“The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten novels, poems whispered or swallowed for fear of being overheard by the wrong people, outlawed languages flourishing underground, essayists’ questions challenging authority never being posed, unstaged plays, cancelled films – that thought is a nightmare. As though a whole universe is being described in invisible ink,“ – Toni Morrison. Burn This Book (2009)
To celebrate Banned Books Week you can now view an exhibition in the EFL of novels which have been frequently challenged and banned by governments, schools and libraries. The books on display have been banned for a variety of reasons, including (but not limited to); sex, racism, explicit content, vulgar language, violence, the occult, LGBTQ+ themes and ‘troubling’ ideas.
The American Library Association (ALA) began Banned Books Week in 1982 due to increasing recorded challenges to books in public spaces. The aim of the event is to celebrate the freedom to read, and to promote silenced voices. The importance of Banned Books Week is constantly being demonstrated. Early in September 2019 a pastor at St Edward junior school in Nashville banned J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (1997-2007) from the new library, he justified this by writing:
The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.
The novels have been frequently challenged for the depiction of the occult, magic and death. Harry Potter has topped ALA’s most banned and challenged books in America from 2000-2009, and still continues to be challenged across the world, including being burned by priests in Poland on account of the evil subject matter. Read at your own risk.
Novels which are now frequently considered classics such as Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) and Nabokov’s Lolita (1955) were deemed obscene on account of explicit content, and were banned in the United Kingdom. In addition to Joyce’s original novel being banned, Strick’s film adaptation of Ulysses was also banned in Ireland from its release in 1967 until 2000. Often deemed the Great American Novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) has frequently disturbed readers for the use of racial slurs and racial stereotypes. In 1885 Twain’s novel was banned from Concord Public Library where it was described as trash. It remains essential reading however for exploring depictions of race in the nineteenth century.
Also on display is Walker’s The Color Purple (1982), which placed seventeenth on ALA’s list of most challenged books from 1990-2009. The narrative explores the life of black American women in the south, and has frequently ‘troubled’ readers with its ideas. The novel depicts violence and uses explicit language which has often led to it being taken off school reading lists. The silencing of BAME voices and experiences remains a key issue which Banned Books Week hopes to highlight and challenge.
The ALA has also recognised that books with LGBTQ+ narratives are more frequently being challenged within public spaces. Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness (1928) and Alex Gino’s George (2015), both have been banned on account of their engagement with LGBTQ+ narratives. Hall’s novel is a landmark in lesbian fiction but at its release James Douglas editor of the Sunday Express deemed it not fit ‘to be borrowed from any library’. The novel was banned from 1928-1958 in England following an obscenity trial which saw various authors support Hall including Wells, Woolf and Eliot. It would not be until after Hall’s death that the ban would be lifted on the novel.
George explores the challenges of coming out as transgender through centring on Melissa and her gaining acceptance from friends and family. Out of the 483 recorded challenges by the ALA, it was the most banned and challenged book of 2018. It also placed on the top ten list in 2016 and 2017. Gino wrote the novel as it was what they wanted to read growing up. The novel has been criticised for ‘creating gender confusion’, as well as mentioning dirty magazines and male anatomy. In 2016 the novel won the Stonewall Book Award.
Toni Morrison described the thought of censorship as a ‘nightmare’ in her edition of Burn This Book (2009). This idea has also inspired writers, such Bradbury whose Fahrenheit 451 (1953) depicts a world were books are banned and burned.
Banned Books Week is an important event which encourages readers to challenge attempts to censor literature and unheard voices with the support of librarians, bookshops and schools. The event takes place annually, and this year the week will be held from the 22-28th of September. Please visit bannedbooksweek.org.uk for more information about events taking place and further lists of books which have been banned which can be inspiration for your next book to read.
This exhibition has been curated by Emma Jambor – EFL Graduate Trainee 2019-20
Further Reading:
Ladenson, E. 2007. Dirt for art’s sake: books on trial from Madame Bovary to Lolita, Ithaca; London.
Morrison, T. 2009. Burn this book: PEN writers speak out on the power of the word (1st ed.). New York, NY.