It seems to me that the question is: how to you survive as a moral human being, no less produce honest literature, in a racist society? To say that use of N-word was unacceptably "racist," but accepting the fact that Jim is a slave wasn't, is a little like prescribing salve for a rash when you've got skin cancer. When you grow up in a racist society you can't escape its influences...but you can try damn hard to overcome them. That's what HF is all about, I'd say. 

My 2 cents (not allowing for inflation). 

Ben 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Hal Bush" <[log in to unmask]> 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 9:34:29 AM 
Subject: MLA 2014 cfp: Roundtable on Teaching Racist Texts 

Folks: here is a brand new CFP from C19, titled "Teaching Racist Texts"... 
and guess what is this critic's star attraction? 

I'm troubled by the concept of a "racist text" being displayed so 
cavalierly (especially now 40 years give or take after Derrida, Bakhtin et 
al) and wondered if others on here would be too. there are certainly 
racist tendencies in the text, but it's not exactly The Leopard's Spots or 
anything, right?? 

Further, it would seem that the author of a "racist text" is also a 
racist. 

Much of this has been debated in Twain studies ad nauseum, I know; I'm 
just thinking of how to (politely?) respond, and show my displeasure at 
what I consider an unjust characterization of HF as a "racist text." 

comments? -hb 




---------- Forwarded message ---------- 
From: Brigitte Fielder <[log in to unmask]> 
Date: Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 11:08 AM 
Subject: MLA 2014 cfp: Roundtable on Teaching Racist Texts 
To: [log in to unmask] 


Teaching Racist Texts: A Roundtable on Pedagogy 

While continuing efforts have been made to incorporate a more diverse 
array of writers into the American literary canon, the problem of racism 
still presents a pedagogical challenge. As literature courses seek to 
engage students in meaningful conversations about the assigned texts, they 
must also deal with the problem of those texts=92 content. Some literature 
contains material which is offensive =96 racial epithets, derogatory 
depictions of non-white people, assumptions of white supremacy. The 2011 
New South Books publication of Mark Twain=92s Adventures of Huckleberry Fin= 
n 
sparked popular controversy by replacing the text=92s 219 uses of the 
=93n-word=94 with the word =93slave.=94 While this change makes the text m= 
ore 
palatable for some to read aloud, it does not evacuate all that is 
problematic about the texts=92 presentation of race and racism. Rather than 
evacuating, dismissing, or ignoring racist content, engaging students in 
frank conversations about the racism inherent in much of American 
literature will help them to address the difficult =96 sometimes offensive = 
or 
hurtful =96 content of the literatures we read, discuss, and write about. 

The pedagogy of dealing with the racist content of American literature will 
be the subject of this roundtable. Participants will share their insights 
into common problems encountered when teaching racist texts, and strategies 
for teaching students how to talk and write about this racism. 

Moreover, the pedagogical practice of attending to racism can help students 
to better understand the literature at the center of our classroom 
discussions. 

Roundtable discussion topics may include: 

Student reluctance to talking about race 
Preconceptions about race and racism 
Historical contexts / racism in the present 
Dealing with dialect 
Redeeming texts / absolving authors 
Racist language =96 to repeat or not to repeat? 
Being mindful of students=92 racialized persons 
The embodied professor =96 who gets to talk about race? 
How to write about racism without sounding like a racist 

100-word abstracts by 15 March to Brigitte Fielder ( 
[log in to unmask]). 

--=20 
Brigitte Nicole Fielder, PhD 
Associate Lecturer in English 
University of Wisconsin, Madison 
Helen C. White Hall 
600 North Park Street 
Madison, WI 53706 




--=20 
Prof. Harold K. Bush 
Professor of English 
3800 Lindell 
Saint Louis University 
St. Louis, MO 63108 
314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) 
<www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>