Alan Gribben
Encyclopedia
Alan Gribben is a professor of English at Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama
and a noted Mark Twain
scholar. He was Distinguished Research Professor from 1998 to 2001 and the Dr. Guinevera A. Nance Alumni Professor from 2006 to 2009. He engendered widespread controversy in 2011 when he announced the publication of expurgated versions of Twain's works.
, an M.A. at the University of Oregon
and a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley
. At the University of Texas, Austin, Gribben was Assistant Professor from 1974 to 1980, Associate Professor from 1980 to 1988, and Professor from 1988 to 1991. He became Head and Professor, Department of English and Philosophy, Auburn University at Montgomery in 1991, where he remains. He was co-founder (1986) of the Mark Twain Circle of America, a scholarly society. He was a Member, Executive Board, American Literature Association from 1989 to 1996, a Henry Nash Smith Fellow, Center for Mark Twain Studies (1997–1999) and Distinguished Research Professor, Auburn University at Montgomery (1998–2001).
He died on September 16th 2011.
(1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1884) with NewSouth Books
in February 2011. This edition replaces the word "nigger
" (which occurs 219 times in the original Huckleberry Finn novel) with "slave", "Injun Joe" with "Indian Joe," and "half-breed
" with "half-blood". No other changes to the original texts are planned besides these word replacements. Only 7,500 copies are planned.
Gribben stated in the foreword to the new edition that he "want[ed] to provide an option for teachers and other people not comfortable with 219 instances of that word". He added:
But Gribben's view has been widely challenged. Executive director Cindy Lowell of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum has said that "the book is an anti-racist book and to change the language changes the power of the book." The removal of "nigger" from the text of Huckleberry Finn has been especially controversial. According to a writer at The Economist
, one cannot “fully appreciate why ‘nigger’ is taboo today if you don't know how it was used back then, and you can't fully appreciate what it was like to be a slave if you don't know how slaves were addressed. The ‘visible sense of relief’ Mr Gribben reports in his listeners is not, in fact, desirable; feeling discomfort when you read the book today is part of the point of reading it.”
Gribben commented on the criticism, pointing out that, for instance, that the n-word was de facto banned from many of the publications in which his critics called for its restoration: "I had to laugh whenever the professional commentators avoided pronouncing or printing the very word they were mocking me for substituting and that they are expecting public school teachers to read aloud in integrated classrooms." He suggested that Twain himself, "probably our most commercially minded author ever", might not be displeased with a "a revision that would reinsert his boy books back into school classrooms and gain new readers", and cited a number of positive responses he received from teachers.
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and a noted Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
scholar. He was Distinguished Research Professor from 1998 to 2001 and the Dr. Guinevera A. Nance Alumni Professor from 2006 to 2009. He engendered widespread controversy in 2011 when he announced the publication of expurgated versions of Twain's works.
Biography
Gribben earned a B.A. at the University of KansasUniversity of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, an M.A. at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
and a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. At the University of Texas, Austin, Gribben was Assistant Professor from 1974 to 1980, Associate Professor from 1980 to 1988, and Professor from 1988 to 1991. He became Head and Professor, Department of English and Philosophy, Auburn University at Montgomery in 1991, where he remains. He was co-founder (1986) of the Mark Twain Circle of America, a scholarly society. He was a Member, Executive Board, American Literature Association from 1989 to 1996, a Henry Nash Smith Fellow, Center for Mark Twain Studies (1997–1999) and Distinguished Research Professor, Auburn University at Montgomery (1998–2001).
He died on September 16th 2011.
Edited version of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Gribben published a new combined edition of Twain's Tom SawyerTom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
(1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...
(1884) with NewSouth Books
NewSouth Books
NewSouth Books is an independent publishing house founded in 2000 in Montgomery, Alabama, by editor H. Randall Williams and publisher Suzanne LaRosa. Williams was the founder of Black Belt Press, working there from 1986 to 1999, and LaRosa worked in magazine and book publishing in New York City,...
in February 2011. This edition replaces the word "nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
" (which occurs 219 times in the original Huckleberry Finn novel) with "slave", "Injun Joe" with "Indian Joe," and "half-breed
Half-breed
Half-breed is an historic term used to describe anyone who is mixed Native American and white European parentage...
" with "half-blood". No other changes to the original texts are planned besides these word replacements. Only 7,500 copies are planned.
Gribben stated in the foreword to the new edition that he "want[ed] to provide an option for teachers and other people not comfortable with 219 instances of that word". He added:
For nearly forty years I have led college classes, bookstore forums, and library reading groups in detailed discussions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in California, Texas, New York, and Alabama, and I always recoiled from uttering the racial slurs spoken by numerous characters, including Tom and Huck. I invariably substituted the word "slave" for Twain’s ubiquitous n-word whenever I read any passages aloud. Students and audience members seemed to prefer this expedient, and I could detect a visible sense of relief each time, as though a nagging problem with the text had been addressed.
But Gribben's view has been widely challenged. Executive director Cindy Lowell of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum has said that "the book is an anti-racist book and to change the language changes the power of the book." The removal of "nigger" from the text of Huckleberry Finn has been especially controversial. According to a writer at The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, one cannot “fully appreciate why ‘nigger’ is taboo today if you don't know how it was used back then, and you can't fully appreciate what it was like to be a slave if you don't know how slaves were addressed. The ‘visible sense of relief’ Mr Gribben reports in his listeners is not, in fact, desirable; feeling discomfort when you read the book today is part of the point of reading it.”
Gribben commented on the criticism, pointing out that, for instance, that the n-word was de facto banned from many of the publications in which his critics called for its restoration: "I had to laugh whenever the professional commentators avoided pronouncing or printing the very word they were mocking me for substituting and that they are expecting public school teachers to read aloud in integrated classrooms." He suggested that Twain himself, "probably our most commercially minded author ever", might not be displeased with a "a revision that would reinsert his boy books back into school classrooms and gain new readers", and cited a number of positive responses he received from teachers.