Book censorship
Book censorship is when a book is removed from the shelf of a library. It can be enacted at the national or subnational level, and can carry legal penalties for their infraction. Books may also be challenged at a local, community level. As a result, books can be removed from schools or libraries, although these bans do not extend outside of that area. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books – a historical example being the Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum – which do not always carry legal force.
Background
"Almost every country places some restrictions on what may be published, although the emphasis and the degree of control differ from country to country and at different periods."[1] There are a variety of reasons for which books may be banned. Materials are often suppressed due to the perceived notion of obscenity. This obscenity can apply to materials that are about sexuality, race, drugs, or social standing.
Governments have also sought to ban certain books which they perceive to contain material that could threaten, embarrass, or criticize them.[2]
Other leaders outside of the government have banned books, including religious authorities.[3] Church leaders who prohibit members of their faith from reading the banned books may want to shelter them from perceived obscene, immoral, or profane ideas or situations.
But even religious materials have been subject to censorship. For example, various scriptures have been banned (and sometimes burned at several points in history). The Bible, and other religious scriptures have all been subjected to censorship and have been banned by various governments. Similarly, books based on the scriptures have also been banned, such as Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You, which was banned in the Russian Empire for being anti-establishment.
Book burning
Book burning is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material. It is usually carried out in public, and is generally motivated by moral, religious, or political objections to the material, with a desire to censor it.
Banned books
Book censorship by country
See also
- List of authors and works on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
- Burning of books and burying of scholars
- Where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people
References
- ^ A.H. McLintock, An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand: Censorship of Books. Teara.govt.nz (2009-04-23). Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
- ^ University of Pennsylvania Library: [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html Banned Books Online.
- ^ "Index Librorum Prohibitorum". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Further reading
- Haight, Anne (1970). Banned books informal notes on some books banned for various reasons at various times and in various places (3d ed. ed.). New York: R.R. Bowker. ISBN 978-0-8352-0204-6.
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