The "French reader," in my opinion, says it very well.  The word "nigger"
is, and should be, offensive, and should be received as offensive, an
offensive banality in Twain's usage that symbolizes the offensive banality
of racism that permeated the 1840s culture he wrote about, the 1880s
culture in which he wrote the words, and our own culture, perhaps, perhaps,
to a lesser extent.  To substitute the word "slave" is, I think, to miss
the point entirely.  Even in 1885 you could read the word "slave," or a
story about slavery, and deceive yourself with comfortable denial, noting
that slavery was a thing of the historical past, not a part of your present
world.  Pervasive cultural and political racism is, however, another
matter, undeniable then as now. Slavery, in my opinion, was only the
vehicle or, as the littery types like to say, the trope through which Twain
exposes the reader to the inherent racism implanted in Huck's "deformed
conscience."  As grotesque as the institution of slavery was, Twain was
aiming at a much more basic target, the racism which is, of course, the
root of slavery, and the unquestioned generalizations which prevent us from
seeing through the category boundaries of social, cultural and political
perceptions.  Using the word "slave," is, in my opinion, a palliative, a
means of evading the powerful offense engendered, even today, by the word
"nigger."  We should be offended by it, and hope that others are as well.
Anyone arguing that Twain uses the word merely to convey a sense of
historic colloquial realism underestimates Twain and his "pen warmed up in
hell."

Martin Zehr
Kansas City, Missouri






On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 2:04 PM, Céline-Albin Faivre <
[log in to unmask]> 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
>