Obscenity and Censorship in Literature

"It is the sexless novel that should be distinguished: the sex novel is now normal."

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

 Irish playwright

Table-Talk of G. B. S.

Literary Expression and Content Regulation: Exploring Boundaries of Obscenity and subsequent Censorship

Introduction

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from Pixabay

Obscenity, and its consequent censorship, is perhaps as old as literature itself. If Plato had pleaded for literary censorship, if the Roman Catholic church had come up with the Index Expurgatorial, and if the Elizabethan  period had its own politico-religious system of censorship, the 19^th century and 20^th centuries have been the champions of ‘moral’ censorship Wielding their excising sword especially on all trace of obscenity, latent or patent, obvious or farfetched, contextualized or in isolation.

Freedom of Expression

Obscenity in literature has been a topic of controversy for centuries, leading to censorship in many countries. In spite of the general movement towards freedom of expression, the 20^th century came up with some of the most amazing decision: among novels declared ‘obscene’ were some of the master pieces of this century including "The Rainbow", "Lady Chatterley’s Lover", "Ulysses", "The Tropic of Cancer" and "Lolita". The saga began as early as 1915, the year in which "The Rainbow" was published and immediately banned for being, in the sententious language of its critics ‘a monotonous wilderness of phallic is on’ and ‘a greater menace to our public heath than any of the epidemic diseases to fight’.  While some argue for the protection of public morals, others assert the importance of freedom of expression. However, censorship can limit artistic creativity and hinder the exploration of challenging themes. It is vital to uphold the fundamental right of free expression, even when it may offend some individuals or groups.

Literature and Pornography

Literature and pornography may seem like polar opposites, but they are difficult to keep separate. Sexuality is an integral part of life, and as literature is an imaginative representation of life, it is impossible to segregate literature and sexuality. Literature encompasses all aspects of life, as Coleridge famously stated, "all thought, all passions, all delights that start this mortal frame." If literature were to be restricted, it would lose its rounded completeness. Great works such as Ovid's, Catullus', Kalidasa's, and even "The Mahabharata" would no longer be read. Even Shakespeare's works, filled with sexual allusions and bawdy divergences, would need to be either burned or reduced to a meaningless mass of words by someone like the "Thomas Bowdler and his sister Henrietta" who produced his "Expurgated Shakespeare."

The debate around obscenity and censorship in literature is ongoing. While some argue that certain content should be censored to protect morals, others see it as a violation of free expression. The intersection between literature and pornography can also complicate matters, with sexuality being an omnipresent aspect of life that cannot always be separated from literature. 

"Fanny Hill" by John Cleland is considered one of the first pornographic works of English literature. It was initially banned in the United Kingdom and the United States for its explicit content but has since been recognized as an important work of 18th-century literature. "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov is controversial novel from beginning. It tells the story of a middle-aged man's obsession with a young girl. The book was initially banned in France, England, and Argentina for its explicit content and controversial subject matter. "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James is another popular novel and its sequels have been both praised and criticized for its explicit depictions of BDSM practices. Some argue that it empowers women to explore their sexuality, while others argue that it perpetuates harmful stereotypes and promotes abusive relationships.

Sex and Sin

Sex by itself is no more sin than strength of limb is violence. If such phenomenon are presented not crudely or luridly, but with sympathy sensitivity and imagination, it does not transgress the bounds of art. Being one of the basic instincts of man, literature would be impoverished of this psycho-somatic aspect of the human character were over looked or ignored. This is true of all the arts, for as even Satyajit Ray had pointed out, the ‘puritanical line regarding permissiveness has done great harm to Indian cinema’.

Is Pornographic Permissible in Literature?

Question remains as to whether the presentation of the erotic verging on the pornographic is permissible in literature. The obscene and the pornographic have been described or defined as passages which, taken as whole, tend to deprive and corrupt persons who have read the entire whole.

It would indeed be pornography if the writer suffers priapism and includes passages on carnality for its own sake, or if a writer consciously exploits the longing for the carnal in man for commercial success by rendering to the crude longings of the lumpen. But the test of pornography or obscenity has to be the literary work alone which is to be read as a integral whole.

The whole is always greater than the part , and if the part on sexuality and sensuality is relevant to the whole, one can scarcely categorize it as pornography. Some will always read passages insulation merely for the sake of the crude thrill, but that by it self cannot make a work of art obscene.

Indeed, some of the criteria by which pornography is determined are relative and culture specific. What is taboo in an Indian film is not in an American film, and what is unspeakable in the drawing room is not so in the countryside.

A scientific treatise can refer to the physiological facts of life with meticulous precision but work of literature must present them as part of an imaginative experience. It is only whom these references are not part of the total impression, that one should begin to question its relevance.

It must be admitted in this context that the greatest of writers have to walk on this perilous razor’s age of artistic necessity and propriety without stumbling or slipping.

Sex and Literature

"Lady Chatterley's Lover" raised the greatest furor for its uninhibited use of four-letter words and frank depiction of sexuality. It was consequently censored for almost thirty years before the jury ultimately passed the verdict of not guilty of pornography. Almost everyone concurred that the unexpurgated book is a better literary work than the expurgated one and that the evil of censorship was much worse than the evil in the book. Bernard Shaw went so far as to declare, ‘If I have a marriageable daughter, I will certainly ask her to read this book'; Mulk Raj Anand opined that ‘Through this book Lawrence tried to teach the young the value of the body’s rapture in the eternal cycle of creation’.

"Ulysses", the path-breaking stream of consciousness novel, was also banned but has today achieved general recognition as a classic and is readily available. Even Henry Miller, who has been described by George Orwell as ‘The only imaginative prose-writer of the slightest value who has appeared among English-speaking races for some years past’, had been banned for a considerable period of time. Vladimir Nabokov’s "Lolita", a fictional case study of an unusual relationship between a ‘nymphet’ and a middle-aged man, has often been subjected to lurid comment. But for all his cunning, Humbert, the narrator-hero, is only a pathetic self-conscious creature and a bundle of feverish anxieties. It too has today been deemed a moral work.

In France, novelists like Gide, Proust, Beauvoir, and Camus have been subjected to much less censorship than writers in the English-speaking world. Again, much of Aldiss’s work is characterized by innovative, open treatment of sex as a theme. All Jean Genet's works also expose his deep sense of sympathy with the outcasts of society as they are confronted by omnipresent crime, sex, and death.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the debate over obscenity and censorship in literature is a complex one. While some may argue that certain content is obscene and should be censored, others may argue that it violates freedom of expression.  Misuse of literature is possible, even as misuse of other good thing in life is possible, but that is no reason for the suppression of all the good things in life .We cannot give up the use of electricity because there are risks of electrocution, nor can we destroy medicine  because an overdose can prove fatal. The dedicated writer must present the utter truth about life –sin and holiness, beauty and ugliness, love and hate – in a language that is destined to survive. Ultimately, it is up to individuals to make their own decisions about what they read and how they choose to interpret it.

Ardhendu De

References

1. Glanville, J. (2009, February). Defining Obscenity. Index on Censorship, 38(1), 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/03064220902738971

2. Poole, H. (1982, October). Obscenity and Censorship. Ethics, 93(1), 39–44. https://doi.org/10.1086/292403

3. Obscenity and Censorship. (1971, October). College Composition and Communication, 22(3), 276. https://doi.org/10.2307/356466