This seems to be a big topic currently. The question is whether or not books should be censored because of the language the author chose to use. Let's take a closer look:
I have been reading the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain for a few weeks now and my teacher brought up the fact that it does incorporate certain words that many people find offensive. Does this mean we shouldn't be reading it? The "N-word" is a very racial term in our modern society, but in the time period that Twain wrote the novel, it was used in every day life.
It has been proposed that the word be replaced with "slave" and that the novel be reprinted with the replacement. Now, I'm sure if Twain was alive today, he would argue that this goes against his freedom of speech, but does it make the novel less than what it was meant to be if it is censored?
I believe it does. I'm not an advocate of the word and I am in no way a racist, but I firmly believe in a writer's freedom of speech. I also think the word is very important in the context of the novel. It reflects the time period of the story, as well as the society that Twain was writing about. If we censor the "N-word" and replace it with "slave", what's to stop us from censoring the word "ass" and replacing it with "donkey"? Not only does that go against a writer's freedom of speech, it also doesn't have the same meaning as the original word. "Slave" does not translate to the "N-word".
It's only my personal opinion, but if we censor literature, not only are we defying our natural human rights, we're messing with the true meanings of the novels. What are your thoughts?
(Original Post on September 29, 2011 at: http://dft.ba/-BSMeyers96 )
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