Summary
Highlights
Anthony Comstock's influence led to the Comstock Act of 1873, banning the mailing of 'obscene' material, abortion, and contraception information. This led to Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' being withdrawn in Boston in 1881 due to explicit language, inadvertently increasing its sales (the 'Streisand effect').
Sam Cohen introduces a course on banning books in America, highlighting the importance of the surge in book banning as it forces reflection on literature's role in society and American democracy. He acknowledges the political nature of the subject and assures students they will not be graded on agreement with his views.
The lecture delves into the history of book banning, starting with Chin Shi Huang's book burning in ancient China, Ovid's exile for his poetry, and the alleged burning of the Library of Alexandria by Omar for religious reasons. It moves to Savonarola's 'bonfires of vanity' and the burning of William Tyndale's English Bible. The first recorded book ban in what became the US was Thomas Morton's 'New English Canaan' in 1637, due to its celebration of native culture and criticism of Puritans. Other examples include the burning of William Pinchin's pamphlet in Boston (1650), the concept of 'Bowdlerizing' from Shakespeare's works (1807), and the banning of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' in the Confederacy (1853). The video also mentions the delayed banning of Darwin's 'Origin of Species' in the US until the 1920s in schools.
The video discusses Ireland's Committee on Evil Literature in 1922, the overturning of the ban on James Joyce's 'Ulysses' in 1933, and the Nazi book burnings of 1933. In the US, the McCarthy era saw bans on 'The Communist Manifesto' and 'The Grapes of Wrath'. The Comics Code Authority was established in 1954. Subsequent cases include the banning of Nabokov's 'Lolita' (1955), obscenity trials for Ginsberg's 'Howl' (1957) and Burroughs' 'Naked Lunch' (1965), Salman Rushdie's fatwa in 1989 for 'The Satanic Verses', and the destruction of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.
Three common threads emerge: knowledge from books is often seen as dangerous by those in power, this danger is often framed as a challenge to orthodoxy (religion, patriotism, social order), and historically, censors don't usually win in the long run, especially in the West.
The American Library Association reported 820 demands for book censorship in 2024, challenging 2452 unique titles. National advocacy groups like Moms for Liberty are involved, distributing lists of books to parents. These challenges are linked to anti-vaccination, anti-masking, anti-BLM, anti-critical race theory, and anti-LGBTQ+ activism. PEN America reports over 10,000 instances of book bans targeting over 4,000 titles, with Florida and Iowa leading. Books by or about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals are disproportionately targeted.
The video highlights 'educational gag orders' and 'educational intimidation bills' at the state level (2021-2023), specifically mentioning Missouri. These bills use intimidation to pressure teachers, librarians, and students by creating new ways for the public to challenge educational practices, including book assignments and possession. The example of 'Maus' being removed in Missouri, despite its serious content, is used to illustrate how obscenity claims are often a pretext for other concerns.
Modern book bans, while ostensibly about obscenity, are often motivated by discomfort with certain sexualities, acknowledgment of racism and bigotry, questioning of authority, and patriotism/militarism. The banning of 'Maus' for a non-sexual depiction of nudity is presented as evidence that the real reasons for challenges are deeper, often tied to a fear of questioning authority or orthodoxy.
The instructor concludes by stating that history is repeating itself, with books that are honest and questioning about American history, such as those on slavery and Jim Crow, being challenged. He then wraps up the lecture.