Why Are Books Censored?

Books that violate social norms are often targeted for censorship.

According to outspoken proponents of book censorship, all that is fit to print is not necessarily fit to remain in print. Freedom of speech is a dicey issue whenever it produces literary results that offend public sensibilities. Books may be branded as undesirable for a variety of reasons, and banned books conform to no standard profile.

Social Norms

One common reason why a book falls prey to censorship is because it severely challenges social norms. Books containing "objectionable content" such as pornography, racism or gratuitous violence, are commonly censored on this basis.

In certain cases, books that are now assigned as required reading in public schools were once targeted for censorship. In its exhibition of books which have survived "Fire, the Sword and the Censors," the University of Kansas Library records an incident of "wife censorship." According to the Library, Olivia Langdon Clemens held up an 1885 publication of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in order to "cut out the profanity and other strong passages."

Political Factors

According to a popular maxim, "knowledge is power." If left unchecked, such power can be used to satisfy subversive aims. For this reason, freedom of speech is often considered by governing bodies to be a negotiable concept rather than a natural right. Prior to World War II, numerous works of literature were censored by the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. According to the Nazis, these books contained malevolent political ideas. However, even within a democratic societies, books receive censorship on political grounds if they contain top secret or sensitive information.

Religious Controversy

Over the course of recorded history, contrasting religious viewpoints have prompted the censorship of countless works of literature. Such banned books include books that are both popular as well as critically acclaimed, such as Shakespeare's plays, "Oliver Twist" and volumes in the "Harry Potter" series. Even the Bible has been, and continues to be, banned in certain parts of the world.

Legal Violations

Sometimes, works of literature raise troubling legal concerns and end up being censored. Clifford Irving's 1971 "Autobiography of Howard Hughes" qualifies as such a work. Irving claimed to be in contact with Hughes, representing the reclusive billionaire in negotiations with McGraw-Hill. However, Irving's claims were false. His fraud was later revealed by a handwriting expert of the Postal Inspection Service, who "declared upon comparison to known Hughes signatures that Hughes had not written any of the documents supposedly from him in Irving's possession," as documented in a 2007 exhibit at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum titled "Postal Inspectors: The Silent Service."

Business Considerations

In certain instances, a book is deemed unfit to be published, and is consequently suppressed before ever reaching the press. In 2006, O.J. Simpson attempted to publish a book titled "If I Did It." It described a hypothetical version of events surrounding the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, which Simpson had been accused of. Despite the fact that 400,000 copies of the book were printed, its first release was canceled due to pre-publication controversy.

References

• University of Kansas Library: He Who Destroyes a Good Booke, Kills Reason it Selfe
• Smithsonian National Postal Museum's Postal Inspectors: The Silent Service