The free flow of information and knowledge in book communication has always been dependent on political, social, economic, religious and legal conditions and contexts.
This seminar will focus on the earlier traditions of literary censorship in England, covering in particular the forms and functions of the censorship of books from the later Middle Ages to the end of the sixteenth century. In the first part of this seminar we will discuss the main types of censorship (preventive, punitive etc.) with special regard to their legal basis in medieval and early modern England, the agents (censors) and institutions which affected the activities of authors, scribes, printers, publishers, booksellers and readers in the literary field. Special attention will be paid to the various forms of investigation as well as to the types of punishment of offenders and the fate of suspicious and condemned books as material objects, including their mutilation and even destruction in public book burnings. We will in particular make use of recent research on the history of reading to assess the impact of censorship with its climate of suspicion and danger on readers and their reading practices. Questions concerning the effects of censorship measures on individuals as well as on groups and their reactions (ranging from compliance to underground activities and open resistance) will lead to an evaluation of the effectiveness of censorship in terms of success and failure. From a book historian’s perspective we will in particular consider the changing media situation from a medieval scribal culture to an early modern print culture. With this focus on censorship in pre-modern England a final discussion about the range of various concepts of social control and cultural regulation in the literary field through history up to our modern times will be encouraged.
- Lehrende/r: Gabriele Müller-Oberhäuser