THE books they can be “dangerous”because they are one of the main tools of circulation of knowledge and contribute to forming the consciences and opinions of citizens. For this reason, political and religious authorities have often tried to control publication, prohibiting the printing of volumes considered dangerous or ensuring that they circulated as little as possible. The dictatorships of the twentieth century, for example, also distinguished themselves for their censorship of books. In recent times, the political authorities of some countries have banned various books, including even some volumes of the saga of Harry PotterThe most famous case of censorship is that ofIndex of prohibited books (Index of books prohibited), established by the Pope Paul IV In the ‘500. Among the volumes inside, there were numerous cornerstones of our culture, as the Decameron by Boccaccio, the Of the Monarchy of Dante and the works of Benedetto Croce.
Why books can be subject to censorship
Absolute regimes and religious denominations have always tried to censor books considered “wrong”: not only political texts, but also books that question certain moral canonspropose ainterpretation of history different from the official one, etc. In addition to actual censorship (i.e. prohibiting the printing of a book or withdrawing it if it has been printed), there are other forms of prohibitionsuch as preventing a book from being advertised, pressuring authors to change certain statements, etc.
Books censored by dictatorships
The list of books censored by successive dictatorships over the years is very long. Just to give a few examples, let us remember that in Hitler’s Germany all books by Jewish or non-politically aligned authors were banned, along with many other volumes. The Nazi authorities even organized bonfires in which “bad” books were burned.
In Soviet Unionalong with many political works, Arthur Conan Doyle’s books featuring the main character were banned Sherlock Holmesas well as many works by Russian authors, such as Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and others.
Also there fascist dictatorship censored “inconvenient” books. First of all, during the regime years, nothing could be written that criticized Mussolini or the government. Many books, moreover, were censored for ethical-moral reasons: The red carnation by Elio Vittorini, The wrong ambitions by Alberto Moravia and others. After the promulgation of the racial laws in 1938, the works by Jewish authors.
Book Censorship Today
Censorship of books is still present in some authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. For example, in recent times many regimes (China, Cuba, and others) prevent the publication of Animal Farm Of George Orwellbecause it proposes a “merciless” allegory of Stalinism and totalitarianism. Even the volumes of saga of Harry Potterbecause of the witchcraft they speak of, do not circulate freely in some states.
The Index of Prohibited Books
The most famous book censorship in history is that carried out by Holy See. Already in the first centuries of Christianity, the Fathers of the Church tried to control the circulation of knowledge. The Church, like all religions, believes it possesses the absolute truth and, consequently, believes it has the duty to establish what is right and what is wrong.
After theinvention of printingwhich occurred in the second half of the fifteenth century, controlling books became a more important need, because the new instrument made the circulation of knowledge much faster. The Church needed to develop new forms of control It is in the 1559 dad Paul IV he had a special document drawn up Index of prohibited books which, updated several times, has been in force until 1966.
The choice of books to be included was up to the Congregation of the Indexestablished in 1571 and remained active until 1917, when its responsibilities passed to the Congregation of the Holy Office. The last update of the Index was promoted in 1959 by John XXIII. The reasons for which the books ended up in the index were theological (volumes not consistent with Catholic doctrine), moral (“licentious” volumes), political (volumes considered dangerous for the preservation of power) and other types.
The first edition of the Index
The first edition of the Index of Prohibited Books included numerous books. Here are some of them:
- Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameronplaced on the Index for “licentious” content.
- Niccolo Machiavelli, Princecensored because it contained political analyses that were too “bold”, proposing a ruthless management of power that did not take ethics into account.
- Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furiouscensored for licentious content.
Other books in the first edition included the Of the Monarchy by DanteThe Newbie by Masuccio Salernitano, all the works of Lucian of Samosata, of William of Occam and of various other authors.
The subsequent editions
After the publication of the first edition of the Index, the Church introduced the principle of expurgation: in some cases, banned books could be published if the author had deleted the songs considered wrong. Nonetheless, subsequent editions of the Index added numerous works, including:
- Erasmus of Rotterdam, In Praise of Madnessplaced on the Index, like all of Erasmus’ works, because exalting madness was contrary to Catholic principles.
- Giacomo Leopardi, Moral operettascensored because the author followed Stoic philosophy and expounded ethical principles different from those of the Church.
- Benedict Cross, History of Europe in the Nineteenth Centurybanned, like all of Croce’s works, because it argued that the rise of liberalism was irreversible.
In addition to these books, the works of Kant, Descartes, Giordano Bruno, Galileo, Foscolo, Voltaire, Spinoza, Rousseau, Hobbes and many other authors ended up on the Index. In the updates of the twentieth century, the works of Giovanni Gentile, Gabriele d’Annunzio, Simone de Beauvoir, Emile Zola were included, among many others.
What happened to books placed on the Index?
The effectiveness of the Index has changed over the years. In themodern agein many countries the banned books could only circulate clandestinely; in more recent times, with the progressive secularization of societythe presence of a book in the Index generally did not prevent its publication. The Index therefore has limited the circulation of knowledgebut it did not prevent it entirely. It was fortunate: among the prohibited works were many cornerstones of Western culturewithout which the evolution of our civilization would have been slower.
