Introduction

A new edition of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has generated much controversy because it will replace the word "nigger," which occurs 219 times in the book, with "slave." (The edition also substitutes "Indian" for "injun.") Alan Gribben, an English professor at Auburn University at Montgomery, proposed the idea to the publisher because he believes the pervasive use of that word makes it harder for students to read or absorb the book. In an introduction to the new edition, he wrote, “even at the level of college and graduate school, students are capable of resenting textual encounters with this racial appellative.”



The publisher, NewSouth Books, has been roundly criticized for making the word change. But is there never any justification for altering a classic -- even if the revised edition would serve a specialized audience (like high school students) or readers who feel assaulted and are unable to get past that epithet?