Huck Finn runs up against the PC police.

[AztecWilliam]

Know who was ahead of his time in identifying political correctness? Answer: Stan Freberg. If you are not familiar with Stan Freberg, you have missed out on some of the most brilliant audio satire of the 20th Century. Anyway, one of the comedy records Stan made (he also worked in other media) had the following scenario. A singer (played by Stan) was going to record the song "Old Man River." But somebody at the record company decided that some of the lyrics were derogatory and must be changed. One by one, lines in the lyrics had to be changed. But most importantly, the very title, "Old Man River," was considered offensive to senior citizens. So what did Stan finally sing instead of the traditional "Old Man River"? He sang "Elderly Man River"! ! !

Changing the title of that old song is one thing. Fooling around with one of the great American novels is something else. Actually, it's Orwellian, as this article explains:

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/christopherhowse/100050316/huckleberry-finn-loses-the-nigger-he-loves-thanks-to-a-publishers-ethnic-cleansing/

AzWm

[Bob Forsythe]

I don't see it as being Orwellian, just as I don't see southern states removing references to slavery being a cause of the Civil War as being Orwellian.

I do think it's more than a little stupid. It's set in a certain time in this country's history and to delete certain names for this or that ethnic group goes against Twain's form of writing.

Any name for any ethnic group can be turned into something pejorative. Words have the power we give them.

But either way, reading Twain as he wrote it offers a window into the times and that leads to "teachable moments". I can think of all sorts of discussions in HS lit classes that could come out of Twain's use of the word, N_igger (suspect it would be censored on here if I wrote it correctly).

Kids need to be exposed to words so they understand the history of the words and how they were used. Ain't like any kid over the age of 8 hasn't heard that word and a lot of other derogatory words, anyway.

=Bob

[AztecWilliam]

Well, Bob, I certainly agree with you. And with the author of the piece.

Unfortunately, there are some folks today who want to reshape the past to fit in more comfortably with what they think the present should be. It's Orwellian in a sense. You no doubt remember how Big Brother's thought machine tried to do pretty much what the publisher in question is doing, but on a much larger scale.

This is something with a historical precedent. There was the case of a news photo from the Eastern Bloc which had been doctored so that one of the three dignitaries in the picture was no longer visible! Seems the guy had become a non-person in the interim.

AzWm

[aztecphotos]

In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king. In today's society I'm afraid the average citizen isn't engaged or bright enough to recognize the significance of preserving art, history markers in time that give us insight to mores and behaviors of the past. It's how we learn and evolve.

[sportnlyf]

Ernie, did you say evolve as in evolution?

[aztecphotos]

Jan 6, 2011 19:45:56 GMT -8 sportnlyf said:

Ernie, did you say evolve as in evolution?

Yup, as in grow, learn, improve...

[Deleted]

Jan 5, 2011 23:33:56 GMT -8 aztecphotos said:

In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king. In today's society I'm afraid the average citizen isn't engaged or bright enough to recognize the significance of preserving art, history markers in time that give us insight to mores and behaviors of the past. It's how we learn and evolve.

The President of John Hopkins has said we are graduating generations of barbarians. The reason the University has adopted the scientific method in almost all it's curriculum and science is value neutral.
Scientism is in fact the most dangerous threat to our existence,along wth its physicalist metaphysic, that reduces all life to a reductive nihilism.