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Censorship

This Web page has information about censorship, with a focus on books read in the Fall 2009 English Department Capstone course on the topic. However, anyone doing research on the topic should find it useful.

Books

Check the library catalog Discovery for CSU ownership of books and/or Citation Linker/FindIt (CSU affiliates only) for articles listed in these resources. Take note: the listed titles are located in Reference, Morgan (stacks), storage, or the Movable Shelves (Reference items do not circulate).

Reference:

  • Censorship. 3 vols. Z658.U5 C38 1997 Reference
  • Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. 4 vols. Z657 .C42 2001 Reference
  • Contemporary Authors. There are entries for numerous authors whose books have been challenged, as well as for the authors of the core texts in the capstone (course):: Alison Bechdel (Fun Home); Samuel Langhorne Clemens (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn); Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye); Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner); Robert (Edmund) Cormier (The Chocolate War); Salman Rushdie; and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
  • Free Expression and Censorship in America: An Encyclopedia. Z658.U5 F644 1997 Reference

Censorship of Books (& Other Media) in General:

Note: Prospector is the Regional Catalog. CSU affiliates may request available materials from it. If the CSU copy of a title is checked out, affiliates may want to check Prospector to see if a copy is available from another regional library.

  • Censored Books: Critical Viewpoints. PS65.C46 C46 1993 Morgan
  • Censored Books II: Critical Viewpoints, 1985-2000. PS65 .C46 C45 2002 Morgan
  • Censorship and the Control of Print in England and France 1600-1910. (Not owned by CSU, but is in Prospector)
  • Censorship in Soviet Literature, 1917-1991. PG3026.C45 E76 1997 Morgan
  • The Diary of a Russian Censor. PG2947.N5 A3613 1975 Morgan
  • Intellectual Freedom for Children: The Censor is Coming. Z718.1 .I572 2000 Movable Shelves
  • Intellectual Freedom Manual. Z711.4 .I57 2006 Movable Shelves
  • The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn. LB3045.7 .R38 2003 Morgan
  • Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds. Z658.U5 K37 1998 Movable Shelves
  • Literature Suppressed on Religious Grounds. BL65.C45 B35 1998 Morgan
  • Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds. PN56.E7 S68 1998 Morgan & PN56.E7 S68 2006 Morgan
  • Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds. Z658.U5 S69 1998 Movable Shelves
  • Perspectives on American Book History: Artifacts and Commentary. Z471 .P47 2002 Movable Shelves [Primary sources.]
  • Printers and Press Freedom: The Ideology of Early American Journalism. (CSU's copy current unavailable, but it is in Prospector)
  • Publishing, Printing, and the Origins of Intellectual Life in Russia, 1700-1800. (Not owned by CSU, but is in Prospector)
  • Purity in Print: Book Censorship in America from the Gilded Age to the Computer Age. KF4775 .B6 2002 Morgan
  • Rationales for Teaching Young Adult Literature. PN59 .R33 1999 Morgan
  • A Universal History of the Destruction of Books: From Ancient Sumer to Modern Iraq. Z659 .B3413 2008 Movable Shelves
  • Versions of Censorship: An Anthology. Z657 .M12 1962A c.2 Storage
  • The War for the Public Mind: Political Censorship in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Z658.E85 W37 2000 Movable Shelves
  • What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Textbook Censorship in America. LB 3045.7 D45 1992 Morgan

On Specific Works or Authors:

  • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: A Biography. PG 3488 O4Z5813 Morgan
  • Polite Wisdom: Heathen Rhetoric in Milton's Areopagitica. K3255 .D69 1995 Morgan
  • Presenting Robert Cormier. PS3553.O653 Z6 1989 Morgan
  • Prophets of Recognition: Ideology and the Individual in Novels by Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Saul Bellow, and Eudora Welty. PS374.S714 E35 1999 Morgan
  • Understanding Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. PS1305 .J64 1996 Morgan

Bibliographies

  • Intellectual Freedom and Censorship: An Annotated Bibliography. Z658.U5 H64 1989 c.2 Movable Shelves (also available as ebook)

Locate items by the authors (or any other author) by doing author searches (last name first) in the library catalog Sage/Discovery. Find books about the authors by doing a subject search by name (last name first). Look through subdivisions for specific types of material (e.g. criticism and interpretation, friends and associates, etc.).

The subject headings listed in this section can be used to find books related to the topic of censorship in any library catalog which uses Library of Congress Subject Headings, including CSU's Sage. Do a subject search using the terms below to identify books in Sage/Discovery and Prospector (the Regional Catalog). Books may be requested from Prospector by CSU affiliates. Search the library catalog SAGE for:

  • Censorship
  • Censorship England History
  • Censorship History
  • Censorship Public Schools Curricula United States
  • Censorship Public Schools United States
  • Censorship Soviet Union
  • Censorship United States
  • Censorship United States History
  • Censorship United States History 20th Century
  • Freedom of the press
  • Libraries censorship
  • Prohibited books [see subdivisions also]
  • Russian literature 20th century Censorship
  • School libraries Censorship United States
  • Teenagers -- Books and reading
  • Textbooks Censorship United States
  • Young adult literature -- Study and teaching (Secondary)

Subject headings that apply to specific authors when there are at least a couple titles. Reminder--search these terms by subject to find secondary sources about the author and/or his or her work(s). Search by author to find books by someone.

  • Hosseini, Khaled
  • Rushdie, Salman Censorship
  • Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isaevich 1918
  • Twain Mark 1835 1910 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

See also: Finding Literary Criticism in Books.

Indexes--Identify Articles

These databases are found on the "Find Electronic Resources & Databases" page alphabetically.

  • MLA Bibliography.
  • Academic Search Premier.
  • Humanities International Index .
  • Social Sciences Abstracts.
  • New York Times 1851-
  • ERIC
  • Project MUSE
  • JSTOR

Search for legal cases in law journals in:

  • LexisNexis Legal
    • Hazelwood Sch. Dist. v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
    • Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
    • Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 250 (1957)
    • Board of Educ. v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
    • Presidents Council, District 25 v. Community School Board No. 25 (New York City), 457 F.2d 289 (2d Cir. 1972), 409 U.S. 998 (1972)
    • Minarcini v. Strongsville (Ohio) City School District, 541 F.2d 577 (6th Cir. 1976)
    • Right to Read Defense Committee v. School Committee of the City of Chelsea, 454 F. Supp. 703 (D. Mass. 1978)
    • Zykan v. Warsaw (Indiana) Community School Corporation and Warsaw School Board of Trustees, 631 F.2d 1300 (7tyh Cir. 1980)
    • Pratt v. Independent School District No. 831, 670 F.2d 771 (8th Cir. 1982)
    • Fowler v. Board of Education of Lincoln County, Kentucky, 819 F.2d 657 (6th Cir. 1987)
    • Mozert v. Hawkins County Board of Education, 827 F.2d 1058 (6th Cir. 1987)
    • Case v. Unified School District No. 233 (Kansas) 908 F. Supp. 684 (D. Kan. 1995)

    To see the court cases for these (and others), search "Federal & State Cases" (click on Federal & State Cases linkon left side of the initial Legal screen; it changes to Federal & State Cases selected and the search screen changes to:

    Federal & State Cases Search screen

    If you have an exact case to find (for example, those listed above), search by case name or citation number:

    Case name Seezy v. New Hampshire search or

    Citation Number 393 U.S. 503 search also shows Citation help

    Click on "Citation help" for examples of the various types of federal, state, regional, topical/special reporters, and Quicklaw™ citation formats. (Scroll down to see law reporter abbreviations and more.)

    Some of the cases have been extensively examined in law review articles. Cut and paste the cases above into the search box on the Law Reviews tab, selected page (the default, entry page) to identify in depth articles on the cases.

    law review search example

    Not all cases will work easily, but it is worth a try! If nothing comes up, remove extraneous date and follow up case information and try again.

Print only and print & online indexes:

  • Index on Censorship. 1978-79, 1989, 1991-2005. K 9 .N29 Movable Shelves & online 2003- with the most recent year not available
  • Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. AI 3 .R48 Reference South 1900-
  • London Times (various titles: Palmer's, etc.) AI 21 T51 & AI21 .T46 Reference South & others nearby 1785-
  • Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1890-1899; with supplementary indexing, 1900-1922. AI3 .R496 Reference South
  • Poole's Index to Periodical Literature. AI3 .P6 Reference South 1802-1901

See also: Locating Literary Criticism in Journal Articles.

Journal

Articles

  • Holland, Suzann. "Censorship in Young Adult Fiction: What's Out There and What Should Be." Voice of Youth Advocates 25.3 (Aug. 2002): 176-77. Z718.5 .V65 v.25 2002/03 Movable Shelves
  • Musser, Louise S. "Censoring Sexist and Racist Books: Unjustified and Unjust." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 9.1 (Spring 1984): 36-7. online (to CSU affiliates)

Web

Check the library catalog Sage for CSU ownership of books and/or Citation Linker/FindIt (CSU affiliates only) for articles listed on the online bibliographies.

ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. American Library Association.

"The goal of the office is to educate librarians and the general public about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries." Find statements on the freedom to read and more.

Censorship and Consolidation. Books Part III. CyberCollege Internet Campus.

Discussion of books censored in the United States. Section on textbook censorship.

Banned Books Online. The Online Books Page.

Divided by: Books suppressed or censored by legal authorities; Unfit for schools and minors?; and More Censorship Information.

Censorship and Free Speech. Caslon Analytics Guide. © Bruce Arnold.

Bibliographical essay with suggestions of items to read on the topic of censorship. In outline: introduction; mechanisms; the ancient regime; totalitarian print; Australia; other countries; censorship and libraries; textbooks; and book burning. Informative.

Teen Reads. Teenreads.com

The site brings "teens info and features about their favorite authors, books, series and characters. We are a part of The Book Report Network, a group of websites founded in 1996 that share thoughtful book reviews, compelling features, in-depth author profiles and interviews, excerpts of the hottest new releases, literary games and contests, and more with readers every week."

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read. American Library Association.

2009 week is September 26–October 3. "[T]his annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted." Information, activities, supplemental materials. (2010 Banned Books Week will be held on September 25–October 2.)

National Coalition Against Censorship.

The NCAC "is dedicated to protecting rights and principles guaranteed by the First Amendment. We report on incidents of censorship and provide support and resources to people facing challenges to freedom of inquiry and expression." News, resources, and more.

Music Censorship. Susannah Cleveland. University Libraries. Bowling Green State University.

Tabs for getting started (finding materials in the catalog), books on music censorship, finding magazine and journal articles, internet sources (at least one listed on this page also), and sound recordings (found at their library, not ours).

Banned Books Week: Censorship Resources: MVCC Libraries. PDF. KEH 7/2008. Mohawk Valley Community College. State University of New York.

Books (approximately 44 titles--a few of them listed on this Web page), video, and Web sites (with links).

Banned Books: Shakespeare Censored. Dale Stieber, Reviewer. Library. Occidental College.

List of reading materials (some linked to local library catalog record) on banned books and censorship. Links to Web sites. Brief annotations.

Censorship. Librarians' Internet Index.

Web sites. Annotations provide overview of topic or incident.

Censorship Portfolio. Kerlan Collection. University of Minnesota Libraries.

Sections are: Information about Censorship; Anatomy of a Book Challenge; Author Responses to Censorship; Other Censorship Cases. Internet links, documents, and articles.

Selected Links to text of John Milton's Areopagitica: A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England (1643, published 1644).

Octavo Editions. Octavo Digital Rare Books. Read the original printed book page by page online. Need to allow pop-ups to view--it pops back initially.
M Renascence Editions. © 1997 The University of Oregon.
Milton Reading Room. Dartmouth College. View title page of 1644 printing.
Modern History Sourcebook. With notes. Paul Halsall. Fordham University. Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
Project Gutenberg. Various formats.
Online Library of Liberty. Liberty Fund. Various formats including facsimile of 1918 edition (with commentary), based upon Sir Richard Jebb’s lectures at Cambridge in 1872.

See also the John Milton 1608-1674 Web site.

As in all research, be sure to evaluate what you find, be it an article, book, or Web page.

English Language & Literature

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Content: Naomi Lederer

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