Robert Darnton: Censors at Work: How States Shaped Literature

摘要

Every September the American Library Association sponsors Banned Book Week, a time to "celebrate the freedom to read" by creating a display of books that have been banned or challenged at public and school libraries throughout the United States. In their annual list of challenged books, the ALA includes the reasons why the titles were singled out by the community to be pulled from library shelves. These reasons often include offensive language, violence, and portrayal of drug/ alcohol use, but recently some of the most challenged books are labeled as such because of their discussion of homosexuality or because they have non-Christian viewpoints. While the ALA’s weeklong celebration of banned books serves as a reminder of how art sometimes needs protection from the individuals in communities who want to control cultural access in an attempt to keep society "safe," it ignores the more secretive ways that the United States government had used literature as a monitor of possible threats. Since September 11, 2001 there have been reports about federal investigators issuing warrants for sales records from bookstores and TSA agents pulling aside passengers for reading the wrong book, including a young man who happened to attempt to board a plane with a novel by Edward Abbey. With the passage of the Patriot Act, the FBI was also given authorization to issue national security letters to libraries for patron records. This kind of surveillance has moved the mechanism of censorship from a public display to that of personal decisions. Even before a book can be challenged in the public sphere it has had to pass through a gauntlet of publishers, libraries, and book sellers, who may evaluate the book not on its merits but on its ability to cause a reaction from the government.