Agreed! "A French Reader" is right on target.

I had a go around on this subject in 2010 with ended (for me) with my 
letter to the /LA Times/ - which, please excuse me, I'll post here, in 
support of unbowdlerized texts:

Mark Twain a racist? Oh, bosh! When we're talking about Twain, we're 
speaking of someone born well before the Civil War, in a small town, 
from a slave-holding state. That his humanity -- hmmm, like Lincoln's -- 
could overcome the fundamental bigotry of his time and place, with all 
of its attendant horrors, is extraordinary.

Does that make him a 21st century man? No -- and we ought not hold him 
to the so-called niceties of our own social and political fabric. But 
that he wrote, so effectively, about a boy coming to understand that a 
slave is a sentient person and not property is remarkable for his day, 
and long after.


Céline-Albin Faivre wrote:
> This is totally insane and stupid!
> Only American people can imagine such a thing!
> You have NO right to amend his works. He wrote "nigger", you have no
> right to change the word or to delete it.  You betray a great
> anti-racist novel in the process... Mark Twain was not a racist.
> When you are scared by the words (you are even not brave enough to write
> the word!!), you are beaten. Censorship has been tried throughout
> history.  It never works.  The goal of eliminating racism from our
> society will be accomplished by facing it head on, not by trying to hide
> it with politically correctness. I despise politically correctness.
> This is a disease.
> “The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is
> really a large matter—it's the difference between the lightning bug and
> the lightning” (letter to George Bainton, Oct. 15, 1888)
> Twain used the word on purpose.
> A French reader
>
>
>
> Le 03/01/2017 à 20:17, Clay Shannon a écrit :
>> When reading or quoting his works, I have struggled with whether to keep Tw=
>> ain's words "sacrosanct" by retaining the original wording in every case - =
>> specifically, the "elephant in the room" - the so-called "N word" (see, peo=
>> ple don't even like to write it out, let alone verbalize it).
>> I have determined to (not uniquely or originally) replace the word with "sl=
>> ave" when I encounter it.
>> Here is my reasoning:
>> When I do my Twain performance, I do not speak as slowly as Twain did (alth=
>> ough I do speak more slowly than my natural rate). Why? Because modern audi=
>> ences would not have the patience to endure that "three-words-per-minute" s=
>> tuff. They would tune me out quicker than a Barry Manilow song at a mosh pi=
>> t.
>> I have also determined not to mimic the Twain gait on stage, again because =
>> the average member of the audience would be distracted, wondering whether I=
>>    had hurt my leg or had imbibed two too many toddys prior to trodding the b=
>> oards. Now among a crowd of Twainians, it would be different - I would prob=
>> ably effect the "sailor-on-shore" weave, because they (you) would "get it."
>> So, my point is: the current milieu must be served. And that's why "slave" =
>> should, in my opinion, replace the "N" word when reading/quoting Twain's wo=
>> rks. If the original word was retained, the audience would understandably b=
>> e uncomfortable, distracted, and possibly even antagonistic both towards me=
>>    and Twain, viewing him perhaps as the immoralist of the insane rather than=
>>    the moralist of the Main.
>> What the word meant to be people back in the 1840s (and 1880s, even) and ho=
>> w they responded/reacted to it in those times is different from people's re=
>> sponse and reaction today. It may be that "slave" is, in actuality, a prett=
>> y good modern equivalent for the dreaded and now decidedly derogatory slur.
>> Why Twain used the word (especially in "Huck Finn") could continue to be di=
>> scussed, but (alluding to Daniel Day-Lewis-as-Lincoln's advice to Tommy Lee=
>>    Jones' character in "Lincoln"), the most effective way to get to the other=
>>    side of the swamp is sometimes to go around it, rather than plunge headlon=
>> g into the muck and mire.
>> The preservation of Twain's reputation, and to keep him on the world's read=
>> ings lists, may best be served by bending a little in this case.
>> Your responses are welcomed and awaited.=C2=A0- B. Clay Shannon