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Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
From:
Beth Regish <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 25 Oct 1994 09:47:05 EDT
In-Reply-To:
note of 10/24/94 19:01
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Converted from OV/VM to RFC822 format by PUMP V2.2X
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Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
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Actually, the Concord, MA Library's banning of HF on the grounds of "bad
grammar" was due mainly to its elitist stand on southern dialects.  Twain
was experimenting with an American twang that the Concord forefathers
simply did not approve of.  It had nothing to do with the inclusion of the
word "nigger."  They merely took the Puritanical view that they did not wish
_their_ children to read a book filled with a "backwards" southern drawl
that rarely filtered into their elite circles.  I doubt (and certainly hope
not) that there is a "PC" version of HF; IMHO, that would destroy Twain's
own internal debate on American consciousness and some of the best passages
in American literature.  In most cases, I believe, when the novel's
"appropriateness" has been questioned, it is removed entirely from the
school system.  Ironically, the Mark Twain Middle School itself in Md. (?)
banned the book.

Beth

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