When a reader/reviewer of my novel The Inferno Collection asked if inferno
collections actually exist, I responded that not only did inferno collections
exist in the past but still exist in more sophisticated and subtle forms today.
I am not saying that we should anticipate a
burning of the vanities as with Savonarola's followers in the past, nor do I
believe as in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit
451, that the firemen of the future will feel compelled to burn and destroy
books.
It is a fact that librarians have viewed
themselves as gatekeepers. For example, libraries such as Boston Public at one
time found it necessary to maintain separate inferno collections of banned
books considered inappropriate for general public display and reading. Often
these were books deemed salacious such as James Joyce’s Ulysses. Another
example is the Robert Winslow Gordon "Inferno" Collection in the
Archive of Folk Song, Library of Congress, consisting of material separated
out because of bawdy and scatological subject matter. Paul S. Boyer in his
article “Boston Book Censorship in the Twenties” observed that Boston Plymouth Boston Boston
As Americans we take pride in our
constitutional right to freedom of speech. Yet in
1873, the Comstock Law, or the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act, was passed. The law
stated that “whoever, within…the United States...shall have in his possession
for any such purpose or purposes, an obscene book, pamphlet…print picture or
drawing...of immoral nature…shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on
conviction thereof in the court of the United States…he shall be imprisoned at
hard labor in the penitentiary.” Under the law, books like The Canterbury Tales by William
Chaucer and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata
were banned. American masterpieces
such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass were also outlawed.
Did narrow attitudes end with the Victorian era’s
sensibilities and prejudices? Apparently not. In the 1950’s, Senator
Joseph McCarthy instigated one of the most notorious waves of censorship the
nation has ever experienced. Because of McCarthy’s ‘Red Scare’, classics like
Henry David Thoreau’s Civil
Disobedience, which encouraged men to peacefully protest unjust
laws, was pulled from the shelves of the State Department’s overseas libraries.
It was one of more than 300 titles McCarthy had banned or burned.
J.D. Salinger's 1951 classic
coming-of-age novel, The Catcher in the Rye, has been the object of
challenges nationwide for decades because of its language, references to
violence and sexual content. According to the American Library Association, the
book was the 13th most frequently challenged book in the country's school
systems from 1990 to 2000.
In 2005, the Metropolitan
Library Commission of Oklahoma City overruled recommendations made by library
staff and established a special collection of children’s books with gay themes.
The collection would be accessible only to adults. The Oklahoma
The list of “condemned” banned
or censored books boggles the mind; a good source of information on this
subject can be found online at: http://title.forbiddenlibrary.com/
It is not only governments and
libraries that have chosen to ban books found objectionable for various
reasons. Materials are often deemed unacceptable for political or religious
reasons or are considered profane, pornographic or sexually too explicit for
youth. Publishers and booksellers make these decisions and determinations as
well.
A majority of book challenges
come from concerned parents and are related to young adult fiction. GalleyCat
spotlighted an article which provides detailed statistics on this topic: http://www.adweek.com/galleycat/censorship-statistics-infographic/110876?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=galleycat&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter20151007
My most recent YA novels are
with Clean Reads Press. THE DEVIL AND DANNA WEBSTER is a romantic book with a serious
underlying theme, appropriate for teens thirteen and older.
STACY’S SONG returns in a completely
rewritten, re-edited edition on October
27, 2015 , also appropriate for teens thirteen and above. Here is the new cover reveal:
July Blume, who like me writes
for children, YA and adults, doesn’t believe in any form of censorship and
opposes “trigger warnings” (Time
Magazine, June
8, 2015 Interview). I don’t agree with her on this. I think
that there need to be some indicators—especially when the author writes for
diverse audiences. For example, in the case of my latest adult romance novel
DARK MOON RISING, I have made
it clear that the novel is for mature readers. I suggest it for no one younger
than eighteen. I feel such distinctions are needed.
However, it is well to keep in mind that good
books often do stir controversy. They are designed to question and make people
think. That is not something to fear or repress but rather to admire and
respect. As Voltaire, author of the banned satire Candide, once stated: “I
do not agree with
what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.” Today
the internet is an unrestricted location to find information, including the
subject of banned book collections.
If librarians continue to see themselves as
gatekeepers, then it is imperative that they attempt to provide a variety and
diversity of materials for public consumption. As a teacher and librarian I
feel strongly about this. As to inferno collections, are they a thing of the
past? Knowing human nature, it is indeed doubtful.
Your thoughts and opinions welcome here!
