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An American classic becomes even more readable with a translation of the dialect of the enslaved characters. The underlying interplay of actions and motives comes to the surface, and the bond of friendship between Huck and Jim emerges more vividly. Jim's decisions take on the dignity of shrewd acumen and practical wisdom. The novel's powerful story surges as appealingly as the relentless river on which Huck and Jim's raft drifts. Best of all, this illustrated edition can be read aloud to any audience, of any age, anywhere. - The Editors, Alan Gribben and Irene WongThe Translated Dialect Edition of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn adapts the dialect spoken by characters whose enslavement denied them access to literacy. Prohibited from attending schools, the enslaved population developed an oral language containing words not found in a dictionary and transgressing every grammatical rule of standard English. During the 1870s and 1880s a brief vogue arose for exhibiting these dialects in literary works. A curious public found their strange usages fascinating. As decades passed, however, subsequent readers began to view the obfuscating syntax and unorthodox diction as annoying and baffling rather than appealing.
Today, the dialects prevalent in the 1840s that Mark Twain scrupulously transcribed for purposes of realism risk undesirable consequences. Uninformed readers can too easily jump to erroneous conclusions about the intelligence of the enslaved characters solely on the basis of their utter ignorance of the conventions of the English language. Jim, Huckleberry Finn's companion in their joint flight for freedom, is sometimes misread as limited in his intellectual capacities on account of his idiosyncratic expressions.
The Translated Dialect Edition resolves these problems by asking readers to accept minor editorial compromises. Slight alterations in spelling and phrasing elevate the tone of the enslaved characters' dialogue, illuminate their intentions, and reveal their pragmatism. The translation retains the backwoods flavor of folk speech Mark Twain captured by leaving intact the grammatical errors of all the characters. The editors' decision to eliminate offensive racial slurs and references yields a version of Twain's classic that can be read aloud to any audience, of any age, anywhere.
Illustrations from the novel's first edition-modified to give them a more contemporary look-add to the reader's pleasure in reading or rereading Twain's acclaimed masterpiece.
