Here in UK ,the Education Secretary wishes to promote an English history curriculum - sounds familiar - but probably won't include the Suffragettes,Chartists and ,indeed,the tribes who invaded Angleland before the Romans - Dreading the Royal Family weddings already ! > Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 15:09:09 -0500 > From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: a new Adventures of Huckleberry Finn > To: [log in to unmask] > > 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: =20 > 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. =20 > > 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. = > =3DA0I'm=3D > > particularly curious about how he handles the scene in which pap rails = > abo=3D > > ut the educated 'nigger' that inspires his wrath against the gov'ment. = > =3DA0T=3D > > his particular black man is not a slave, but free. =3DA0So what word = > does thi=3D > > s new text use to describe him? > > Thanks for calling this to our attention, Michael. =3DA0The responses = > on the =3D > > original posting were illuminating. =3DA0I'm heartened to see so many = > people =3D > > take words, and even this one word, so seriously.=3DA0 > > --LH > >=20 > > --- On Tue, 1/4/11, Mark Woodhouse <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >=20 > > 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 > >=20 > > Good lord. > >=20 > > 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.) > >=20 > > I tried to look at all the comments to see if we knew anyone but I ran = > out > > of steam. > >=20 > > 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. > >=20 > >=20 > >=20 > > On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 1:28 PM, Michael Kiskis <[log in to unmask]> = > wrote: > >=20 > >> A former student sent me this link to a story about a new edition of = > Huck > >> -- > >> to be edited by Alan Gribben.=3DA0 If you read the story, scroll down = > to re=3D > > ad > >> the variety of comments. > >>=20 > >>=20 > >> = > http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/01/03/huckleberry-finn-n-word-censor-edit/?=3D= > > > hpt=3D3DT2 > >>=20 > >> -- > >> Michael J. Kiskis > >> Leonard Tydings Grant Professor of American Literature > >> Elmira College > >> One Park Place > >> Elmira, NY=3DA0 14901 > >>=20 > >=20 > >=20 > >=20 > > --=3D20 > > Mark Woodhouse > > Head of Technical Services > > College and Mark Twain Archivist > > Elmira College > > One Park Place > > Elmira NY 14901 > > 607 735 1869