The role of censorship in literature
Censorship has been a part of the written word for centuries, beginning with Socrates. It restricts freedom of expression, unfortunately leading to the death of authors’ works. On the other hand, censorship can also be seen as a catalyst for creativity and innovation.
History of censorship
In 399 BC, Socrates was found guilty of corrupting the youth and bringing in new deities to replace the ones honored by the city, and was thus given a death sentence by way of poisoning. Social and political norms vary across time and the same can be said for censorship. One example from history is the philosopher who faced charges of violating his own era’s moral code. But with the invention of printing technologies, there was an even greater need for censorship to control its dissemination. The press played an important role in helping the Catholic Church achieve its mission and turned into a religious battleground. Thanks to Pope Paul’s influence, the term “censorship” was given a brand new meaning when he released the first index of books that were banned in 1559. This system existed until the middle of the twentieth century. The publications were deemed too dangerous for the public to read due to their ideological content. As a result, the guards of the Holy Inquisition carried out punishments such as burning them and their authors. One of the most famous people who was put on trial due to this was Galileo Galilei, though he later retracted his beliefs. His life was spared due to the fact that the Catholic Church was in charge of regulating all universities and their print materials. Any book couldn’t be circulated without obtaining a go-ahead from them, and from 1563, French versions of books were only released with King Charles’ consent. This example was soon followed by other European countries, and the dual system also existed in the colonized territories of America. In the 18th century, the press was more often controlled than other institutions. At the beginning of 1919, European censors began to yield to demands, thus allowing the public to experience a minimal form of independent press for the first time. However, in Japan, for example, the media was still kept under strict control. The first daily newspaper appeared precisely at a time when journalists were regularly arrested and publications were frequently closed. The postal service was also subjected to a strict system of censorship. Nevertheless, the invention of printing was a crucial development in communication and became a widely-used system of communication between people and countries. During the first half of the 20th century, the British Empire actively subjected correspondence to scrutiny. Even today, this service remains an instrument of censorship in countries where the import of banned literature and non-fiction is tightly regulated.
Library censorship
Public concern about offensive books persisted throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and libraries were expected to act as custodians. This gave teachers and staff the power to censor a wide range of works under the pretext of protecting readers from morally destructive literature. Liberal countries such as Sweden and Norway boast early press freedom laws, but even there, monitoring libraries posed a problem for authors and publishers until the 20th century. Equally astonishing is the steadfastness of this tradition in US literature. One of the most striking examples of censorship was Mark Twain’s book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. It was first banned in 1885 and continued until the 1980s. Despite the Bill of Rights for Libraries, public institutions continue to face pressure to remove works of questionable content from their available literature. The censorship process for libraries has been a longstanding practice. They have been under pressure for a long time; as early as 221 BC, the deliberate burning of local structures was recorded in China. Although some of these acts were considered accidental, such as the fire in the Library of Alexandria, the book depository of Oxford University burned down in 1683 by direct order of the king. According to a report by the UNESCO Library Mission, in 2000 all institutions in Kosovo experienced the destruction of their Albanian-language collections. Over the course of 400 years, the media has been the first casualty of war, whether it be internal or external conflicts. The press was faced with a choice between making a public statement of its position or closing the publication. In the years preceding the outbreak of World War II, the media in Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Japan were subjected to fascist censorship. A war of words does not bring death, but it is no less dirty than a war with weapons. In the 20th century, some of the countries with the toughest press censorship, introduced by dictators, were Spain, Greece, Chile, and Nigeria.
How Victorian Writers Turned Censorship to Their Favor
Literary prohibitions in the Victorian era provided writers with inspiration, despite the few cases of complete book rejections. Nevertheless, they still faced pressure due to the prevailing hypocrisy. Writer Thomas Hardy’s first novel, A Poor Man and a Lady, was never published because chief publisher Alexander Macmillan felt that the way Hardy portrayed the upper class would cast a bleak picture of society. Repositories were more likely to refuse to contain certain works than publishers were to give them a negative evaluation. At the time, the most influential was the Charles Moody Library, which only distributed books that were suitable for middle-class parents to read aloud to their daughters without causing embarrassment. She told the publishing houses what to print and the authors what to write about, inspiring literati in a new way to express their point of view under Victorian censorship. The publisher of George Eliot’s works criticized them precisely because the author portrayed people as they really are, rather than presenting an idealistic picture of the world. The description of the complexities of middle-class life was particularly controversial; the story of the dirty conditions of existence and the use of alcohol was perceived as an unwelcome reminder of social problems.
Internet and censorship
Now, the problem of censorship has shifted from the printed word to the web. The practice of restricting the posting and viewing of content is fairly common in many countries. The main goal of internet censorship is to protect authorship, control cybercrime, and prevent the active spread of false news. One of the main drawbacks of the system was not the limited sources, but rather the lack of freedom of expression. During the process of blocking “malicious” content, censorship restricts access to real information and exacerbates ignorance, resulting in a lack of access to the truth. The government, through censorship, gives an advantage to a particular community, enabling them to use it to their benefit. This allows those in power to control what citizens of the country can see or express. Of course, corporations are the main groups that carry out Internet censorship. For example, restrictions imposed within large social networks prevent small and medium-sized enterprises from gaining an audience and selling their products. Banning certain works is nothing new, and the process of rejecting books is almost as old as literature itself. At its core, censorship brings a lot of inconvenience to both authors and audiences. And yet, it is able to motivate the work of the imagination and new creative manifestations.
In conclusion, we can see that book censorship is not a new phenomenon; books have been banned for various reasons long before the invention of printing. Often, works that were banned were sent to the fire. However, practice shows that objectionable works usually outlived their censors and some of them are now recognized as literary masterpieces.