HomeBook Erased: Print Word Censorship and US National Identity

HomeBook Erased: Print Word Censorship and US National Identity

*  *  *

Published on Thursday, November 30, 2023

Abstract

From canonical masterpieces to the latest bestseller, the history of US literature is punctuated with books that have been banned from classrooms, libraries, and bookshops because they are considered harmful or inappropriate by a reactionary minority. By exposing the most profound fears of the US hegemonic powers and the way these have evolved or persisted, unchanged, over time, banned books mirror, and therefore provide insights into, other politically motivated acts of censorship throughout US history. This special issue of “RSAJournal” invites contributions that examine the ongoing nationwide “Ed Scare” in US public education in the context and as part of a wider, conservative political agenda aimed at maintaining the status quo by restricting and policing (among other things) the promotion and exercise of critical thinking, especially among young people.

Announcement

RSAJournal (Rivista di Studi Americani), the journal of the Italian Association for North American Studies (AISNA), has opened a call for contributions to be published in the special section and in the general section of its 35th issue (Sept 2024).

Argument

In publishing as well as in educational contexts, works of literature are conventionally classified based on a wide range of criteria such as genre, period of writing, intended readers, subject matter, and the identity markers associated with the author and/or main character(s). Long-standing paradigms of literary merit also ensure a widely shared consensus among readers and professionals in the literary field on the distinction between elite, popular, and mass literature, which until relatively recently has limited scholarly attention to highbrow literary genres. Regardless of classification method and of popular or critical success, however, all books are equally vulnerable to one measure of judgement: censorship.

From canonical masterpieces to the latest bestseller, the history of US literature is punctuated with books that have been banned from classrooms, libraries, and bookshops because they are considered harmful or inappropriate by a reactionary minority. The most recent PEN America Index of School Book Bans (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022) shows an escalation of book bans during the fall 2022 semester (+28% compared to the prior six months) that disproportionally targets works by and about Black people and queer people, particularly fiction and illustrated books for young adult readers[1]. PEN America also estimates that “at least 40 percent of bans […] are connected to either proposed or enacted legislation, or to political pressure exerted by state officials or elected lawmakers to restrict the teaching or presence of certain books or concepts[2].” By exposing the most profound fears of the US hegemonic powers and the way these have evolved or persisted, unchanged, over time, banned books mirror, and therefore provide insights into, other politically motivated acts of censorship throughout US history. This special issue invites contributions that examine the ongoing nationwide “Ed Scare”[3] in US public education in the context and as part of a wider, conservative political agenda aimed at maintaining the status quo by restricting and policing (among other things) the promotion and exercise of critical thinking, especially among young people.

Scholars from different areas of American literature, culture, and the arts are invited to submit their proposals. All disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches are welcome, and topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Book bans and the axes of oppression, with particular reference to the current expanded censorship on themes centred on race, history, sexual orientation and gender
  • The history of censorship (within and outside literature) in the US, with particular focus on its contemporary forms and dynamics
  • The impact of book bans on teachers, students, writers, and/or the wider US population
  • ‘Dangerous’ ideas and the upholding of US national core values, a.k.a. the impact of book bans on the nation’s fundamental freedoms and constitutional rights
  • The correlation between book bans in public education and the attack on the humanities in academia
  • The evolution and/or present state of standards of morality in the US
  • Book bans and the (re)construction of US history
  • A comparative analysis of censorship of the printed word in the US and in other parts of the world (for example, librarians in the UK are facing increasing requests to censor or remove books from the shelves, too)
  • The relationship, or difference, between the motivations underlying book bans and the recent controversies for the removal of potentially offensive language from classics, such as the works of Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, and Mark Twain

Guest Editors

  • Elisa Pesce, University of Glasgow
  • Rachele Dini, Coventry University

Submission Process

Abstracts of about 300 words and a 150-word bio note should be sent by December 15, 2023 to :

elisa.pesce87@gmail.com

racheledini@yahoo.com

The guest editors will send an acceptance notification by December 22, 2023.

Full essays must be submitted by February 28, 2024 through our online submission platform.

General Section of the Issue

The general section accepts full contributions on any topic pertaining to American Studies, to be submitted through our website by February 8, 2024.

Notes

[1] PEN America. 2023. “Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools.” Accessed October 13, 2023. https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/

[2] Id.

[3] Jonathan Friedman. 2022. “Goodbye Red Scare, Hello Ed Scare.” February 23, 2022. Accessed October 13, 2023. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2022/02/24/higher-ed-must-act-against-educational-gag-orders-opinion.

 


Date(s)

  • Friday, December 15, 2023
  • Thursday, February 08, 2024

Keywords

  • censorship, book ban, United States, american studies

Contact(s)

  • Valentina Romanzi
    courriel : rsa-journal [at] unito [dot] it

Reference Urls

Information source

  • Valentina Romanzi
    courriel : rsa-journal [at] unito [dot] it

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Book Erased: Print Word Censorship and US National Identity », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, November 30, 2023, https://doi.org/10.58079/1cai

Archive this announcement

  • Google Agenda
  • iCal
Search OpenEdition Search

You will be redirected to OpenEdition Search