New "Huck Finn," "Tom Sawyer" will eliminate derogatory terms

[Millencolin]

http://blog.al.com/scenesource/2011/01/n..._will.html

A Montgomery publisher’s upcoming edition of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” will be edited to avoid more than 200 uses of the n-word, a derogatory term for blacks that has made the books difficult to teach in grade schools, the publisher says.

Instead, NewSouth Books will release a combined edition of “Tom Sawyer” and “Huck Finn” that uses the word “slave” instead, says NewSouth publisher Suzanne LaRosa. In addition, the word “Injun” will become Indian, she says.

The new edition, edited by Twain scholar Alan Gribben of the Auburn University in Montgomery, is expected to be shipped to bookstores and schools in mid-February, LaRosa says.

“We were very aware that we were doing something that was potentially very provocative and controversial,” LaRosa says. “We were very persuaded by Dr. Gribben’s point of view of what he called the amount of ‘preemptive censorship’ going on at the school level. It pained him personally to see ... the way that Twain’s novels were being de-listed from curricula across the nation. It became difficult for teachers to engage in discussion about the text when the kids were so uncomfortable, particularly with the n-word.”

[EmjaY]

You cannot mess around with literature just because it has become the custom not to use certain words. In my opinion it must destroy the original work.
Too many people are far too sensitive these days. When I was at school, some called me specky 4 eyes because I wore glasses; I don't think it scarred me for life.