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The following review appeared 8 May 2025 on the Mark Twain Forum.
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Alan Gribben and Irene Wong have just edited and released a new edition of
_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_--an illustrated "Translated Dialect"
edition. Wong had advocated for the "Translated Dialect" edition
for years. In a personal note she explained the difficulties Gribben had faced
when teaching an American literature course in a Southern satellite campus
of Auburn University where 40-50% of his students were Black. All the students,
both Black and White, stumbled over the Black vernacular of the enslaved characters.
They said that they skipped the dialect because it was indecipherable. The
Black students went further and made the reasonable objection that only the
enslaved characters in the novel "sounded stupid."
An extensive Introduction details the history of Mark Twain's scrupulous efforts to correctly render the dialects of enslaved people of the 1840s and explains how these renderings appealed to readers of the 1880s. The editors also point out that through the ensuing 20th century and into the 21st these dialect wordings have had undesirable consequences in today's classroom, since many of today's students and adult readers find the unorthodox spelling and syntax annoying and baffling.
"Even readers who understand that enforced illiteracy lies behind the ungrammatical speech of the enslaved characters can feel disconcerted by the uncomfortable fact that the only incomprehensible dialogue in the novel is spoken by the Black figures. A solution to this dilemma is feasible for readers willing to accept a minor editorial compromise" (p. xi).
An illustration of how the "translated dialect" is rendered can be seen in a sample from Chapter 14 when the slave Jim and Huck are discussing wealthy kings and Jim says:
"I didn' know dey was so many un um. I hain't hearn 'bout none un um skasely, but ole King Sollermun, onless you counts dem kings dat's in a pack er k'yards. How much do a king git?"
The above passage is revised for today's readers:
"I didn't know there were so many of 'em. I hain't heard about none of 'em scarcely, but old King Solomon, unless you count them kings that're in a pack of cards. How much does a king get?"
This edition also restores the "raftsman passage" to Chapter 16. It was originally intended for the first edition of _Huckleberry Finn_ but later deleted and utilized in _Life on the Mississippi_.
In addition to the Introduction is a lengthy bibliography of relevant studies by today's scholars on _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, a listing of the 1885 first edition chapter headings, and the Editor's Chapter Summaries and Explanatory Notes. Wong also adapted many illustrations from the first edition.
Gribben is well-known in Mark Twain scholarship as the editor of the magisterial volumes of _Mark Twain's Literary Resources: A Reconstruction of His Library and Reading_ (2022)--a lifetime achievement in which he invested fifty years of travel, research and writing. He also edited the controversial NewSouth edition of _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ (2011), the first edition that replaced the "N-word" with the more palatable word "slave" as Gribben endeavored to combat the tide of classroom censorship or just plain avoidance for Mark Twain's literary jewel. The "N-word" has similarly been replaced by "slave" in this "Translated Dialect" edition.
Irene Wong served as managing editor of the _Mark Twain Journal_ for several years and has been a behind-the-scenes worker and supporter for all of Gribben's literary endeavors.
In today's atmosphere of book challenges and censorship across America, this "editorial compromise" edition can be a welcome alternative for schools and teachers who want to introduce their students to American literature and inspire them to dig deeper into Mark Twain's legacy. The editors introduce this edition as one that can be read to any audience, any age, anywhere.