Of all the....

[fireun]

 otterdance  has an excellent discussion on the editing of Huck Finn.

When we get to the point where we are editing works of literature that reflect a period we are really missing the point of writing. And reading. Have dialog with your students instead of washing over anything that could inspire discussion. We aren't teaching at this point if we take away anything there is to teach. Editing works to fit modern asinine feelings of what is and is not appropriate is a failure of gross proportions to take something of value from these works, even if that value is nothing more than a discussion of why a certain word/topic/idea is offensive/hurtful/inappropriate. We cannot learn and grow if we merely decide to wash things away.

Comments

[jecook]

Um, the 'editing' that was occurring was removal of words considered offensive.

You did read the entry she linked to, yes?

It's funny- people seem to get all offended when the majority group uses slang words to reference minority groups. No one seems to be offended when the reverse happens.

Oh, did I mention I love standards, because there are so many of them?

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Um... I did. I thought I offered a parallel example that resonanted with me.
The *N* word = ancient greek willies. Both castrated in the name of PCness...