Satire or evasion? : black perspectives on Huckleberry Finn

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Bibliographic Information

Satire or evasion? : black perspectives on Huckleberry Finn

edited by James S. Leonard, Thomas A. Tenney, and Thadious M. Davis

Duke University Press, 1992

  • : pbk

Available at  / 42 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [239]-269) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

ISBN 9780822311638

Description

Though one of America's best known and loved novels, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has often been the object of fierce controversy because of its racist language and reliance on racial stereotypes. This collection of fifteen essays by prominent African American scholars and critics examines the novel's racist elements and assesses the degree to which Twain's ironies succeed or fail to turn those elements into a satirical attack on racism. Ranging from the laudatory to the openly hostile, these essays include personal impressions of Huckleberry Finn, descriptions of classroom experience with the book, evaluations of its ironic and allegorical aspects, explorations of its nineteenth-century context, and appraisal of its effects on twentieth-century African American writers. Among the issues the authors contend with are Twain's pervasive use of the word "nigger," his portrayal of the slave Jim according to the conventions of the minstrel show "darky," and the thematic chaos created by the "evasion" depicted in the novel's final chapters. Sure to provoke thought and stir debate, Satire or Evasion? provides a variety of new perspectives on one of this country's most troubling classics. Contributors. Richard K. Barksdale, Bernard W. Bell, Mary Kemp Davis, Peaches M. Henry, Betty Harris Jones, Rhett S. Jones, Julius Lester, Donnarae MacCann, Charles H. Nichols, Charles H. Nilon, Arnold Rampersad, David L. Smith, Carmen Dubryan, John H. Wallace, Kenny Jackson Williams, Fredrick Woodard

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v Introduction: The Controversy over Huckleberry Finn / James S. Leonard and Thomas A. Tenney 1 Huck Finn and the Authorities The Case Against Huck Finn / John H. Wallace 16 The Struggle for Tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huckleberry Finn / Peaches Henry 25 History, Slavery, and Thematic Irony in Huckleberry Finn / Richard K. Barksdale 49 Jim and Huck in the Nineteenth Century The Ending of Huckleberry Finn: "Freeing the Free Negro" / Charles H. Nilon 62 The Veil Rant in Twain: Degradation and Revelation in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Mary Kemp Davis 77 Mark Twain and the Black Challenge / Carmen Subryan 91 Huck, Jim, and American Racial Discourse / David L. Smith 103 Blackface and White Inside Twain's "Nigger" Jim: The Tragic Face behind the Minstrel Mask / Bernard W. Bell 124
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780822311744

Description

Though one of America's best known and loved novels, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has often been the object of fierce controversy because of its racist language and reliance on racial stereotypes. This collection of fifteen essays by prominent African American scholars and critics examines the novel's racist elements and assesses the degree to which Twain's ironies succeed or fail to turn those elements into a satirical attack on racism. Ranging from the laudatory to the openly hostile, these essays include personal impressions of Huckleberry Finn, descriptions of classroom experience with the book, evaluations of its ironic and allegorical aspects, explorations of its nineteenth-century context, and appraisal of its effects on twentieth-century African American writers. Among the issues the authors contend with are Twain's pervasive use of the word "nigger," his portrayal of the slave Jim according to the conventions of the minstrel show "darky," and the thematic chaos created by the "evasion" depicted in the novel's final chapters. Sure to provoke thought and stir debate, Satire or Evasion? provides a variety of new perspectives on one of this country's most troubling classics. Contributors. Richard K. Barksdale, Bernard W. Bell, Mary Kemp Davis, Peaches M. Henry, Betty Harris Jones, Rhett S. Jones, Julius Lester, Donnarae MacCann, Charles H. Nichols, Charles H. Nilon, Arnold Rampersad, David L. Smith, Carmen Dubryan, John H. Wallace, Kenny Jackson Williams, Fredrick Woodard

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v Introduction: The Controversy over Huckleberry Finn / James S. Leonard and Thomas A. Tenney 1 Huck Finn and the Authorities The Case Against Huck Finn / John H. Wallace 16 The Struggle for Tolerance: Race and Censorship in Huckleberry Finn / Peaches Henry 25 History, Slavery, and Thematic Irony in Huckleberry Finn / Richard K. Barksdale 49 Jim and Huck in the Nineteenth Century The Ending of Huckleberry Finn: "Freeing the Free Negro" / Charles H. Nilon 62 The Veil Rant in Twain: Degradation and Revelation in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Mary Kemp Davis 77 Mark Twain and the Black Challenge / Carmen Subryan 91 Huck, Jim, and American Racial Discourse / David L. Smith 103 Blackface and White Inside Twain's "Nigger" Jim: The Tragic Face behind the Minstrel Mask / Bernard W. Bell 124

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