the 鈥渘-word鈥� from "Huckleberry Finn" is just that kind of abridgement.
鈥淧eople do not have to accept it, and they can show their displeasure by simply not buying and reading this abridgment,鈥� he says.
鈥淢any times abridgments are made that are unwise or unwarranted or unjustified. Sometimes not. Let the public decide in this instance, as it does in all others.鈥�
Provided by Washington University in St. Louis
