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Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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Wed, 25 Nov 1992 00:41:05 EST
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Being a mere lover of Twain, and not a professional in the field,
I have a question: what does "relevance to today's students" have
to do with the teaching of literature... or any other art, for that
matter?  Also, since when was the primary purpose of art to effect
social change?  Why not teach *Huckleberry Finn* as literature, rather
than as social history?

One more question (I promise:-):  isn't the use of the word "nigger"
confined to dialogue?  I have yet to find an instance where the Twain
voice, or the third person narrator, ever uses it.  If I'm wrong on this
point, I'd really like to know about it.  If I'm not, doesn't this say
something about Twain's attitude towards this awful word?  Incidentally,
I'm counting Huck's 1st person narrative as dialogue.

Leslie Kinton
Royal Conservatory of Music,
Toronto, Ontario.

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