By Carlos Serrano
The University of Virginia Club (UVaClub) of Savannah hosted a lecture on Mark Twain March 9 at Georgia Historical Society’s Hodgson Hall. Led by Stephen Railton, professor of English from the University of Virginia, the lecture focused on Railton’s efforts to bring Mark Twain into the 21st century through new technology, especially the Internet. Railton, whose publications focus on 19th century authors like Mark Twain, is responsible for the creation of various major Internet archives, including one on Twain.
Railton began the lecture with a brief history of the creation of the site. Believing that technology helps foster understanding of feelings better, he set out to create the website to help his students better understand Twain in the context of his life. He admitted there were some problems in the beginning.
“I was going to have to think of what [the students] expect when sitting in front of a computer,” he told the audience.
Railton went on to explain how the website eventually came to incorporate images and sound to further bring his students into the experience.
As the lecture continued, Railton focused on Twain and his identity. He explained how “Mark Twain” was more of an alter ego to Samuel Clemens, the person. Navigating the website, Railton showed a collection of papers signed by Mark Twain throughout his life. As each one showed up on a projector, he pointed out the different ways Twain signed his letters, from the simple “Sam” to the puzzling “Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain).”
Eventually, and perhaps inevitably, Railton touched on the recent controversy over a new edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” This edition replaces instances of the n-word with the word “slave,” and its announcement sparked a debate as to whether or not changing the text was the right thing to do. Railton did not go too in depth as to his own opinions on the matter, but did leave the audience with a question:
“What is our obligation as students of literature? To make the past into what we want, or to see what’s really there?”
