Essays
Leona Širac
Abstract
Throughout history there were many cases in which literature was being banned by institutions because they were considered harmful, for one reason or another. Wanting to protect them from inappropriate content, the censors have cared very strictly about protecting the youngest minds ever since the beginning of children’s literature, while often taking a patronizing attitude that can even negatively influence the individual intellectual development of a child. During the last twenty-or-so years in the USA, Europe, but also in Croatia, there were some acts of censorship where problematic phrases were replaced by acceptable ones or books being completely excluded from children’s libraries or schools. In this paper, I will explain the reasons why children’s literature is being censored, with emphasis on actual problematic contents. Moreover, my goal is to point out the illegitimacy of certain censorship acts, as well as to accentuate the importance of education and dialogue instead of prohibition and indoctrination.
Keywords
censorship; children’s literature; discrimination; ideology; school reading books; violence
Hrčak ID:
192984
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2017.
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