Bleeping Mark Twain? Censorship, Huckleberry Finn, and the Functions of Literature

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorTally, Robert T., Jr.
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-10T15:15:12Z
dc.date.available2020-03-10T15:15:12Z
dc.date.issued2013-05
dc.description.abstractThe most recent controversy over the use of that word in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn highlights the interactions among writing, editing, teaching, and reading, and this serves as a point of entry into a discussion of the function of literature itself. For many, works like Huckleberry Finn are touchstone texts for both enjoying and studying literature, inasmuch as the delights and the lessons of the novel spark an interest in further reading. NewSouth Books' publication of an edition of the novel that substitutes the word "slave" for the famously offensive epithet has been roundly criticized by scholars and laypersons alike. However, as editor Alan Gribben explains, the intent of this "censorship," as it is most often called, is to expand the readership and extend the influence of the novel. In his introduction, Gribben emphatically endorses the use of other, non-expurgated editions, but insists that this NewSouth Edition is intended to bring new and younger readers to Twain's masterpiece, a worthy goal, as most critics would agree. In this essay, Robert T. Tally Jr. examines the controversy over censoring Huckleberry Finn as part of a larger debate over the role of literature in education and in the world.
dc.description.departmentEnglish
dc.formatText
dc.format.extent12 pages
dc.format.medium1 file (.pdf)
dc.identifier.citationTally, R. T. (2013). Bleeping Mark Twain? Censorship, Huckleberry Finn, and the functions of literature. Teaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice, 6(1), pp. 97–108.
dc.identifier.issn2150-3974
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/9359
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherTeaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice (TALTP)
dc.sourceTeaching American Literature: A Journal of Theory and Practice, Spring 2013, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 97–108.
dc.subjectcensorship
dc.subjectFinn, Huckleberry
dc.subjectliterature
dc.subjectTwain, Mark
dc.subjectEnglish
dc.titleBleeping Mark Twain? Censorship, Huckleberry Finn, and the Functions of Literature
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Bleeping_Mark_Twain_Censorship_Huckleber.pdf
Size:
117.55 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.54 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

College of Liberal Arts