Apparently in some circles, banning or censoring books is out, “modernizing” them is in. Using a similar line of thought that caused Monsterpiece Theater to be banned from modern Sesame Street episodes because we can’t have Cookie Monster smoking a pipe (or for that matter, gobbling diabetes-inducing cookies), book publishers are beginning to revise classic books into versions considered more palatable for today’s young folks. Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is undergoing this modernization by the publisher New South Books.
I envision a few consequences of this possibly-well-intended act. One, even if high school students are assigned the “new” version, they will probably clamor to get their hands on the old one. One of the best ways to ensure that a book gets read is to ban it. A part of me aspires to one day be the author of a banned book. When I was in high school, we all wanted to find copies of Lady Chatterly’s Lover because it allegedly had so many dirty passages. (My parents own a copy and I looked at it. I wasn’t all that impressed.) Two, the book’s meaning and historical context will be completely lost. People used the N-word and the word “injun” in Twain’s time. We don’t have to like it, and that’s kind of the point. The widespread acceptance and institutionalization of racism is a very ugly part of our history and does not need to be glossed over by “revising” the classics.
Nancy Pearl, a former Seattle librarian who was recently named Librarian of the Year by Library Journal, summed up my thoughts pretty accurately here.
All that being said, I was assigned to read Huckleberry Finn in the 11th grade. It was not one of my favorite books. I much preferred The Great Gatsby, which I also read that year, or Jane Eyre or Tale of Two Cities, both of which I read the next year. I don’t know if the book is still in the 11th grade curriculum and I’m hoping it isn’t. But I would much rather my children have access to the book, the unrevised book, so they can understand the historical context, than be given a falsified and rosier version of Mark Twain’s America.
I am reminded of the phrase "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Regardless of what this publisher's intentions are, they are still altering one of the most celebrated pieces of American literature and, yes, censoring a word to "protect" the sensibilities of today's kids. The correct approach to this book is the same one that I have heard from many teachers in the past: put the book in historical context. By explaining why the word is used and, more importantly, how the word is actually being used can go a long way towards doing the one thing the book strives to do: educate.
ReplyDeleteI also think about the old Disney movie Song of the South. It is the only one of the Disney "classics" that hasn't received any sort of video/dvd/bluray/theatrical release in the last 30+ years in this country. The reason for this is that some people feel that SotS is racist. Disney, in it's corporate wisdom, doesn't even try to dispute that notion and has chosen to just let the film lie dormant. (However, they are more than happy to use characters from this movie in their theme parks ad nauseum.) Are their elements of this movie that can be viewed as racist? Yes. (The entire tar baby sequence, for example.) However, like Huck Finn, we can't pretend that this movie didn't exist or that Twain used certain words. It happened. Put it in context and work from there. Perhaps Huck Finn and Song of the South could be (should be) released with introductions from historians/black leaders/etc. that will explain how these items should be viewed/read and explain to young people the context of the media.
At any rate, I will do everything I can to avoid ever reading something that gets altered to be more PC. You will never learn anything about our world if you shut your eyes to the ugly side of things from time to time.