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Censorship in the Library--The Dark Side of Dystopia

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Censorship in the Library--The Dark Side of Dystopia Against the Grain Volume 28 | Issue 4 Article 9 2016 Censorship in the Library--The aD rk Side of Dystopia Candace K. Vance Murray State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Vance, Candace K. (2016) "Censorship in the Library--The aD rk Side of Dystopia," Against the Grain: Vol. 28: Iss. 4, Article 9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.7453 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Censorship in the Library: The Dark Side of Dystopia by Candace K. Vance (Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071; Phone: 270-227-8196) <[email protected]> at Conroy in My Reading Life stresses Censorship can also lend legitimacy to particular class of students, but hopefully in the the importance of helping students “ex- books over time. Kidd states that censorship future the process will be closer to the NCTE’s perience the inevitable transformation has a way of enshrining certain books, estab- method of dealing with book complaints and P 5 that occurs through reading…we must do lishing them as literature. Does that mean future classes will benefit. everything we can to offer and then protect Captain Underpants will become a literary In our school system’s middle school we 1 the book that just might change their lives.” classic? We’ll have to wait and see, but when hope future challenges will more appropriate- An important role of libraries is ensuring every we look at lists of banned books over the last ly follow the procedures in the NCTE’s and reader can find that life-changing book. century,6 many of them are now considered NCAC’s guidelines. The parent who voiced Unfortunately, sometimes that transfor- classics, begging the question of whether con- her concern about the book said it went against mational book isn’t available because it was troversy lends credence to a book, pushing it her family’s values. She based this opinion on thought too difficult, dark, or challenging for into the realm of “greatness”…or at least giving the cover art and scanning the book, as did the a particular audience. Although “too dark” or it a degree of “social merit”7 Principal. The complainant was not required “too challenging” are often heard, especially One genre which has withstood its fair share to read the book or file a written complaint. in regards to dystopian novels, the most sited of challenges is the Young Adult Dystopian Requiring complaints be made in writing after reasons for a book to be challenged according novel. These novels have a history of making actually reading the book can often diffuse to ALA’s most banned books are sexual con- parents or other concerned citizens uneasy. the situation. No committee was in place to tent, offensive language, or unsuited to age Complainants may not be exactly sure how to review the complaint. A committee charged group,2 usually evident in a very small portion voice their concern, resorting to questioning with resolving challenges can also help dif- of the book. its age appropriateness or the depth of fuse impulsive complaints. No rationale One study conducted by Strothman and darkness. Dystopian books are dark. for choosing the book was on file and the Van Fleet set out to determine if there is a con- Of course they’re dark, but are they concerned parent was not offered an nection between transformational books and too dark? alternative selection for her child to banned books. They analyzed 298 statements My personal experience with read. The book was simply removed describing books in the “Books That Inspire” book challenges didn’t occur in my from the whole class at her request. exhibit at the University of Oklahoma. The job as a librarian. I became an ac- The book in question was one reasons academics found particular books in- cidental advocate for a school sys- in the Neil Shusterman Unwind spiring fell among twenty-six recurring themes. tem’s students’ right to read when series. In these books parents can For the inspiring books in the exhibit that had a book was censored in my son’s decide to retroactively abort their also been challenged, the authors compared the seventh grade classroom. He had children between the ages of 13 exhibit statements regarding why the book was read Neal Shusterman’s, Unwind, and 18 and donate their organs and inspiring to statements regarding why it was when he was in fifth grade. When body parts to others. The storyline challenged. Were there any similarities in the he was in seventh grade, his reading is not for the faint of heart. It’s statements? Is the reason it was inspiring to teacher assigned the second book in far removed from Nancy Drew some people the same reason it was offensive to the Shusterman series, UnWholly. and the cover art in the series can others? The hypothesis was partially supported When a parent complained about the be somewhat terrifying. But like because there were similar reasons stated for book being too dark and disturbing, the other dystopias, its merit rests in certain books on why it inspired or why it was Principal immediately removed it from its appeal to readers and in its offensive. But in many cases, the reason for the classroom, bypassing any type of formal ability to have them recognize the danger of inspiration was broader than the reason for review. I included book reviews in support of blindly following societal rules which requires challenging. Inspirational themes included the book when I wrote the Principal and offered critical thought. “relationships and understanding others,” an argument as to why one parent’s complaint The very definition of dystopian novels “the individual in society,” or “intellectual should not result in the removal of a book from can raise concern. Fredric Jameson refers to 3 influence and appeal,” to name a few. These the whole classroom. I also spoke to the School dystopia as a “near future novel” which tells the are fairly broad concepts, difficult to define Based Decision Making Council, along with the story of an imminent disaster — ecology, over- and almost impossible to quantify, helping to complainant. When my efforts failed, Millie population, plague, drought, the stray comet or explain the precarious position many librarians Davis from the National Council of Teachers nuclear accident — waiting to come to pass in find themselves. How does one defend a book of English (NCTE) and Svetlana Mintcheva our own near future, which is fast-forwarded with complex themes and abstract concepts from the National Coalition Against Cen- in the time of the novel.8 against two or three concrete sentences with sorship (NCAC) offered to help persuade the If exciting, challenging books are not objectionable content? administration and school board to reconsider. available, students will not develop the hab- Lester Asheim described this dilemma The policy the school followed was inade- it of reading. The importance of students in “Not Censorship, But Selection.” “Single quate and Davis suggested that I ask the School developing into readers cannot be ignored. words and unrelated passages can be used to Board to consider replacing it with the NCTE’s “Wide, independent reading develops fluen- damn a book…the major theme, the total pur- position statement and policy for handling cy, builds vocabulary and knowledge of text pose, the effect of the work as a unified whole book complaints. The NCAC issued a letter structures, and offers readers the experiences have been ignored in order to focus on a word to the school board in support of reinstating the they need to read and construct meaning with or phrase or sequence. In other words, four more challenging texts”9 College students 4 book and adopting the NCTE’s policy. The letters have outweighed 500 pages.” School Board and General Counsel did not who aren’t readers haven’t developed the Kenneth Kidd proposes a different theory change the policy, but indicated the Principal reading skills or the critical thinking skills of why many repeatedly challenged books are and Superintendent had followed the wrong necessary to succeed in college or become also considered among the most popular. A policy. They contended the policy they should life-long learners. book which has been challenged or banned have followed was very similar to the NCTE’s. YA Dystopian novels involve different lev- automatically becomes an object of interest. The process took time and when the Board els of critical thinking. At the center of many, If a book has been removed from a school, and General Counsel had made a decision, the such as Hunger Games, Unwind, The Giver, it will suddenly be on the waiting list at the school year was over and it was too late for the and The Declaration children serve as sacrifice public library. book to be reinstated. We failed to help that continued on page 23 22 Against the Grain / September 2016 <http://www.against-the-grain.com> Censorship in the Library ... from page 22 Only One and scapegoats.10 Readers learn to make com- parison between fictional and historical societies and how important it is for a society not to repeat prior mistakes. The cornerstone of scapegoating is sacrifice to end violence. A conflict always RESULTS begins with an issue — a difference of opinion, an argument.”11 Once a conflict “turns into a Search ENGINE war, the issue doesn’t matter anymore, because now it’s about one thing and one thing only: how Can Do All This! much each side hates the other.”12 In a school or a library where a book is challenged or banned, it may be a reaction to a tragedy in the community — suicide, violence, racism.
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