Robert Atkins in his essay “A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Censorship” observes that censorship is unique to the human species and that it both transcends cultural boundaries and predates recorded history. Wondering if this phenomenon of preventing certain ideas to be heard by the vast majority of people is caused by a “hormonal instinct to dominate and control” (Atkins) he concludes that it may come from a “misguided but ever-so-human nature,” (Atkins) and that its results vary from very tragic to very amusing as the examples cited a little later will prove.
Beginning with a commonly acknowledged definition of the term “censor,” a short history of the phenomenon from the early Greeks up to the present, and some examples of censured works of art, this paper is going to address the issue of censorship in France from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century.
The historical development in France will be followed by a description of censorship in Great Britain at the turn of the last century, i.e. the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, as well as a contrastive analysis between reasons for censorship in France and Great Britain at the time. Finally, there will be a very short outline of censorship in the United States, which is based on the structure of censorship in Great Britain but has undergone quite some changes from the very beginning.
Table of Contents
I INTRODUCTION
1. Definition: ”censor“
2. Censorship from the Early Greek Democracy up to Modern Times
3. Some Examples of Censorship in Artistic Expression
II MAIN PART
1. Censorship of the written word in France from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century
a. Before the Fifteenth Century
b. Fifteenth Century
c. Sixteenth Century
d. Seventeenth Century
e. Eighteenth Century
f. Nineteenth Century
g. Twentieth Century
2. Censorship in Great Britain at the Turn of the Last Century
a. A Very Brief History of Censorship in Great Britain
b. The Printing Press and Censorship in Great Britain
c. Censorship by the Circulating Libraries Association at the Turn of the Century (according to Nicholas Hiley)
3. Comparison of Reasons for Censorship in Turn of the Century France and Great Britain
4. Imitation and Development: The United States on the Traces of Great Britain
III CONCLUSION
1. The Dilemmas of Censorship
2. Open Questions and Interesting Aspects
3. The Present and the Future
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the history and mechanisms of censorship, focusing on its development in France and Great Britain at the turn of the last century, while providing an analytical comparison of the underlying motivations for suppressing written information.
- Historical evolution of censorship from Ancient Greece to the modern era.
- Comparative analysis of censorship rationales in France and Great Britain.
- The influence of commercial interests and morality on library book selection.
- The legacy of historical censorship models on contemporary United States policy.
- The persistence of censorship in the age of the World Wide Web.
Excerpt from the Book
c. Censorship by the Circulating Libraries Association at the Turn of the Last Century (according to Nicholas Hiley)
Between the 1890s and the 1910s a new kind of fiction with a new style of writing developed that addressed modern social issues in a naturalistic way. As a reaction, the circulating libraries had to come up with strategies to contain this development within the existing structures. In 1909, this led to the creation of a centralized censorship of novels established under the confidential Selecting Committee of the Circulating Libraries Association. The association came up with a classification of literature that divided it into literature appropriate for mass circulation, literature to be circulated only on demand, and literature to be banned from circulation at all. The creation of the association as such is a fact. However, there is more than one possible reason why it was created, in other words who and what made the circulating libraries decide they needed to join together and censor new literature. The motivation may have come from three different parties: the reading public, the circulating libraries themselves, or the English book trade.
The reading public targeted by the circulating libraries consisted of only a small percentage of the whole population, namely the upper and middle classes. However, only a very tiny fraction of even the upper and middle classes made up the actual reading public. Those using the service of the circulating libraries were mostly women and the physically weak, who had to come to terms with the boredom caused by physical and social isolation, outward signs of prosperity. Moralists of upper and middle class background, who were opposed to the modern trend in fiction and wanted to prevent the decline of literature and mores, may well have been outraged by the circulating libraries’ “irresponsible” behavior of spreading the new fiction demanded by their subscribers. For them, the new kind of fiction was transmitting the “intellectual disease of modernity,” thus poisoning the human mind.
Summary of Chapters
I INTRODUCTION: Defines the term "censor" and provides a historical overview of censorship practices and theories from early Greek democracy to the contemporary period.
II MAIN PART: Analyzes the historical progression of censorship in France, explores the British model involving the Circulating Libraries Association, and compares these approaches with American practices.
III CONCLUSION: Addresses the ethical dilemmas of state-driven information control and reflects on the future of censorship in the context of the World Wide Web.
Keywords
Censorship, Freedom of the Press, France, Great Britain, United States, Circulating Libraries Association, Nicholas Hiley, Morality, Literature, Political Repression, Printing Press, Human Rights, Information Control, Modernity, History of Censorship.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this research?
The work explores the historical development, definitions, and social impacts of censorship, with a particular focus on how information has been suppressed in France, Great Britain, and the United States.
What are the central thematic areas?
The main themes include the evolution of moral and political censorship, the influence of private entities on literature access, and the role of the state in maintaining social order through controlled information.
What is the main objective or research question?
The objective is to contrast the reasons for censorship in turn-of-the-century France and Great Britain, and to investigate whether these measures were driven by moral safeguarding or commercial self-interest.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The work employs a historical-analytical approach, reviewing literature and primary sources to trace the progression of censorship laws and institutional strategies.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section details the French history of censorship from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, the role of the Circulating Libraries Association in Britain, and the American adoption and modification of British censorship models.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Censorship, Freedom of the Press, France, Great Britain, Circulating Libraries, Morality, and Political Repression.
How did the Circulating Libraries Association impact the British book market?
The association established a centralized censorship body that classified literature, effectively using its purchasing power to dictate which books were acceptable for mass circulation based on moral and economic criteria.
Why does the author argue that morality might be an "excuse"?
The author suggests that the libraries' focus on moral purity served to protect their traditional, expensive subscription model against the rise of cheaper, mass-market literature, indicating that commercial interests were a significant driving force.
- Citation du texte
- Stephanie Wössner (Auteur), 2002, Censorship in France from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. A comparison with Great Britain at the turn of the century, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/138141
