Altering Twain

by Alec Harvey
Auburn-Montgomery professor Alan Gribben not shocked his editing of Twain classics drawing fire
Published: Wednesday, January 05, 2011, 5:40 AM Updated: Wednesday, January 05, 2011, 10:40 AM


Alan Gribben edited new version of Mark Twain classics.
A Montgomery publisher and the AUM professor who edited out more than 200 uses of a racially derogatory term in a new edition of Mark Twain’s "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" say they’re not surprised that they’re coming under fire in some quarters.

"Probably a dozen years or so ago, I would have thought the same way," Alan Gribben, a professor of English at Auburn University Montgomery, said Tuesday night. "The author’s final text is sacrosanct and should never be altered."

But Gribben, who has studied and taught Twain for 40 years, changed his mind as he toured the state a few years ago reading to audiences from "Tom Sawyer" as part of the NEA’s Big Read program. He’d routinely replace the n-word -- used 219 times in "Huck Finn" and nine times in "Tom Sawyer," he said -- with the word "slave," which he has done in NewSouth Books’ new combined edition of the two works. In addition, the word "Injun" is replaced with Indian.

"We were very aware that we were doing something that was potentially very provocative and controversial," NewSouth publisher Suzanne La Rosa said. "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."

Gribben said that reaction has been fast and mostly furious since word came out about the new edition, which is at press right now and should be shipped in mid-February.

"I’ve gotten dozens and dozens of e-mails, most of them very critical of me," he said. "One thing that has amused me about it is that in the e-mails that take me to task for substituting the word ‘slave,’ not one of these hotly worded e-mails has mentioned the n-word. ... They won’t say the word, and they won’t write the word."

Taken to task

Gribben has gotten criticized roundly by fellow Twain scholars.

"The Mark Twain guild has brought pretty universal condemnation, but I hope they might soften their views once the book comes out and they read my introduction and my reasons," he said. "I’m not going to apologize for this. I want readers to have this as an option."

In the introduction to the new Twain edition, Gribben said he "gradually reached the conclusion that an epithet-free edition of Twain’s books is needed today."

[Read excerpt from Gribben's introduction.]


"Numerous communities currently ban ‘Huckleberry Finn’ as required reading in public schools," he wrote. "The American Library Association lists this novel as one of the most frequently challenged books across the nation."

An option

La Rosa says she doesn’t expect the NewSouth edition of Twain’s classics to replace others that are out there.

"There’s an abundance of other editions that are faithful to the original text," she said. "This is simply an option for teachers who would prefer to offer something else to students who find it difficult.

"What I’m hoping is that this book will be received well in the quarters where it will help the most," La Rosa added. "I’m not expecting it to be universally adopted by educators or academics."

But, she said, she knows the publication of the new edition will be controversial.

"We try to publish books that we feel have cultural content, and we’re not afraid to take chances with the literature we do publish," she said. "We are a pretty unafraid little house."

The new Twain edition won’t replace the other editions that have become iconic in literature, said Gribben, who has taught at AUM for 20 years, 19 of those as head of the English Department.

"It’s always going to be in print with the original wording, and I applaud that," he said. "I think I may have offered some teachers and some general readers an option for a more palatable reading experience."