Censoring Literature - Essay Example

 Topic: Censoring Literature Introduction: You injure the inner conscience of an individual-that is censorship. You gag the mouth and do not allow one to speak one’s heart and reason—that is censorship. You stand behind an individual with a weapon and tell him to speak, what you want—that is censorship. Anything that breaks the human spirit with compulsion and force is censorship. Censorship is worst than physical torture. Psychic wounds, deliberately caused, will never heal! Censorship is as old as humanity. The first thing that comes before one’s mind with the mention of the word is, the censorship of literature. Circulation of ideas by the ‘Chair-less Powers’ (intellectuals and thinkers) is a source of constant worry to the ‘Powerful Chairs’ (rulers and politicians in power). Ideas which are harmful to their interests are curtailed with the sword of censorship. The wise saying goes, “Pen is mightier than the sword”—but ask the sword; it will say, I am double-edged (engage in double-talk); but the pen has just one ‘point!’—to defend the truth! In order to secure their interests the authorities evolve many procedures which come under the umbrella of censorship. Regulate the circulation of ideas that are detrimental to the interests of the existing authorities, employ brutal measures through the repressive apparatus like judiciary, police and army, and more controlled methods like forbid the book of progressive authors, restrict access etc. The censorship can be explicit as well as implicit. “While the explicit censorship relatively clearly sets out the forbidden areas and offers a transparent system of sanctioning the violations, the implicit censorship, well known in communist regimes of the 20th century, deliberately leaves a wide range of openness; it is never completely clear when the border has been transgressed, as well as it is not clear what kind of sanctions can follow.” (Literature-2007) Be it any system of government—the principle function of the rulers, it has been observed all over the world, under all conditions, is preservation of power, authority and influence. The emphasis on the welfare measures is not how it will help the people, but how it will help the government to complete the full term, and felicitate winning in the next election! The censors plan the operation intelligently. The preliminary censorship assures the precursory control of the publication. The repressive censorship creates hard impact. The operation is carried out after the problem-causing work is published. The normal steps through this procedure are seizure of the work, prosecution of the publishers/author etc. The pages of human history are full of incidents related to censorship, wherein on many occasions the authors of the work have done the ultimate commitment for the sake of their values—their life itself! Works of all categories, religious, philosophical, scientific and literature –all have suffered the grievous blows at the hands of the censors. On many occasions blows in the literal sense! The sacred revelations like Quran, Bible, heretical or apocryphal writings, and philosophers like Copernicus, Bruno, Galileo, and Darwin were not spared by the censors. Many masterpieces of world literature were on the list of censors. Many copies of such books were mutilated or destroyed. The reasons tendered were moral, or political. In communist countries censorship of literature was one of the main weapons used by the government quite often. Works of Solzhenitsyn and Boris Pasternak come under this category. The following important literary works also faced the axe of the censors on moral and ideological grounds. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover! Voltaire’s Candide and Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin also met the same fate. Every argument can be effectively met with a counter-argument and the cycle goes on. Political histories of countries all over the world have witnessed the existing systems being challenged by the propagators of new ideas felicitating the other system to take over. The influence of certain literary works on human history has been profound. Thomas Paine, with his fire-brand and witty literature is credited with making the French Revolution and the American Revolution happen. Ample examples can be cited when the engagement in the field of literature created new opportunities for creative expression and provided rare insights, which often came into conflict with the existing ideologies and social norms. Some of the best literature came from behind the iron curtain of the communist regimes in the 20th century. This dissident literature demanded the attention of right thinking people all over the world. The above examples are eye-openers as to how literature has been treated and its development has been at the whims and fancy of the ruling clique. The freedom loving people and those who wish well for the healthy growth of literature have a responsibility. They will have to devise ways and means to face the challenges of the present times. Literary autonomy is the need of the hour. “One of the tasks of literary sciences and comparative literature is also production of persuasive theoretical arguments, which will enable them to take active part in the future, when new relations among law, literature and censorship will be established.”(Literature….) Conclusion: Literature can become instrument of power, but literature should be vigilant not to serve the power-hungry! The people should be wary about the escapist literature, which does not stand for the principles of truth. The literature that provides courage, a new world-view, essential human dignity, new values and freedom for the individual within the society is the true literature. Overt and covet steps by authorities, to censure it should be stoutly resisted. The censored literature loses its essence of creativeness. Clash of ideas is one thing. Suppression of ideas is altogether a different issue. A true lover of literature does not believe in victory or defeat for his ideas-he is just engaged in making permanent efforts to uphold what he considers as right! ============= References: Article: Literature and Censorship-The Concept of Colloquium Who is Afraid of the Truth of Literature? 5th International Comparative Literature Colloquium 22nd Vilenica International Literary Festival Wedding Hall, Lipica, Slovenia, 6th -7th September 2007 Troha (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana). Literature and Censorship: Who is Afraid of the Truth of ...1 Apr 2007 ... Numerous masterpieces of world literature canon were at some time censored, mutilated; their authors were prosecuted or placed on lists of ... www.eurolit.net/index.php?q=node/52 - 28k - Cached – Retrieved on May 1, 2009 Read More