"The N-Word of the Narcissus." By Joseph Conrad

[Baker, John]

        In case you were wondering (and I certainly had some doubt),
this is a real thing:  A publisher has issued The N-Word of the
Narcissus.  The introduction explains:

        <<This new edition of Joseph Conrad's classic "tale of the sea"
is being presented as a "public service," and indeed it is such, for by
employing the simple expedient of replacing the n-word with "n-word"
through the text, it has enable the restoration of an otherwise
neglected, if not shunned, work to deserved attention.  Yes, Conrad's
"The N-word of the Narcissus" is a neglected classic, frankly (and there
can be no other explanation) for the liberal use it makes of the n-word,
scattered throughout its pages, a jarring phenomenon to the
sensibilities of moderns used to avoiding that particular term like the
plague.>>

        Most of the reviews on Amazon are quite negative, even though
the publisher clearly has a point:  The book really has suffered from
its unfortunate title.  There does, however, exist an alternative:  The
original publication in the United States used the title The Children of
the Sea: A Tale of the Forecastle, so republication under that name
would seem to be unproblematic (and I don't think that the unexpurgated
text would present the same problem posed by the title).  I don't think
I'm too far off the mark, therefore, in suspecting that The N-Word of
the Narcissus is essentially a stunt.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011 6:24 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: "The N-Word of the Narcissus." By Joseph Conrad

Wow! I call dibs on replacing all the n-words in _Huckleberry Finn_ with
the
(non-) n-word "n-word"! Then I'll move on to hip-hop.

I'll be rich! Famous! Beloved!

Well, rich. I'll let you know how it turns out.

JL

On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 5:41 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Subject:      "The N-Word of the Narcissus." By Joseph Conrad
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> For commentary, cf.
>
> http://www.wordbridge.net/reprint/narcissus.htm
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
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