The free flow of information and knowledge in book communication has always been dependent on political, social, economic, religious and legal conditions and contexts.

In this seminar we will focus on the earlier traditions of literary censorship in England, covering the forms and functions of the censorship of books from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century. We will in particular discuss the main types of censorship with special regard to their legal basis in medieval and early modern England and the agents (censors) and institutions which affected the literary activities of authors, scribes, printers, publishers, booksellers and readers. 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. Equally important are questions concerning the effects of censorship measures on society, the various reactions to censorship measures (ranging from compliance to underground activities and open resistance) as well as the effectiveness of censorship in terms of success and failure. From a book historian’s point of view we will in particular consider the changing media situation from a medieval scribal culture to an early modern print culture. This special focus on censorship in pre-modern England will serve as a basis for a final discussion of structures and patterns of literary censorship through time in comparing changes and continuities from a modern perspective.

Kurs im HIS-LSF