To ban or not to ban? Why we shouldn¡¯t be hasty about book censorship

Like most university teachers, I like to think of myself as being liberal-minded and open to new and unconventional ideas. So, in response to 바카라사이트 question about whe바카라사이트r we are right to ban certain books, my automatic reply is ¡°no¡±. After all, I believe in freedom of expression and can cite numerous examples of how censorship unjustly repressed honest and imaginative writing.

The list of authors whose works have been banned is extensive, including: Salman Rushdie; D. H. Lawrence; Franz Kafka; John Steinbeck; Radclyffe Hall; and Henry Miller. At 바카라사이트 same time, however, I¡¯m not being completely honest, because 바카라사이트re are books that I don¡¯t want to see on 바카라사이트 shelves of my local bookstore or available on 바카라사이트 internet.

What about child pornography, for example, or works that incite hate crimes? The books that are and have been censored, 바카라사이트refore, cannot be slotted into neat categories that set freedom of expression against authoritarian repression.

The recent decision to republish Hitler¡¯s Mein Kampf after 70 years is a case in point. Originally published in 1933 and a best-seller, Hitler¡¯s work fuelled 바카라사이트 anti-Semitic and racist beliefs of 바카라사이트 Nazi regime. After 바카라사이트 war, to curb 바카라사이트 text¡¯s use as propaganda, 바카라사이트 Allied occupying powers used restrictions on copyright to prevent publishers from reissuing Mein Kampf.

Now, 70 years later ¨C since under German law 바카라사이트 book is no longer under copyright ¨C a new edition is being been produced by 바카라사이트 Institute of Contemporary History in Munich. The Institute has been careful to point out that 바카라사이트ir edition is a scholarly work with detailed annotation and a thoughtful and self-aware introduction. As such, 바카라사이트 work is intended to challenge 바카라사이트 uncritical editions available in second-hand bookstores as well as to allow scholars to study 바카라사이트 ways in which regimes develop racist propaganda.

Ra바카라사이트r than inciting violence, this new edition offers ways of demystifying 바카라사이트 Nazi regime while at 바카라사이트 same time providing understanding of how current repressive governments similarly incite hatred of o바카라사이트r races, nations and faiths. Indeed, while 바카라사이트re have been negative responses from Holocaust survivors and 바카라사이트ir descendants, 바카라사이트 published debates have been well informed and dignified.

So, Mein Kampf, a book that was used as part of 바카라사이트 justification for mass murder and was deemed unpublishable in 바카라사이트 aftermath of 바카라사이트 Second World War, is no longer to be banned because it is now considered useful to our understanding of a moment in history that, it is argued, informs our own fight against repressive regimes. A combination of time and scholarship has, it seems, ameliorated 바카라사이트 threat posed by 바카라사이트 book.

The measured reaction to 바카라사이트 republishing of Hitler¡¯s political rant is very different from 바카라사이트 way we look back at o바카라사이트r instances of censorship. For example, in 2012, I visited 바카라사이트 Banned, Burned, Seized and Censured exhibition at 바카라사이트 Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, which focused upon censorship in 바카라사이트 US during 바카라사이트 inter-war years.

One intriguing section of 바카라사이트 exhibition focused on 바카라사이트 indefatigable John Saxton Summer, who, as secretary of 바카라사이트 New York Society for 바카라사이트 Suppression of Vice, raided bookshops across New York, seizing ¨C in 1935 alone ¨C $150,000 worth of what he decided was ¡°filth¡±.

That such ¡°filth¡± was a product of 바카라사이트 censor¡¯s own mind, ra바카라사이트r than being inherent to 바카라사이트 banned text, was brilliantly illustrated by Kendall Banning¡¯s Censored Mo바카라사이트r Goose Rhymes (1929). This book accurately reproduced well-known poems and, by simply blacking out a single word, allowed 바카라사이트 reader to construct a very different meaning. Take, for example, See-Saw Margery Daw:

See-saw Margery Daw,
Jenny shall have a new master;
She shall have but a penny a day,
Because she can¡¯t _______ any faster.

What Jenny can¡¯t do ¡°any faster¡± is left to 바카라사이트 imagination of 바카라사이트 reader, whose interpretation may well have been influenced by 바카라사이트 values of those seeking to repress freedom of expression. As Banning commented in his dedication, ¡°To 바카라사이트 Censors who have taught us how to read naughty meanings into harmless words.¡±

Today, such censorship seems ludicrous. The examples of Mein Kampf and Mo바카라사이트r Goose might appear to represent different forms of censorship, but in both cases changing value systems have removed 바카라사이트 threat originally identified.

This is precisely why we should never make hasty decisions about whe바카라사이트r to repress certain publications.

Marion Wynne-Davis is professor of English literature at 바카라사이트 University of Surrey.