Thank you for this Ann Ryan. I've always thought this is precisely what
gives the novel its incredible and enduring power. Twain absolutely knew how
to lecture, scold, and brow-beat, but in Huck Finn he did what he always did
best --he "simply" told a story.
On a separate issue, but one related to this UCLA exhibit-- I was phoned by
a PR person from UCLA asking about Twain memorabilia collections --were
there any around bigger than this one? what does this stuff mean? etc. I had
to admit that while the bulk of my own collection was first editions, other
"serious" printed materials, photos, manuscripts, correspondence archives,
and the like -- that a portion of my collection consisted of pre-1910
knick-knacks, gee-gaws, and what-nots that I've gathered with care, but that
I had also accumulated a mass of post-1910 stuff of this sort (I may have
used the word crap), mostly from Twain collections that I've purchased over
the years, and that the bulk of this material was stored in 25 banker boxes,
that it numbers well over 1,000 items, that I don't even maintain an
inventory of it, that in fact I rather dislike the stuff but cannot bring
myself to dump it, but that I cannot make myself catalogue it, much less
look at it. She might have been a little disappointed by my attitude. As for
what the meaning of all this "ana" or "varia" might be, I told her that the
pre-1910 things reflect the growth of Twain's stature during his lifetime,
and a reflection of his own culture during the time when he was around and
able to manipulate it himself. As for the post 1910 materials I used my
usual word --Disneyfication-- to describe how others had twisted Twain's
meaning(s) for their own purposes, and although I cannot lay all of this at
the doorstep of Walt Disney, this later stuff more often reflects commercial
interests with no regard for the Twain urtext --the ur-Twain-- and therefore
is a lot less interesting to me --although it is certainly a valid
reflection of his evolving stature as a cultural icon.
Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
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