The Impact of Censorship on Writers in Ireland - Essay Example

Introduction The coming to an end of the 1922 civil war in the Irish Free may have been thought to be the onset of a democratic society whereby every person would have their conventional rights respected (Wills, 2007). These are for example the freedom of expression whereby individuals are entitled to their opinions and as such, they can comment or publish materials without fearing execution by government authorities as long as it does not amount to treason. Contrary to this opinion, the public especially writers and book publishers were disillusioned to realize that it was just but the beginning of an era of censorship, triggered by selfishness of power hungry politicians and the conservative yet influential catholic church (Drisceoil, 1996). This essay is a critical evaluation on how censorship impacted on the lives and success of writers in Ireland after the end of the civil war. Impact of Censorship in Post-War Ireland Censorship is not a new terminology unique to Southern Ireland as it has been used by various world governments to suppress and mum the media as well as other avenues of enlightening the general public such as journals, books among others. It has been used by leaders such as Hitler of Germany, Mao of China, and Stalin of Russia among others, in order to protect their rule from ridicule (Carlson, 1990). It involves banishing of materials containing information that, according to the political elite, may lead to public unrest or corrosion of desirable morals. Anyone found in the possession of such materials after the ban is prosecuted and punished according to the legislations governing that policy. In Ireland for example, several acts were put in place such as the Censorship of Publications Act, 1929, 1946 and 1967 among others, which restricted the publication of materials containing issues related to reproductive health, such as the use of condoms, contraceptives, abortion and other unnatural methods of controlling pregnancy, crime etc (Drisceoil, 1996). These legislations were vetted and highly supported by the Catholic Church, which had a lot of political and religious influence on the Free State. In fact, it was to some extent referred to by Northerners, most of whom were Protestants, as the catholic state. These activities became the subject of ridicule by writers such as Kate O’brien, whose literary works opposed the manner in which the Catholic Church was influencing major political and social constitutional legislations, which in a democratic society should be left to the public to agree or disagree with them (Carlson, 1990). However, her books such as the pray for the wanderer did not see the light of day as there was no way the catholic church would have sat back and watch as such people continued to compromise its efforts to impose Catholicism in the state. As a result, the book was reviewed by the censorship board and banned from circulation (Carlson, 1990). It is important to note that literary works attract a lot of public attention and as a result, they can be used as a tool to enlighten and incite people to rebel against oppression in a totalitarian state. This is due to the fact that majority of citizens in such states follow the rules out of fear of prosecution or persecution by the authorities, but when one person gains the courage and the wit to stand up against oppression, he or she becomes an inspiration to the others, who may decide to follow suite. Brendan Behan is also an Irish writer, who, despite his drinking problems, was able to captivate the minds of his audiences to become one of the recognizable talented writers (Paseta, 2003). Born, worked and jailed in Ireland, he had first hand experiences that inspired him to write his works but at first, he felt that the Irish government and religion was exerting too much pressure on writers due the earlier mentioned legislations allowing censorship. As a result, he opted to leave the country for Paris, where he felt that the environment was friendlier (Drisceoil, 1996). However, most of his work at that time comprised of too much pornography and republican texts which in no way could have been allowed to circulate in the Free State. In fact, this is notable in his novel Borstal Boy which was basically an autobiography of his prison experiences and which according to sources, was banned in 1958 by the Censorship Board, with much contribution to the effect by the Catholic Church (McGee, 2004). Just like O’Brien, Behan did not in any way agree with the way in which the church and the government dictated the social life of its citizens by promoting conservatism in a radically changing world. To these writers, this was not the kind of freedom they were fighting for and as such, they could not remain silent but as it was, the law was clear on such issues. Possibly, these are the same reasons why, despite having mass support on his works and multiple requests for him to come back, James Joyce had to go on self imposed exile. It is important to note that it takes a lot of time and resources to write and publish these novels and therefore, it is far much demoralizing to experience censorship as writing is also a way of earning an honest living. A lot of writers other than O’Brien and Behan had to contend with this dilemma. These are for example Edna O’Brien’s the Lonely Girl which was banned in 1962 after a Catholic Archbishop, McQuaid, went to the then justice minister to complain on its contents, which according to him were bad (Carlson, 1990). This only shows how strong and influential the church was at that time. Others include and not limited to titles such as Droll Stories by Balzac, Brave New World by Hulxley among others. It is agreeable and a community consensus that materials such as pornography should be disposed off the streets. However, some of these books were trying to express human reproduction scientifically and as we know, scientists have never fared well with the creationists especially the Catholic Church. This can be noted in the way the church tackled issues with people such as Galileo Galilei, who according to research, fell victim to the then superior and politically powerful pope, who made his life difficult for supporting the heliocentric thesis, which proposed that the earth actually moves around the sun, which is static thereby opposing the creationist theory which stated that these objects are static and therefore does not and cannot move (Maurice, 2008). Similarly, the Church in Ireland was against the publication of works depicting or describing reproduction or sexuality in scientific terms, which was exactly what writers such as Sigmund Freud and Margaret Mead were doing and which made them prime targets of the Irish censorship board. Conclusion Censorship is a process through which a society bans a certain category of materials either in the media or other publicly accessible literature, which may be dimmed as possible threats to internal security or may result to corrosion of morals of their audience. However, this has been used by various governments around the world, such as Ireland, to suppress the views of the minority and to protect political and religious interests. In Ireland for example, censorship of literary works after independence was a means to protect the Catholic Church from criticism by dissidents such as Joyce, Behan, Edna, Kate, Sigmund and Margaret among other writers, who were publishing books and novels that contradicted the church on matters of sexuality, pornography and reproduction, among others. As a result, their works were banned from the market and this led to some of them such as Behan and Joyce to lose the interest of settling in the country with some opting self imposed exile. This makes it apparent that democracy is not just about fighting for independence from invaders but it entails protecting the same rights which are being fought for, such as the freedom of expression. Writer’s talents should be respected and promoted and the church should refrain from imposing their conservative doctrines on people but instead, they should teach them the morals to differentiate the bad from good so as to make wise decisions when buying and reading books and articles. Bibliography Carlson, J. (1990). Banned in Ireland: Censorship & the Irish Writer, Routledge Drisceoil, D. (1996). Censorship in Ireland 1939-1945: Neutrality, Politics and Society, Cork University Press Maurice, C. (2008). The Splendid Cause: The Catholic Action Movement in Ireland in the 20th Century. Dublin: Greenmount Publications McGee, D. (2004). A Popular History of Ireland: from the Earliest Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics, Public Domain Books Paseta, S. (2003). ‘Censorship and its Critics in the Irish Free State, 1922-1932 in Past & Present.’ Vol. 24(181): 183-195 Wills, C. (2007). That Neutral Island: A Cultural History of Ireland during the Second World War, Harvard University Press Read More