Given the re-emergence of racial rhetoric from a variety of interesting venues--Congress, Arizona, South Carolina, for example, it would seem to me Twain's novel is a greater must-read than ever before WITH all of the original language. I understand Alan's perspective, but I also realize that we have entered into a phase where folks attending a secession ball in South Carolina are lamenting the loss of their ancestors' lifestyles;  where my home state of Texas  has determined students have read enough history about Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, women, and any sort of difference; where the out-going Superintendent of AZ, Tom Horne (who will  also now become AZ's Attorney General), has declared all ethnic studies to be illegal:  
HB 2281
The law bans K-12 classes that:

Promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.
Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
Are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group.
Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of students as individuals.
"It becomes the duty of the people of Arizona, through their elected leaders . . . to put a stop to this, and to be sure that taxpayer-funded public schools teach students to treat each other as individuals, and not on the basis of the race they happen to have been born into," Horne wrote.

The language in "Huck" was, is, and will always be offensive and uncomfortable;  it should be; it must be,until we "get it."   Just my thoughts.  

Jocelyn

On Jan 4, 2011, at 2:38 PM, Lawrence Howe wrote:

> I'm wondering if Alan is on-list and would like to clarify anything. =A0I'm=
> particularly curious about how he handles the scene in which pap rails abo=
> ut the educated 'nigger' that inspires his wrath against the gov'ment. =A0T=
> his particular black man is not a slave, but free. =A0So what word does thi=
> s new text use to describe him?
> Thanks for calling this to our attention, Michael. =A0The responses on the =
> original posting were illuminating. =A0I'm heartened to see so many people =
> take words, and even this one word, so seriously.=A0
> --LH
> 
> --- On Tue, 1/4/11, Mark Woodhouse <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> From: Mark Woodhouse <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: a new Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2011, 1:05 PM
> 
> Good lord.
> 
> I didn't know Alan was doing this but I guess it doesn't surprise me. It
> generates a lot of talk though doesn't it? Seems like it would make a good
> classroom discussion.
> (Although, I tried to get my CORE class to discuss the violence over the
> Danish cartoons of Muhammed and I got a lot of shrugging - like, what's the
> big deal? So maybe I'm not a judge of what makes for a good classroom
> discussion. It seemed like Worlds Colliding to me.)
> 
> I tried to look at all the comments to see if we knew anyone but I ran out
> of steam.
> 
> On purely aesthetic grounds the thought of this sort of thing makes me
> cringe. I can hear the dialogue in my head and I know I'd be mumbling and
> swearing to myself as I went along, mentally re-inserting the original.
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 1:28 PM, Michael Kiskis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> A former student sent me this link to a story about a new edition of Huck
>> --
>> to be edited by Alan Gribben.=A0 If you read the story, scroll down to re=
> ad
>> the variety of comments.
>> 
>> 
>> http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/01/03/huckleberry-finn-n-word-censor-edit/?=
> hpt=3DT2
>> 
>> --
>> Michael J. Kiskis
>> Leonard Tydings Grant Professor of American Literature
>> Elmira College
>> One Park Place
>> Elmira, NY=A0 14901
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> --=20
> Mark Woodhouse
> Head of Technical Services
> College and Mark Twain Archivist
> Elmira College
> One Park Place
> Elmira NY 14901
> 607 735 1869