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Begin the course with an introduction to the concept of literary censorship and examine why even authors as influential and esteemed as Shakespeare can fall prey to it. Meet some of the writers and editors who attempted to sanitize the bawdier parts of the Bard's plays and discover where we get the term "bowdlerism."
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When Kim Hyun Sook started college in 1983 she was ready for her world to open up. After acing her exams and sort-of convincing her traditional mother that it was a good idea for a woman to go to college, she looked forward to soaking up the ideas of Western Literature far from the drudgery she was promised at her family's restaurant. But literature class would prove to be just the start of a massive turning point, still focused on reading but with...
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Here, look at the most extreme form of print censorship: the physical destruction of books deemed heretical, dangerous, or subversive. From the Protestant Reformation to Nazi Germany and beyond, you will see how the desire to stop the dissemination of various works has resulted in book burnings, violence, and even murder.
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Examine the creation and legacy of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the most consistently challenged or banned of the great American novels. Why does Huckleberry Finn occupy this dubious pride of place? As you will see, its steady presence on high school reading lists and foregrounding of race collide to create an ideal trigger for censorship.
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First, explore some of the ways the Black Lives Matter social movement has influenced the publication and reception of some recent books. Then, look at the ways the movement has triggered fears regarding critical race theory in books and what these fears tell us about the concept of freedom in relation to books and literacy.
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Despite their beloved status and massive financial success, the Harry Potter books have been accused by assorted parents, school district administrators, and librarians of being excessively violent, glamorizing witchcraft and the occult, and being dismissive of traditional family values. See how Rowling's series widened the focus of censorship to include fantasy narratives.
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J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye had an outsized effect on the real world, given that the novel is associated with the death of John Lennon and the attempted assassination of Ronald Regan. Contemplate the power of reading (and misreading) literature as you examine the subversive narrative voice of Salinger's most famous work.
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A consistent category of challenges and book bans within school systems are those involving textbooks, especially history textbooks. Begin by thinking about the larger issues at stake in these controversies. Then, investigate some of the specific cases of censorship that have affected education in the United States from the 1970s to more recent controversies.
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Bring the course to a close with a discussion of some of the formal objections to novels commonly nominated as "The Great American Novel." Look at four works that are perennial contenders for the mantle—The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, Invisible Man, and The Grapes of Wrath—and consider why they are challenged almost as much as they are revered.
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Begin this look at contemporary children's books with a consideration of complaints lodged against Dr. Seuss and see how these objections carry over to later works like SkippyJon Jones and Captain Underpants. From potty humor and violence to racial stereotypes and moral panics, discover the many ways children's literature can spark extreme adult reactions.
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Though many critics and scholars consider Nabokov's Lolita as one of the greatest English-language novels of the 20th century, it is a novel that elicits extreme reactions in both its fans and detractors. Revisit the creation of this controversial classic, examine its initial reception, and consider why it continues to be one of the most challenged and banned books to this day.
16) Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works: Censors from the Inquisition to the Puritans
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Step back in time to get the broader historical context for censorship and see how the cases of the 20th and 21st centuries fit into a much larger pattern of religious and moral pressure from the 12th century onward. Here, you will look at the influence of the Catholic Church and the colonial Puritans on the control of printed materials they found troubling or even heretical.
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At the time of his death in 1930, British author D. H. Lawrence was widely viewed as one of the greatest writers of the English language. Yet, as you will see here, this popularity did not prevent some readers from taking offense to his frank depictions of sexuality, resulting in a censorship and an obscenity trial over his final novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover.
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To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most read, most assigned, and most beloved novels in the American canon. It's also, without a doubt, one of the most challenged and banned books in American libraries and schools. Look back on the creation of Harper Lee's singular masterpiece and consider why it is both so esteemed and so often challenged.
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James Joyce's Ulysses is considered the novel that ushered modernism into mainstream literature, yet its introduction to the world was ruthlessly contested. Get a brief overview of Joyce's life and work, then dive into the story of how his modernist masterpiece was challenged and consider how the legal battles over his work shaped later censorship battles.
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The online social movement against sexual assault, known as the #MeToo movement, began to gather steam in 2006 and has grown in reach ever since. Here, consider some of the books that have been embraced by or emerged out of the movement and look at how they've been challenged, mostly by school boards.
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