WDYT... Should classic literature be censored?

http://ireport.cnn.com/blogs/ireport-blog/2011/01/04/in-other-words-or-maybe-not?hpt=C2

This is talking about publishing Huck Finn with "slave" rather than "the n word". To me, that's part of history. It speaks of a different time when words like that were the norm, and it helps young readers learn from the past. I can understand censoring your typical 4-letter words that are mostly empty in meaning anyway, but this is talking about race relations in a time when one race was considered superior to another. I think combined with history and the Christianity that is also mentioned several times in the book, Huck Finn can be a great teaching tool. What next? Are people afraid it'll cause kids to run away on a raft down the Mississippi? Maybe we should take that part out? Will it cause kids to trick their friends into getting what they want? Take that out, too? I really don't think reading a book like this will teach kids to call others names of that sort unless it's not taught properly. :roll:

 

Funny, I'm currently reading this book to my son right now. The n word is everywhere and racism is all over the place. Since I am reading it aloud I replace the n word with another one, but I took the time to explain the word and why it isn't to be used now. It has given us many chances to talk about racism and slavery.

Should Huckleberry Finn be censored? No, but I wouldn't have a problem with an edition that replaced that word with slave. I wouldn't consider that censored, but giving more options.

 

I don't think it should be censored. However, I would not mind the book having an explanation of the history of the "n" word or how it was used in that time and now...that kind of thing. That may be helpful in closing the gap in history.

 

I agree! I wouldn't read that word or any offensive word orally, and I always change them when we read books like that, but I don't think the book itself should be changed.

 

As a college prof, this sickens me a bit. When we hid from knowledge (or worse, hide it from our children) we can't learn from it, and that is a recipe for disaster. I just had a similar issue with a film in one of my freshman comp classes and had to blog about it. I would rather have my children know of the word (or any language) and why it has power and why we don't use it and what it represents, no run from it.

Just what modern America needs, more ignorance.

 

I am totally against any kind of literary censorship! I can see the point being made here that a word is no longer in use, but we can say the same of many such words of Shakespeare's time, they just aren't as close to our psyche as that one is now. Do they want to take "gay" apparel out of our Christmas carols too? (which yes, I had to explain to my children this holiday when they didn't get why their friends were snickering). People need to learn to deal with different cultures and points of view... classic literature is a great neutral point to discuss that with.

Personally I get upset when there are American and English versions of books like Harry Potter!!! Why do we have to make everything Americanized... why can't we all just learn a little English slang... some of those cute phrases might actually catch on here! )

In the Huck Finn case, time and place are crucial for understanding historical relativism. The culture and time dimensions are built into these books and give them a distinct flavor -- for better or worse -- how are we to judge that now when people may have a totally different view 10-20 years from now?

How many of you remember Disney's Song of the South movie that has been "vaulted" indefinitely for political incorrectness? It's one of my favorite movies and a beautiful period field to teach historical relativism, as much so as Gone with the Wind, another very era defined movie. Walt Disney broke down many of the racial barriers in the film industry during his early days. I loved that he took on the Brer Rabbit tales in this pioneer life action-cartoon integrated film. I have read many of the Brer Rabbit original publications to my children with all the southern terminology and culture built into them, and the discussions and research which stemmed from them were priceless. I can't imagine the censorship that would occur to make these books "PC".

Just my thoughts...

 

Interesting!!! What is it with Huck Finn right now? I just started reading it on Monday. And boy, I noticed that word right off! No, I didn't change it. It was a word that was part of the culture of the day, and I keep to the original.

I am not against censorship 100%. Some things I will change, but that's one I would rather discuss the language.

Oh, I also have a big, thick book of Uncle Remus, and the Disney version. I LOVE the Disney version! I got a copy in 6th grade, when my teacher read it aloud to me. It wore out, I found a new copy, and would take it with me whenever I substitute taught. I was an "expert" reading those stories aloud!

 

I agree with Gwenny99, it absolutely should not be censored. History is history, you cannot change it, but you can learn from it.

Hsmom...that word is far from "not in use" anymore. It is nice to see that its not in use in your daily life, or most peoples daily life because its a word that has an awful history. But that doesn't mean it is not in use anymore.

I was searching "canning" on google, and came up with a forum that just mortified me. I was SHOCKED that anyone could feel the way these people do...and they have a large membershp! Its called N*****mania forum. I was absolutely appalled that these people still exist in this day and time, and that they are raising their children with the same mind set. I read a few posts, and I showed it to my husband and he said... have these people never had a history lesson?

There are a lot of things in our history that are brutal but need to be taught, age appropriate of course. Hiding, or changing history results in ignorance.

 

In the case of Huck Finn, censorship can't change the past. People need to learn from it.

 

I don't agree with censoring classic literature. It is what it is, learn from it.

 

Well stated!

 

We'll always find something with which we disagree, which is part of the reason for reading great literature: To be challenged and taken outside our comfort zone. What about the immorality in Anna Karenina or Jude the Obscure? What about gruesome deaths in some of Dickens' books? Or the school of wizardry and witchcraft in Harry Potter? Usually these themes are incidental to a more important message. The danger is that we censor based on current social mores - racism and homosexuality being two of them right now.

Personally, I see controversial books and passages as learning moments, explaining how culture changes through the years while the love of God remains unchanged. Wouldn't lessons be dull for our high-school children if we only allowed them to read sanitized versions of books with which we agree (although we certainly chose books more carefully at younger ages).

 

Heck, what about the immorality in the Bible?

 

My husband read the book out load when our older two were 10 and 7, he also changed the word while he was reading, and I think he would have welcomed an edited version of the text. I would never recommend censoring the original, as in banning the original wording. We told the kids what we were doing at the onset of reading it, but it was just too harsh to read out loud. To me, the "n" word is on par with many 4 letter words. The kids have gone on the read the book for themselves since they are quite a bit older and mature, and they read the original wording. Our mostly caucasian family has gone on to adopt a black child. I frankly dread introducing the whole slavery topic in history, and the reading of Huck Finn, with him in the future. I won't gloss over it, that's for sure, but it is going to be hard.

 

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2011/01/teaching_huck_finn_without_the_n_word.html

 

I think as parents/teachers, we have the responsibility to know our audience and make decisions to change a word as we feel necessary. But I resent a publisher making that decision for me.

 

As a parent or teacher you would have the decision to buy the edited version or the regular version. I don't see how it is censure when original versions are abundant. There are edited versions of Bible stories that are written to be more age appropriate than the content in the Bible text. Yet, the Bible text is available and abundant.

 

Good point, Embassy! But consider this. When I go into a bookstore to buy the book, will it say on the cover that this is a book with those changes made? See, that's the sticking point to me. Will the original version continue to be printed, or only the PC version? When I buy a Children's Bible, I know that it isn't the "original" going in. No one is going to buy that and think it was the original. But with Huck Finn they might. I have trouble enough sometimes finding out if a book is abridged or not, or sometimes a "simplified" version, because it's not clearly stated as such on the cover.

 

That is a good point Jackie. I would hate for someone to buy the book or get it from the library thinking it is the original text.

Speaking of this topic, my ds 14 read Of Mice and Men earlier this year, so we had a talk about the language and why the author wrote that way, and now we are tackling To Kill a Mockingbird which deals with racism in a HARSH light, and also has a rape issue, both of which I needed to discuss with my ds BEFORE he even opened the book. But he is 14, I would never have my 8-10 yr old read that text - the themes themselves dictate an older audience.

 

I have actually stopped reading some books in the middle, because I didn't like the direction they were taking. Both of them I would have been OK with Rachael reading, but not my other two. And, come to think of it, both had to do with older men and younger girls.