Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works

Throughout the 24 lectures of Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works, author and book critic Professor Maureen Corrigan of Georgetown University will take you on a tour of some of the most challenged and controversial works of literature, from the plays of Shakespeare to 21st-century best-sellers—even including the dictionary and classic fairy tales. You will trace the history, in the United States and Great Britain, of the challenges to books, the censoring of books, book bans, and even burnings. You will explore the common reasons books have been and continue to be banned, including profanity, heresy, illicit or sexual content, racism, violence, and more. And you’ll consider the shifting trends in why books are challenged.

The challenging, censorship, and even destruction of works found to be offensive or threatening to the status quo is not new, but the nature of 21st-century communication and politics has certainly influenced the way books are evaluated and judged today. The rise of social media has blurred the line between an author’s work and their private life, while it has also given readers and would-be critics a platform to make their voices heard. And social justice movements have brought race, sexual identity, and other issues to the forefront of the consideration of literature and its influence on culture.

These new elements certainly influence how we approach censorship now, and yet many of the complaints brought against books today are not so different from the criticism of a century (or several) earlier. And the taboo and forbidden nature of banned books has its own special appeal for the human psyche as well, making literary censorship an especially complicated and fascinating subject. As you consider the broader history of book censorship, you will hopefully find yourself thinking more rigorously about your own views on intellectual freedom and the right to read.