The derogatory terms that Twain uses in the novel will be removed and replaced with more appropriate and kid-friendly terms. By doing so, "more people, including young readers, will be able to enjoy it."
The novel was published in 1884. Why censor it now?
I'm not in favor of making this change, and I'm not in favor of censoring children. The novel is a classic - there's no need for it to change now, after being critically acclaimed for so long. Why strip it of its cultural aspects? If people don't want to read it, they don't have to read it. Of course there's been problems with Twain's language in the past, but that hasn't stopped people from reading his work.
I'm just very against censoring books. And I'm more against this because it's happening now, 127 years after its publication! How crazy is that? Why should today's children be banned and/or sheltered from reading what past generations were able to?
What do you guys think? How do you feel about censorship, particularly about classics such as this? Do you think it's necessary/unnecessary?
If you're interested in all the details, you can read the article here.
What a great idea! While we're at it, let's rewrite the history books and pretend nobody ever did anything horrible to another human being. Gotta protect the children.
ReplyDelete/sarcasm
People who want to censor classics like Huck Finn don't care that their cleansing of literature is more offensive than the words they excise. Their political correctness blinds them to what's right in these cases. And just how do they plan to censor the tenor of the story that can't be cleansed just by taking words out that offend some today?
ReplyDeleteAlexandria
LOL drama. ^_^
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, forgive me for being cynical, but... I read a kid's version of Huck when I was something like 11, it was much more dumbed-down than what you've described, but still pretty memorable. In college I learned of-- although never read-- another update where Huck masterbates in one scene and the book ends with Jim getting shot while running from slave hunters. So it goes two ways. And besides that, the book is (I think) in the public domain now-- there have been dozens of rewrites and adaptations on it, why object to another?
-LupLun
Lupines and Lunatics
Read about this on Yahoo news earlier and I can't believe it.
ReplyDeleteCrazy.
Though I do see LupLun's point, too.
I'm not for censorship, but it's hard to know which is the right way to go with something like this.
Ugh, totally agree with everything you've said. What a foolish idea.
ReplyDeleteCensoring - WRONG. It was written that way for a reason, it shouldn't be changed.
ReplyDelete