I get a lot of students writing about my work for degrees of one kind or another, and I thought it might be interesting to post them on this site, for the use of anyone else trying to do the same, or for anyone who is just curious.
Many thanmks to Josiah Jackson-Taylor for letting me post this first one. I should note that Dreamweaver doesn't transcribe formating in anyway, and any faults in this are due to me and not to Joe!
Have you felt about any of the books we have studied that you would not want a child to read them?
Until my teenage era I was raised in Bristol immersed in literature, as television was prohibited in our house. As a result 'The Chronicles of Narnia', imbibed in their entirety, provided a template to understand the world, the implications of which are only emerging to me today. The approach of Melvin Burgess is one far closer to the trend of explicit, episodic exposition in contemporary culture, and revealed facets to my home town that I was shielded from in my adolescent years. The vibrant agency of the child is central to both The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Junk but execution of each text is vastly different. The most fascinating contrast resides in comparing the semantic concerns of the former with the structural features of the latter.
An approach that seems to generate a gravid insight is the application of psychoanalysis to work of C.S. Lewis, who at the time of writing 'The Chronicles of Narnia' held a scholarly post at Magdalen College, Oxford. Earlier in his academic life, as a student at his last school of Malvern, this restrained writer developed a taste for sadomasochistic fantasies evinced in personal correspondence. Letters to a friend detailed the names of certain women whom he had envisaged spanking, and he even signed this mail with the title "Philomastix" - meaning 'whip-lover' . The reason I highlight this potentially peripheral biographical detail is that revisiting the Narnia series revealed this fantasy world as one saturated with veiled adult investment, not only in regard to Lewis' didactic aspiration but also as an expression of the unconscious. It is of supreme importance to realise the role of the unconscious in the process of artistic creation. The association of thoughts, in psychoanalytic topology, is governed by unconscious purposive ideas; all that can be eliminated are recognised purposive ideas, therefore unknown purposive impulses channel the course of voluntary mental output. The unconscious "holds the association of ideas in abstract thinking as well as in sensuous imagining and artistic combination" (Freud, p.672) - it is the larger sphere of the unconscious that houses the machinations of the conscious. Thus emerges the realisation that the creative process is steeped in unconscious memory, which operates on a latent, insidious and, most significantly, preliminary level.
The unresolved sexual and emotional issues are consequently unconsciously incorporated and explored within the text as a subterranean stream, inaccessible to the conscious plane of thought - an "expression of impulses which are under the pressure of resistance [repression]" (Freud, p.774) which nonetheless exert a profound influence. A close appraisal of Peter's first battle proffers an illumination of this point: ostensibly drawing on various literary traditions including the heroic quest, the courtly romance and the violent fairy-tale, his combat inauguration is parturient with prurience. There are manifold layers to the etching of his initiation rights: he wins his spurs as a warrior, yet there is also the discovery of sexual physicality as "everything was blood and heat and hair" (Lewis, p.170). The carnal excitement evoked by this passage is unmistakeable, and it seems irrefutable to me that it is an instance of authorial cathexis, an investment of libidinal energy into a child's adventure: the paragraph ends with "He felt tired all over." (Lewis, p.170) The notion of a violent sexuality surrounding the slaying of the wolf is interesting in that it relates to the desire for authority: "Freud defines sadism as the impulse to master the world" (Bersani, p.87). Another element of the conflict has be ascertained that reinforces the notion of adult investment, phrased as "the uneasy juxtaposition of children and child-adults…what are we doing except in wish-fulfilment with a child who leads an army into battle?" (Manlove, p.123). The rhetoric here underlines the infusion of adult sensibilities and the disquieting construction of child; the suspicion slowly starts to envelop regarding authorial investment once these strong adult themes are disentangled from the carefully crafted narrative.
However, it should be pointed out that this sexual content is almost certainly inadvertent and perhaps this unwitting inclusion extends to the powerful adult themes of bravery and betrayal. I find this a little difficult to believe, although Lewis was 'untheorised' in his approach - unsophisticated in psychoanalytical terms. The writer embarked on his first fully sexual relationship as a middle aged don when he met Joy Gresham, and thereafter followed the period in the 1950's when he not only produced 'The Chronicles of Narnia' but also his autobiographical account of his conversion to Christianity, Surprised By Joy. Tragically, his wife died of cancer a few years into their marriage; the following excerpt from his reflections in A Grief Observed provides a glimpse of the man's metamorphosis during their relationship: "no cranny of heart or mind remained unsatisfied" (Lewis, p.167). In terms of psychological influences, the sexual awakening of the middle aged scholar seems to have seeped into the pages of his children's stories, as I have already propounded. Having already established himself as a writer of popular fiction and as a literary critic with such publications as the 'Space Trilogy' and The Allegory Of Love respectively, Lewis turned deliberately to children's fiction with 'The Chronicles of Narnia'. This presented the opportunity to utilise the tradition of figurative narratives to impose a moral message, a religious doctrination through allegorical didactics.
Consequently there emerges a Kleinian denigration of the wholly bad and the superimposition of the wholly good, as the children's adventure is distilled into Christian dichotomy with simplistic fairy-tale binary oppositions. The White Witch is the embodiment of evil, emanating coldness and disseminating treachery, whereas Aslan is literally a Christ-figure, bringing salvation and accepting the burden of Edmund's perfidy. In the symbolic Stone Table scene Aslan attributes his resurrection to "deeper magic still which she did not know" (Lewis, p.185): the White Witch's lack of religious enlightenment is ultimately her undoing, signalled by the thaw of spring. The intertextual references to the New Testament are patent: the sacrificial death of God's son to purge and save mankind; the earthly reincarnation; the audience of women watching this unfolding of symbolic events. The analogy is carried further by Christ-like creation of the post-battle meal: "How Aslan provided food for them all I don't know" (Lewis, p.193), a line that amplifies the Christian mysticism surrounding this biblical figure. Following his revivification, the language depicting the lion is elevated and enervated as "He rushes on and on, never missing his footing, never hesitating, threading his way through with perfect skill between tree trunks, jumping over bush and briar and the smaller streams, swimming the largest of all…right across Narnia, in spring" (Lewis, p.186). Here Aslan is presented through the religious sublime, augmented by the harmonious synergy with nature as Lewis reformulates the Christian doctrine in terms of the fairy-tale.
The simplistic nature of the fairy tale format shows through in the reiteration of the "foolish" (Lewis, p.113 & p.122) closing of the wardrobe door behind both Lucy and Edmund. The ascribing of virtuosity onto Peter is heightened by the fact that "of course, he remembered, as every sensible person does, that you should never, never shut your self in a wardrobe" (Lewis, p.133). The delineation of Peter is in stark contrast to the "spiteful" Edmund who "jeered and sneered at Lucy" (Lewis, p.121) on her excited return from Narnia, in addition to indicating the authorial orientation and intention. The obnoxious and disloyal Edmund receives all the projected depravities that require amendment, and consequently gravitates towards the evil White Witch, whereas the commendable Peter extrapolates the author's notions of moral fibre and common sense. Edmund is corrupt and corruptible, avariciously guzzling the Turkish Delight - a literary symbol for sexual knowledge - and thereby fulfils the narrative role of indulging in aberrant behaviour. This descent into moral depravity is related in literal fashion during his flight to the White Witch's palace, "slipping", "sliding", "skidding" and "tripping" until "he was wet and cold and bruised all over" (Lewis, p.152) as he becomes enslaved by sin.
A significant aspect to stress is the instructions that are given to Edmund by the White Witch: "my house is between those two hills" (Lewis, p.127). Again, applying the theories of Klein, the sexual resonance of this becomes clear and rather startling as an image of feminine sexual characteristics - the breasts - are an implicit part of depravity and bolsters the notion of her house as a harem. Hence it is possible to discern the presence of unacknowledged authorial issues: "every combination of sensuous presentations…requires the help of the Unconscious" (Freud, p.675). The manifestation of the unconscious again appears fleetingly as the psychological aperture releases facets of sublimated desire. However, this has a tendency to remain elusive and tenuous as the very operation of this psychological split is to immediately recede as the chasm seals up. The unconscious functions with a veneer of deception, and is consequently extremely fragile on the ontic plane. The 'birthing' into Narnia through the fur-coated wardrobe is another incident that resonates on this level; the penetration of narrow spaces are classic psychoanalytical sexual images, with fur acting as a synonym for pubic hair, and therefore the route into Narnia seems to be both a uterine exit and a move towards sexual contact. The employment of the classic quest motif once the children are in Narnia constructs the journey in pursuit of something lost in the past, a regressive search that entails battling the supernatural. In psychoanalytical terms, the end point of this regressive quest is the return to the womb which is also the cervical gateway to Narnia. Of course, no matter how long the children spend in Narnia, the exterior temporality remains unaffected because at its heart it is an interior journey that maintains the perpetual status of childhood.
The supernatural reality of Narnia can be viewed as the construction of a dream world: authorial thoughts become objectified into scenes and images as a landscape of ideological lexicography emerges. As a psychical locality "the sense of action in dreams is different from that of waking ideational life" (Freud, p.684). This relates to the psychoanalytical concept of dreams being a construct of stored-up sensory imagery, a hallucinatory revival of perceptual imprints. Freud's definition of a dream world states that it is "a substitute for an infantile scene modified by being transferred on to a recent experience" (Freud, p.696). Hence it is possible to see the enslaved Narnia as analogous to the specificities of the mid 20th Century: the jack-booted police states of Nazi Germany, Il Duce's Italy and the evolving constricts of Stalinist Russia. However, there is another side to this historical location: this can be seen in the sense of optimism and rebirth indicated by the Aslan-induced thaw, reflecting the post-war vision of a new society. In 1950's Britain there was an emphasis on the upcoming cohort of children who were ascribed a sense of hope and opportunity in the relief of this post-war immediacy. This next generation of children were imbued with the responsibility of forging a better world than the war generation had experienced. The writing of Lewis seems to be infused with a religious thaw, a pervasive spring time induced by the appearance of the Christ figure Aslan, coloured by an imagined pastoral idyll, a phantasmagoria that is derived from a town child's perspective - the evacuee children at the hub of the story are "sent" to live with the Professor "because of the air-raids" (Lewis, p.111). The dictatorial White Witch is imbued with autocratic timbre through her ability to turn her dissidents into statues, which functions as a manifestation of totalitarianism that only Aslan can dissipate. The whispering trees add to this despotic atmosphere, mirroring the real paranoia of espionage in the gathering frost of the Cold War period.
Tolkein's criticism of the Narnia series stemmed from what he saw as an unsystematic construction of the 'other' world. It can be argued that 'real' components are haphazardly mixed with the mythological characters of fauns and Father Christmas. I think that the use of talking animals works on two levels: firstly, as an ideological realisation. The sweet-natured Mr. Tumnus is allied with Aslan, who is not only a Christ figure but also equated with England, being, of course, a lion. The tyranny of the dictator state is associated with the ferocious and the "deformed" (Lewis, p.191), embodied by the police chief wolf, Fenris Ulf. The use of animals also can be traced back in the author's biography - he loved playing with stuffed animals as a child - and in addition relates to the Kleinian postulation that the perceived ability to communicate with nature is a profound instance of childhood pleasure. The second level on which this amalgam of mythology and reality works is that it allows Lewis to present his religious didactic in terms of a child's simplistic experience range, a religious awareness based on the celebration of the Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter. Therefore the surreal appearance of Father Christmas combines both popular symbology and the mythologically established form to imply a theological truth. I would like to illuminate this point with the following comment from Lewis: "The little human animal will not at first have the right responses. It must be trained to feel pleasure, liking, disgust and hatred at those things which really are pleasant, likeable, disgusting and hateful" (Myers, p.116). In this moment Lewis betrays the premeditated proposed manipulation of his reader; what I personally find disturbing is the inherent arbitrary mediation that is therefore imbued into the construction of Narnia. Lewis aimed to instill his own convictions of Christian humanism, the training of emotions and prescripted 'virtue' that flows from his belief in absolute truths, such as the Incarnation of Christ, using archetypal imagery.
Lacan argues that there is a special spectral locus between perception and consciousness that is the interval of the unconscious, and it is here that both the subject is constituted and the Other is posited. Therefore conceptualising Narnia as a dream world gains even more weight as an arena of unconscious authorial manifestations; Nietzsche points out that "some primeval relic of humanity is at work which we can now scarcely reach" (Freud, p.700). The "navel" of dream thoughts, in Freudian thinking, flow into the conscious: "in every direction into the intricate network of our world of thought" (Freud, p.671). 'Resistance', the source of dynamic psychical censorship produced through repression and suppression, is dramatically reduced in the dream world, although it remains a distorting agent. This world, as Nietzsche intimated, appears to exist as a vehicle of anthropologically innate resonance and Peter's epistemological questioning draws attention to this: "Well, sir, if things are real, they're there all the time, aren't they?" (Lewis, p.131). Ultimately, childhood is delivered as unending - the wardrobe is always there and, equally, the children are unchanged upon their return. As a result, the channelling mould of childhood is catalogued in the larger sphere of the unconscious, where an exertion of phylogenetic childhood operates, and this permits the unwitting integration and interchange of material in Lewis' construction of Narnia. The influence of his relationship cannot be discarded: "Sexual excitement momentarily breaks down the structure of the self which enables us to "bind" both internal and external stimuli within a controlling and organising subjective wholeness" (Lacan, p.140). It is viable to state that evolution of the Narnia narrative was governed by the latent effect of the unconscious reserve, operating within the social network of Lewis' own experience.
It is the teenage characters of Junk that seem to exist in a dream-perception of the world etched by Burgess' social realism, a vastly different situation to the supernatural fantasy of Narnia. Each chapter posits the reader directly within a character's point of view through a first person narrative stream, inducing audience interpolation whilst allowing autonomous judgement by withholding the authorial commentary imbued through an omniscient, ostensibly objective, third person narrator. This assertion is bourn out in Chapter 14, where the reader is subjected to Lily's enmeshing voice: "It's magic. Listen to the words. You can be anything, you can do anything, you can be anything, you can do anything" (Burgess, p.190). The dream-perception of this excerpt resides in the prevalent repetition, illuminating the depth of self-deception the characters all participate in as addiction sets in. Furthermore, Freud emphasises that dream-wishes are characterised by the present tense which acts to represent these wishes as fulfilled. The present tense is ubiquitous throughout the text, and earlier in the same chapter it can be observed in Lily's declarations about the "Freefood shop": "You go inside. You put the food under your coat or in your shopping bag and then you take it home with you" (Burgess, p.188). Again the theme of self-deception emerges, as the justification for theft is generated by positing possession and authority as "just another form of mind control" (Burgess, p.189). Social responsibility is circumnavigated as each of the characters descend into addiction, rejecting social parameters and in their place embracing a veritable form of mind control through their spiralling dependence on heroin. The clarity of self-knowledge and consequent despair develops only after the damage has been irreversibly inflicted: "slave, hero, rent boy, pimp, master of the universe - you'll do whatever you have to do to get your next hit", even "eat shit" (Burgess, p.358). Here the language reverberates with a teenage intonation as Tar laments his incarcerated situation.
The formal characteristics of Junk make sure it presents itself in complete opposition to the established literary conventions of writing for children. The language is much closer to the diurnal dialects of contemporary teenage interaction, aswell as the effective structural montage. Burgess addresses the adolescent reader directly in a technical sense by adopting a conversational tone and address, whilst the appropriation of the language of the adolescent not only empowers to the young reader but also cements the adolescent as the active agent in the narrative: "it was like, you know, a trap? I mean, they'd covered me in shit and now I was out of their control it was, I love you…" (Burgess, p.198). Here the author successfully recreates an adolescent intonation, inducing identification within his target audience and setting the distrustful parental perspective in opposition to the tone of the narrative. The protagonists' descent into darkness stems for both malcontent and from the failings of the adult world. This plunge is remorselessly depicted as the children make a litany of bad decisions - possibly for the right reasons - which catalyse and accelerate their fall. There is a pervasive sense of carpe diem, a celebration of the moment and an almost hedonistic ethos: as Tar experiences heroin for the first time, his reaction is that "I felt I was just beginning to learn how to live" (Burgess, p.185). The obvious irony is that in fact he is learning how to die; yet this is not preached by the author, it is presented through the evolution of the fabula and the juxtaposition of the different characters voices. The multi-strand structure of multiple first person narratives shifts the audience focus constantly, a method that is both engaging and interpolating, and produces an innately fragmented world view - like the teenagers, who lack the capacity to assimilate experience into learning. The narrative technique of imbedding the fabula inside the adolescent consciousness illustrates the hollowness of their reasoning and the persistent self-deception, and therefore ultimately exposes the dangers that exist when there are not the necessary protective constraints in the absence of maturity. It can be argued that the abstinence of explicit authorial comment is superseded by the expositionary judgement; this is supported by the vacancy surrounding the protagonists, as nothing seems to exist beyond the moment, which soon translates into nothing beyond the next "hit", and the poignant sense of isolation that ensues.
However, this is executed in contrast to the established traditions of children's literature: Burgess subverts the adult perspective that stems from Victorian literature, seen in such texts as Peter Pan and Alice In Wonderland. These texts were instrumental in enshrining the notion of childhood innocence, and the inherently adult perspective both perpetuated and fiercely protected this tradition. Conversely, when subjected to a Freudian analysis, this position ceases to become anything but innocent: the Victorian construction of the child seems to reek of paedophilic voyeurism, salivating over the idealised child. In Junk the author departs from the implicit adult perspective that constantly seeks to educate the innocent child in a dogmatic sense. Yet there is certainly a didactic aspiration pulsing through the text, perhaps much more effective in that it addresses the teenage audience unswervingly. The argument for censorship, evinced by the reactionary critical responses, is certainly part of this obsolete concept that the innocence of the child must be kept sacrosanct, and the author's comments in relation to this are aptly amusing: "Anyone would have thought there was a free pack of soft drugs with every copy!" As I have already propounded, the strength of Junk lies in the fact that it allows the young mind to reach an autonomous analysis, something Burgess touches upon in one of his interviews: "There are books for grandparents, babies, toddlers and grown-ups - why has this group [teenagers] been left alone? It's all the more odd when you think about how big the youth market is in film, music, computer games and so on." This expounds a position that I find personal resonance with: there is a severe lack literature that addresses the young person directly, unlike the myriad forms of popular entertainment and it is these other cultural artefacts that provoke a debate on censorship, if instructive editing is a valid discourse in any case. Gemma's depiction of the drug induced incarceration functions to highlight the tolerable restrictions of parental control: "You take more and more, and more often. Then you get sick of it and give up for a few days. And that's the really nasty thing because then, when you're clean, that's when it works so well." (Burgess, p.249). The exacting mandates of addiction are far more severe than the parameters of parents; this didactic core, delivered so effectively, is surely a positive insight that any parent would want their child to grasp.
The superficial content of Junk may be a little disturbing, but the underlying didactic drive of the novel mitigates this, in my view, and justifies the inclusion of biographically generated details that, arguably, are adult concerns. I cannot say the same for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: a sophisticated regard renders an adult investment in the text which I find to be far more disconcerting than the language and descriptions of substance abuse that appear in Burgess' text - these are surely things that children are subjected to anyway in films, video games, the playground…
1 Critics at Large: newyorker.com
2 Articles: web.onetel.net.uk/~melvinburgess
Bibliography:-
Texts:
Bennett, A. and Royle, N. Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory.
Harlow: Prentice-Hall Europe, 1999
Bersani. L. Baudelaire And Freud. London: University of California Press, Ltd., 1977
Burgess, M. Junk. London: Penguin, 1996
Doris, T. M. Lewis in Context. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1994
Freud, S. Trans. Stachey, J. Ed. James Stachey and Alan Tyson. The Interpretation of Dreams. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1976
Harland, R. Literary Theory From Plato To Barthes. London: MacMillan Press Ltd., 1999 Klein, M. Love, Guilt and Reparation and Other Works 1921-1945.
London: Karnac Books, 1975
Klein, M. Envy and Gratitude and Other Works 1946-1963.
London: Vintage, 1997
Lacan, J. Trans. Sheridan, A. The Four Fundamental Concepts Of Psycho-Analysis. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1977
Lewis, C.S. A Grief Observed. San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001
Lewis, C.S. The Allegory Of Love: A Study In Medieval Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1936
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles Of Narnia. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998
Lewis, C.S. Surprised by Joy. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1955
Manlove, C. C.S. Lewis: His Literary Achievement. London: MacMillan Press Ltd., 1987
Mitchell, J. The Selected Melanie Klein. London: Penguin Books, 1986
Todorov, T. Trans. Howard, R. The Fantastic: A Structural Approach To A Literary Genre. New York: Cornell University Press, 1975
Parkin-Gounelas, R. Literature And Psychoanalysis: Intertextual Readings. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001
Websites:- http://www.newyorker.com Accessed on 08/04/2006
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~melvinburgess Accessed on 10/04/2006
http://www.voya.com Accessed on 19/04/2006
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk Accessed on 10/04/2006
http://changingminds.org Accessed on 22/04/2006 http://cslewis.drzeus.net Accessed on 22/04/2006
Abstract
This dissertation addresses the topic of censorship of children's and teenage literature with particular reference to the situation in the UK today. It begins by exploring censorship of books in a general context, giving a history of censorship in the UK and looking at the children's and teenage book markets over time. It then goes on to define censorship in a modern context. The dissertation concentrates primarily upon five case-study authors, chosen because their books have been subjected to censorship attempts. The dissertation further aims to understand the possible flaws with the current classification system and the reasons for censorship attempts, to analyse the effect of censorship on publishers, to question whether censorship is a threat to publishing, to evaluate the merits of introducing an age classification system in the UK for children's books, and to consider other ways in which publishers can protect themselves from censorship. Questionnaires were sent to publishers, authors, professional bodies and booksellers around the UK. The results are analysed and referred back to the objectives of the dissertation in order to answer specific questions about censorship and age classification. Conclusions were drawn from both primary and secondary sources, and suggestions for further research included. Introduction Like all literature, children's literature responds to historical change and world events, and so the face of children's publishing is undergoing constant change. Writing for children can be considered 'a complex and ambiguous pursuit, one that articulates the changing nature of authorship in the face of social change' (Thacker and Webb, 2002, p. 5). Writing for children and teenagers is more challenging than writing for an adult audience, since the relationship between the adult author and the child reader is not equal in terms of knowledge and experience. Indeed, it can be argued that the purpose of children's literature is education and, ultimately the author is attempting to admit the child into the adult world, and to 'admit (children) into an adult language' (Thacker and Webb, 2002, p. 3). The writer must consider how to engage with the target audience, but must also ensure that the content of the book is suitable for the reader's literacy ability and comprehension. It is the author's job to maintain and achieve this delicate balance, and this has proved difficult on many occasions. For this reason, children's and teenage books often come under criticism, and can be subjected to censorship, because they are considered to be 'unsuitable'. Before the onset of the World wars, there was a clear distinction between children's and adult literature, in terms of the content and themes addressed. Since World War Two, however, this distinction has become much less prominent. According to Dr Rona Tutt, national officer and former president of the National Association of Head Teachers: We are in new territory now. There was a tradition when children's books had what could be called 'children's themes and interests'. It's now become very blurred. (The Daily Mail, 13th August 2005) This perceived blur in the divide between children's and adult literature is perhaps the reason why children's and teenage books are so susceptible to criticism and censorship. This dissertation addresses the problem of censorship of children's and teenage books in the UK today, with particular reference to the effects of censorship on the publishing industry. The research highlights possible methods by which publishers can protect themselves from censorship. Much of the research relates to five authors who have been chosen as case studies, but also considers additional books where relevant. As a starting point, some background information on censorship and children's books is provided. The possible reasons for censorship of children's and teenage books are then considered, and their merits evaluated. Once these reasons have been established, the possible flaws in the current age classification system are analysed. The effect of bad press and censorship on publishers is of central importance to this investigation, and is therefore analysed throughout this dissertation. Possible solutions to the problem of age classification are evaluated, with particular reference to the possibility of introducing age classifications on the covers of the books. The merits of this new system of classification are evaluated alongside other possible solutions. Finally, the dissertation focuses on the extent to which censorship is a threat to the publishing industry, and the specific methods by which publishers could protect themselves from censorship. Background The History of Censorship Censorship can be defined as the control of human expression and the suppression of ideas. It can be carried out by the government or by individuals who take moral issue with certain statements, beliefs or ideas. In the UK, we do not have any censorship laws, but any book can be challenged in court after its publication if it contains material that is considered obscene, blasphemous, defamatory or which provokes racial hatred. It must be proven in court that the book depraves or corrupts the reader in some way before it can be censored. These days, censorship battles rarely reach a court of law. The term 'censorship', therefore, covers a variety of actions. The subject of censorship raises numerous moral dilemmas. We live in a democratic society where every human being has the right to freedom of expression. This means that every human being should be able to write about whatever subject they wish, as long as their comments do not go against UK law, as detailed above. It further means that every child or adult should be able to choose their own reading material. Indeed, it is a commonly held belief that by allowing children to read freely is the best means of educating them. However, this contradicts the belief that parents have the right to make decisions about what their child reads, as parents have responsibility for shaping their child's development up until a certain age (what this age is is open to debate). So, there is an ongoing debate between those who believe in freedom of expression and choice, and those who believe in protecting children from what they consider to be 'corrupting' material. This debate has a strong foundation in British history, and by looking back at its foundations, we can better understand how it relates to the UK in a modern context. The first form of (indirect) censorship occurred around the time of the invention of printing (1440). It was imposed by the main authorities - the State and the Church. It was around this time that the authorities noticed that the dissemination of print was disturbing the foundations of society. Traditionally, the Church and the State have been seen as being in opposition to the publishing industry, due to the frequency with which they have intervened in the publishing process for 'moral' or 'political' reasons. As Feather notes: The underlying concern was with the censorship of religious dissent in print, with all its implications for creating political instability. It was for that reason that it was the ecclesiastical rather than the civil authorities who had general oversight of the press (Feather, 2006, p. 34). In its traditional sense, therefore, censorship was about authorities retaining power. In order to prevent dissent, these authorities ensured that books were printed in Latin, and were expensive, so that only the educated and affluent could understand and purchase them. High book prices remained the most effective method of censorship up until the nineteenth century. Henry VIII introduced a number of laws relating to book publication, and it became made mandatory for all books to be approved by the Privy Council prior to publication. The first official list of banned books was called the Index Librorum Prohibitum. Unsurprisingly, this was published by the Roman Catholic Church in 1559. When Elizabeth I came to the throne, she granted a Charter to the Stationers' Company in 1559, which was to control 'scandalous, malicious, schismatical and heretical' books (Feather, 2006, p. 33). She issued a series of injunctions regarding what was allowed to be printed and what was not, and the Stationer's Company was expected to ensure that potentially contentious or banned books were not printed. They kept a register of books which had been licensed for printing, called the 'Stationer's register' (Feather, 2006, p. 34). As the popularity of fiction began to rise, it began to be regarded as potentially corrupting. The Nazis burned thousands of books which they considered to be in opposition to them. The most famous censorship battle to date is the Lady Chatterley's Lover trial of 1960. Penguin were tried under the Obscene Publications Act (1959), but they were found to be not guilty. There were mixed opinions about the outcome of the trial, but the abiding opinion seems to be that the attack on Lawrence and Penguin was deeply unfair, and that the trial 'introduced the 1960s as an age of permissiveness in British minds and manners' (Travis, 2000, p. 138). This was arguably the last major censorship battle in the UK and the US, and censorship trials are no longer commonplace. Children's Books and Censorship Children became a viable market for publishers during the nineteenth century, due to parents having more disposable income, and 'the niche provided by school and Sunday-school prizes' (Finkelstein & McCleery, 2005, p. 114). The definition of children's literature has always presented scholars with a problem: should it be childlike and simple, or challenging? Should it endeavour to protect children's innocence, or be educational? Should it take the form of escapist fantasy, or realism? In the past, children's books tended to be fantasy-based, and this genre is usually considered as escapism, in that the fantasy world created differs greatly from the world in which the reader lives. However, in recent years, the popularity of the social realism book for children has increased, giving birth to a fresh set of problems and difficulties for both authors and publishers of children's literature. Writers for children have many more restrictions placed upon them than writers for adults, in terms of content. Since authors are usually adults, they must be careful about what issues they raise in their books when writing for children. They are expected to consider what a young audience is emotionally ready for, and what they are mature and intelligent enough to understand. The protection of children's innocence has long been considered a major responsibility for children's authors. It began in the nineteenth century, when it was important for public libraries to ensure that they only stocked 'edifying and moral literature' in their children's sections (Finkelstein & McCleery, 2005, p. 115). This period marks the beginning of this preoccupation with providing children with 'suitable' reading material. Parents will always be concerned for their children's welfare and seek to protect them. However, it is important for children to grow, if they are to become functioning members of our society, and one of the most effective ways of growing is through reading. As Lettis notes: One of the surest ways of growing is to read. But often it is that very kind of reading which makes us most fearful for the welfare of our children - reading about controversial things like violence and rebellion and nonconformity and rejection of traditional values, reading about sex - which will do the most to help them grow. (Lettis, 1980, p. 453) Lettis also points out that the books which earn parental approval are usually the books which represent simplified values and concepts and do nothing to challenge the child's expanding intellect. For this reason, there will always be debate as to what constitutes 'suitable' reading material for children and for teenagers, and it is this eternal debate which creates problems for the publishing industry. Tucker explains the root of the problem as he sees it: …the child reader can identify with the main action, and books become ways in which he explores himself and the world around him: his feelings, dilemmas and some of the situations he may soon face, or is already facing. Very simple books will put these situations simply; the more complex will merge into the adult novel, thus giving rise to that controversy beloved of conferences on children's literature: what is a children's book? (Tucker, 1976, p. 27) Tucker believes that books for very young children do not cause problems in this way because they do not include any adult material and fall naturally outside adult interests and issues. However, he recognises that books for older readers often address adult issues and this means there is a danger of them becoming adult books rather than children's books. J D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, published in 1951, was one of the first and most famous 'modern' fiction classics read by children to be subjected to censorship attempts. People found it objectionable on the grounds that it contained foul language, sexual content, and the main character Holden is a teenage boy who drinks, disobeys his parents and drops out of school. Holden himself admits that some things are unsuitable for children-when visiting his sister at school, he sees a four-letter word written on the wall and tries to rub it off. The novel explores the issue of childhood innocence and the inevitable loss of this innocence through experience into adulthood. Holden eventually learns that he cannot protect his little sister from the adult world and must allow her to be free to experience things for herself - the only way to avoid this loss of innocence is to be dead like Holden's brother Allie. It is ironic that a book which criticises censorship should be subjected to it. Children's and teenage books are often the target of censorship attempts, as the problem of censorship is more complicated for children's and teenage literature. Teenage fiction was born post-war, the first teenage book being widely considered to be Fifteen by Beverly Cleary, published in 1956 by HarperCollins. Before the existence of teenage literature, there was a clear division between children's fiction and adult fiction, and things were much simpler. Moss notes that: The confusion over what a children's books should be - whether it should be escapist, as classic children's fiction has generally been, or confront "reality", as it often does nowadays - reflects the fact that writing for children and young adults is now split in a way that was never previously the case. (Moss, The Guardian, March 2000) The children's and teenage market is a difficult market to write for - what would be a perfectly suitable book for an adult to read could be considered obscene for younger readers. For the purposes of this dissertation, I will be concentrating on children's books for 12+, including teenage books (ages 13-19), as these seem to be the most problematic. The teenage book market is steadily growing, with most children's publishers in the UK having an imprint dedicated to teenagers, or part of their list dedicated to Young Adults. As Caroline Horn points out in The Bookseller, 'A bestselling teen author can now achieve sales of up to 100,000 copies a year, compared with up to 50,000 copies some four or five years ago' (Horn, The Bookseller, February 2005). According to the article, there was an 11.5% rise in sales of the top selling ten teenage authors between 2003 and 2004 (Horn, The Bookseller, February 2005). According to Sally Gritten, Managing Director of HarperCollins, 'This age group is probably up there with the over-50s in terms of having the most disposable income of any age group. They have their own money, and they are not influenced by adults in their lives' (The Bookseller, February 2005). Teenage or 'Young Adult' books are subjected to a great deal of scrutiny, as they are neither children's books or adult books-they are referred to as 'transitionary' books, since teenage years are considered to be a transitionary period between childhood and adulthood. The age classification debate has existed for some time now; nobody has been able to agree how to decide what age books are suitable for, or been able to apply a universal age classification system to children's and teenage books. Evidently there is a good reason for this, and this dissertation will investigate what this reason might be. Crossover fiction 'Crossover fiction' is a relatively new term which applies to a genre of books read and enjoyed by children and adults alike. The Harry Potter series and the His Dark Materials trilogy are pioneers of this genre. Often, crossover fiction is published in two forms: a children's version with a children's cover, and an adult version with a more mature, adult cover. Many of these 'crossover' books are targets of censorship, since they are considered to address more adult themes, and publishers who publish crossover fiction are often attacked for their decision. Eccleshare, a respected writer and editor, believes that crossover fiction can have drawbacks, and published the following statement of The British Council website: The danger about searching for the 'crossover' market is that authors and their publishers are all piling into writing books that reach across boundaries rather than writing for children. This is a shame as children are very particular kinds of readers and there are some core features of writing for children that give the classics of the genre their longevity. (www.britishcouncil.org/arts-literature-matters-3-eccleshare.htm) Eccleshare believes that the only contemporary book which has managed to achieve universal popularity with children and adults alike is Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, published under the Vintage imprint at Random House. Eccleshare cites Jacqueline Wilson, also published by Random House, as an author who does not 'cross over' but still attracts unprecedented numbers of readers without being condescending. She urges writers to 'remain true to children as readers' (britishcouncil.org) so that the UK can retain its distinguished reputation for children's literature. Censorship and the Publishing Industry Today Despite what many people believe, censorship still poses a problem for the publishing industry, for authors, and for readers in the UK today. It is a particular problem in schools and libraries. Indeed, more and more reasons are found for censoring books ever day, and many people believe the situation is becoming ridiculous, especially in the US. According to Ben Mcintyre in his article for The Times: …if the official school book censors get their way, the language of American education will be stripped of anything dangerous, challenging, culturally sensitive or liable to cause an allergic reaction. To enter the strange, barren world of the American school textbook is like landing on a cultural moon, a featureless, drab and weightless planet, muffled and sterile. (Mcintyre, The Times, July 2003) Far too many subjects are becoming taboo in schools, with the result that there is little left which is considered 'suitable' for children to learn about. Panels for 'bias and sensitivity' are employed in the US to make decisions on what children should be allowed to learn. According to such panels, children should not be taught about dinosaurs, as their existence contradicts the creationist theory, and 'exam questions must not refer to mountains, since this would discriminate against children who live in flat areas' (Mcintyre, The Times, July 2003). The article's mocking tone makes clear that Mcintyre is altogether opposed to censorship: A book entitled, say, The Old Man and the Sea, would be sure to bring the sensitivity panel out in a rash. Old is ageist; man is sexist; and what about those readers who live inland? Person of Mature years Gone Fishing would be altogether preferable. (Mcintyre, The Times, 05.07.03) This article highlights the censorship of language and ideas that is prevalent in the US, and has begun to spread to the UK. A columnist for The Guardian recently pointed out that 'Hogwarts celebrates Christmas and Hallowe'en, but there are no feasts for Rosh Hashanah or Diwali' (The Times, July 2003). It also highlights a further problem: despite being shielded from anything which is considered controversial or damaging at school, when children go home, they are most likely subjected to violence, sex and conflict on the TV. Is it any wonder many children find school boring? This is the situation facing the publishing industry today. For the purposes of this dissertation, I will mainly be assessing the effect of censorship on publishers. Censorship can affect publishers in a number of ways. Censorship of a book, in any form, can decrease sales of the title, and bad press can taint the reputation of the author and the publishing house. More importantly, it could potentially result in legal action being taken against the publishing house. In the UK, this legal action could be taken under the 1959 Obscene Publications Act. Section 1 states that an article, or any distinct item contained in an article, is considered obscene by law: …if its effect…is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, in all the circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it. (Jones & Benson, 2006, p. 187) Jones and Benson clarify this with the following explanation of what the Act actually means: The prosecution must prove that its tendency is strong enough actually to deprave and corrupt a significant proportion of its likely audience; in other words, to pervert or corrupt their morals sufficiently for it to constitute a public menace. It is necessary for more than a negligible number of persons to see the material…Furthermore, the entire article 'taken as a whole' must have the tendency, not just one small bit of it. (Jones & Benson, 2006, p. 188) Section 1 of the Obscene Publications Act provides very specific guidelines as to what constitutes an obscene publication, and for this reason it is very unlikely that any books published today could be taken to court on these grounds, as publishers are well aware of the law and careful not to publish anything which is in contention with it. However, there is always a possibility that something may be overlooked by the publisher, and that a book may be taken to court. This is something that publishers must consider when signing new books. However, there is a large and powerful anti-censorship movement working to defend the basic human right of free expression, and to protect authors and publishers. This is manifested through organisations such as the National Coalition Against Censorship or NCAC (www.ncac.org) and Index on Censorship (www.indexonline.org). The NCAC is a United States association which was founded in 1974, and is composed of fifty national non-profit organisations, one of which is a literary group. They strongly believe that 'freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression must be defended' and they work 'to educate (their) own members and the public at large about the dangers of censorship and how to oppose them' (www.ncac.org). Index on Censorship was founded in 1972, inspired by British poet Stephen Spender, and aims to defend the basic human right of free expression. The Index is one of the world's leading repositories of 'original, challenging, controversial and intelligent writing on free expression issues' and 'logs free expression abuses in scores of countries world wide in its Index section' (www.indexonline.org). The mere existence of organisation such as these proves that a huge proportion of the world's population are strongly opposed to censorship in all its forms. Research Objectives The motivation for this dissertation is my strong opposition to censorship of all books, but particularly children's and teenage books. Since meeting Melvin Burgess in 2004 when he gave a lecture at Cambridge University about his experiences with censorship, I have been fascinated by the subject. My personal belief is that censorship is wrong. I believe everybody has the right to choose their own reading material, and I believe this is true for children and teenagers as well as adults. I do not believe reading a book about adult issues will damage a child in any way, and I do not believe that children can be realistically 'protected' from sex, drugs and violence until they are adult enough to make their own decisions. Indeed, in many instances I believe that educating children and teenagers about these issues is the most effective method of protecting them. Ignorance is dangerous. I also believe that many censors employ double standards when it comes to which books they object to. If, for example, people believe that Harry Potter promotes an interest in the occult, it should follow that they also believe many works by Shakespeare, Dickens and many more well-renowned authors pose similar threats. To me, there seems to be little logical reason why censors object to some books but not to others. I am particularly concerned with the effects of censorship on the publishing industry in the UK. This dissertation has four major objectives. With reference to children's and teenage books: · To analyse the perceived flaws in the current classification system for children's and teenage books, and establish the reasons behind bad press and censorship attempts, especially in relation to my case studies · To analyse the effect of this bad press and censorship on the sales of the books in question, and also on the publisher's (and author's) reputations · To question the extent to which censorship is a threat to the publishing industry · To evaluate the merits of implementing a form of age classification on the covers of all children's and teenage books, and to suggest further ways publishers can protect themselves from censorship Literature Review At present, there are no books published which directly address the question of a possible age classification system for children's and teenage books. This has been a limiting factor in my investigation. However, the lack of publications on the topic of age classification reinforces my belief that it is an issue worth investigating and justifies my decision to address the topic in a modern context as an original piece of writing. However, there have been a number of books published on the topic of censorship, many of which I found extremely useful in defining the topic in a general context. The publication dates of many of these books were also limiting factors, however, since many of them are quite old. For this reason, it was also necessary to consult many internet websites. Below is a list of the books and websites which best informed this dissertation: John feather, A History of British Publishing, second edition, 1996 This book provides excellent detail on the history of censorship in Britain and the constant redefinition of censorship and laws relating to censorship. The book covers six centuries of British publishing and was therefore very useful for comparison between different eras. Alec Craig, The Banned Books of England and Other Countries, 1962 This book concentrates primarily upon England and the legal side of censorship, because, as the introduction states, England was the first country to develop a law of libel. Craig recognises the importance of history in understanding the present position. Craig's book provides a comprehensive history of censorship in England. However, the book's major limiting factor is its publication year-1962, and the fact that it does not address censorship of children's books. Nicholas Tucker (ed), Suitable for Children? Controversies in Children's Literature, 1976 This book gave me an interesting insight into various predictions of what literature can do to children, but also looks in detail at what children like to read, from fairy stories and classics to comics. It also looks at how children can be frightened by literature and how this may encourage parents to protect their children from certain books. Hugh Jones & Christopher Benson, Publishing Law, third edition, 2006 Publishing Law was extremely helpful in answering all my queries about the legal side of publishing and how this relates to censorship. This book provided me with a foundation for my knowledge on possible objections to books which could potentially result in legal action being taken against the publisher, for example obscenity, blasphemy, defamation and slander. This helped me form my own opinions about whether my case studies were suitable for children. Alan Travis, Bound and Gagged: A Secret History of Obscenity in Britain, 2000 This book provided specific cases in history relating to censorship of children's and teenage literature, including comics. It provides a foundation of knowledge regarding the 1955 Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act. Millicent Lenz and Ramona M. Mahood, Young Adult Literature: Background and Criticism, 1980 This is an American Library Association publication which relates to publishing in the US rather than the UK. It provided a plethora of opinions regarding young adult literature in the US, which was invaluable for the areas of this dissertation which concentrate upon the situation in the US. However, its publication date in 1980 means that it does not provide an up-to-date account of the current situation in the US. The National Coalition Against Censorship (www.ncac.org) The NCAC official website provided me with a plethora of information and resources regarding censorship in the US, and information about their newsletter Censorship News. The Index on Censorship (www.indexonline.org) The Index on Censorship website provides up-to-the-minute news articles on censorship around the world. It also provided information about the Index on Censorship magazine, published by Taylor and Francis, and the various media development projects the organisation is working on worldwide. Research Methodology The main body of this research concentrates upon five case study children's and teenage authors and their books. These are: 1. Judy Blume's Forever 2. Melvin Burgess' Doing It and Junk 3. Philip Pullmann's His Dark Materials trilogy 4. J K Rowling's Harry Potter series 5. An assortment of books by Jacqueline Wilson For each case study, I considered: · How the books are currently classified, including any mention of age or explicit content on the covers · The arguments for their censorship · The case against censoring them · The effect of censorship on sales figures and on the reputation of the respective publisher These particular books and authors were chosen as case studies as they are some of the most controversial in the current children's and teenage market. Each author has been a victim of censorship attempts. Genre was also an important factor when choosing these case studies, and the final selection covers both fantasy fiction and social realism books, for children and teenagers of both sexes. The majority of the case-study titles are considered 'crossover fiction', and many have been published as adult titles with adult covers, as well as being published for children and teenagers. This, perhaps, is the reason for their susceptibility to criticism and censorship attempts, and is something which will be considered during the course of this dissertation. Secondary Sources In order to collect background information for this dissertation on the topic of censorship, and to research my case studies and research objectives, I used a number of methods for gathering secondary data: Review of Current Publications The books currently in print which address the subject of censorship were studied, with particular reference to looking for existing research on the topic of age classification. No books were found which directly address the topic of age classification of children's books. This increased the need for primary data to be collected. However, a multitude of books were found which provide background information regarding censorship of children's and teenage literature. Review of Press Articles The trade press (The Bookseller, Publishing News) and the general media (especially The Guardian and The Times) were searched for articles relating to censorship and age classification of children's and teenage literature. The trade press were also used to search for sales figures and bestseller lists for children's literature, and magazines such as The Bookseller and Publishing News were particularly useful, as many of the articles have been written from a publishing perspective. I also used press articles to find interviews and reviews relating to my five case studies. Review of Internet Resources Due to the relatively recent commencement of the age classification debate, the internet was particularly useful for locating up-to-date information and opinions on the subject. It was also useful when researching my case studies as I was able to locate the official website for each author. The internet was my first port of call for gathering information about publishers in the UK. Primary Sources Due to the lack of existing literature on the topic of age classification, it was necessary to collect a significant amount of primary data. I used a number of research methods to gather this data: Author Interviews It was my initial intention, if possible, to interview all five of my case study authors. Each author was contacted, either by email or letter, and questioned regarding the following: · The extent to which censorship is a threat to the publishing industry · The effect of censorship on sales of their books · The extent to which they believe that censorship is a threat to the publishing industry · The merits of introducing an age classification system on the covers of books and other methods by which publishers can protect themselves from censorship I was aware that it was highly unlikely that I would receive responses from all five authors. I therefore did a substantial amount of research into each author using the internet, and was prepared to quote from their websites and previous interviews if necessary. Melvin Burgess was the only author contacted who responded and was available for interview. I conducted a phone interview with Burgess on July 12th 2006, which lasted approximately twenty minutes. After having searched Burgess' website for previous interviews, I elaborated on the questions listed above (for the full interview transcription see Appendix 1). The remaining four authors did not respond to my questionnaires, so instead I quoted from their websites and any other interviews I could find. Publisher Surveys The effect of censorship on the publishing industry is of central importance to this dissertation, as I am specifically researching possible solutions to the censorship problem for publishers. It was therefore necessary for me to send out questionnaires to all UK publishers of fiction for the 12+ age group. Each publisher was emailed and asked the following questions: · Do you consider censorship to be a threat to the publishing industry? · Overall, did bad press and censorship attempts decrease or increase sales of your books? · To what extent do you believe publishing houses can protect themselves from censorship? · With reference to children's and teenage books, do you think that introducing age classifications on the covers of the books would be a good method of protecting publishers against censorship? Or would it lead to further problems? These emails were sent out in May 2006 in order to allow each publisher ample time to respond. Second emails were sent out in June to those publishers who had not responded. These were followed up by telephone calls in July. Unfortunately, only six out of twenty two publishers responded. For the full table of responses see Appendix 2. Professional Body Surveys A number of professional bodies associated with publishing and bookselling were emailed to ascertain their general policy on censorship and age classification. The following organisations were emailed in June: · The Booksellers Association · The British Council · The Library Association · The National Coalition Against Censorship · The Publishers Association The Library Association was unable to respond to my email due to constraints on staff time. I received no response from The Booksellers Association, The British Council, or The National Coalition Against Censorship. For the full response from The Publishers Association see Appendix 3. Bookseller Questionnaires Questionnaires were taken to the children's departments of the following booksellers to ascertain their opinions on introducing an age classification system, and to analyse their current method of classifying children's books: Blackwell's Borders QI Waterstone's W H Smith Each bookseller was given one week to consider the questions. W H Smith and QI were unable to complete the questionnaire due to constraints on staff time. For the full list of questions asked and the responses received from Blackwell's, Borders and Waterstone's, see Appendix 4. Results of Research Case Study 1: Judy Blume's Forever Published: 1975 Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books Age: Teenage Awards: 1996 winner of the ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award for Outstanding Literature for Young Adults Cover: Forever has had numerous different cover designs since its publication in 1975. The current version available in the UK is pink, with an illustration of a lock and key, and bears the accolade, 'A Teenage Classic'. It is clearly marketed for teenage girls. Judy Blume's books have been challenged repeatedly by school and library censors, and for this reason she is involved with the anti-censorship movement. She contributes to the Index on Censorship, edited Places I Never Meant to Be, founded the Kids Fund, serves on the Council of the Authors Guild and is an active member of the National Coalition Against Censorship. Judy Blume is a case in point illustrating that book banning is not a thing of the past-at least not in the US. Despite its abiding popularity with teenage readers, Forever has continued to cause controversy since its publication 1975, and moves to ban the book from school and libraries still continue. According to Publishing News: In California, the title has just been banned from Pasedena Independent School District Libraries, while the American Civil Liberties Union said that during 2002-2003, Forever and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice on the Outside (Simon & Schuster) were the most banned books in Texan Public Schools. (Publishing News, 27.05.05) Blume refers to herself as 'one of the most banned writers in America' (The Guardian, 08.06.05). Many of the censorship attempts aimed at the book come from religious rightwing groups such as 'True Love Waits', who believe in sexual abstinence until marriage. President Bush's administration has provided funding for abstinence education programmes in the US, highlighting the importance of religious beliefs in the US. Forever is seen as a threat by these groups because it is in direct conflict with their principles. Blume acknowledges that Foerver was: …always seen as taboo by some. But from the 1980s onwards, the religious fundamentalists have grown in power. Fear is contagious and those who wish America to become a faith-based society are doing their best to spread it' (The Guardian, 08.06.05). The importance of religious beliefs is much greater in the US thank in the UK, and although Forever was criticised in the UK, it did not receive the same amount of attention. On her official website, Blume talks about why she thinks books are censored: I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed. Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children's lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don't read about it, their children won't know about it. And if they don't know about it, it won't happen. (www.judyblume.com/censors.html) Blume cites language and sexuality as the most common reasons for parents to object to books, but concedes that in recent times, other reasons have become more dominant. Some books contain references to Satanism and new Ageism, and these, too, are being attacked. She believes that any book which encourages a child or young adult to think independently or question authority is seen as threatening by the censors. However, Forever does not promote sexual promiscuity. It examines a relationship between two teenagers and addresses the issue of sex responsibly. The book has won many awards, and has been praised for its realistic and responsible depiction of sexual awakening. It remains as popular today as it was in 1975, and has reached 'classic' status. Teenagers find the book helpful and reassuring, not corrupting. Case Study 2: Melvin Burgess' Doing It and Junk Published: Doing It was published in 2003, Junk in 1996 Publisher: Published in hardback by Andersen Press and in paperback by Penguin Age: Teenage/adult Awards: Junk won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal. Both books have reached the status of 'Penguin Modern Classics'. Junk has been translated into twenty-eight different languages, and adapted for TV and the stage. Cover: The cover for Doing It is black all over except for a condom wrapper on the front and back. The condom wrapper on the back carries a 'Warning: explicit content' message. The condom wrapper gives a clear indication of the sexual nature of the content. The cover for Junk depicts a needle filled with heroin, covered with a dandelion so that the tip is not visible. This clearly indicates that the novel explores class A drug culture. Before the publication of Junk in 1996, Burgess saw a gap in the market for teenage literature. As he commented on his website: There are so few books published that are truly for young adults. If you are aged sixteen or seventeen and you want to read fiction that talks about your life-your recreation, your sex life, your feelings and emotions-you're either stuck with stuff about twenty-somethings, or you're reading soft stuff that seems to be written for younger readers…there are almost no books aimed directly at, or about, people in the middle and later years of High School and up. There are books for grandparents, babies, toddlers and grown-ups-why has this group been left alone? (web.onetel.net) Burgess saw his books as filling a need. He comments: In a world where drugs, drug culture and drug information is widely available, Junk was simply very long overdue. Looking back, I'm amazed to realise that it was just about the first book to deal with the subject of drug culture for people at High School in a straightforward way. (web.onetel.net) This is indeed the first book written for teenagers which deals so candidly with serious drug addiction. Burgess' most famous titles, Junk and Doing It, have been criticised for their explicit content regarding sex and drugs. The most famous attack on Melvin Burgess came from the children's laureate Anne Fine in her article for The Guardian in March 2003. Her article condemned Doing It as 'Filth, whichever way you look at it' and claims 'It will prove as effective a form of sexual bullying as any hardcore porno mag' (The Guardian, March 2003). Fine's major criticism of the novel was that it was sexist and demeaning to girls. Burgess defended his novel, claiming that 'the idea was simply to show ordinary lads in all their warty glory, wanting as much sex as they could get but genuinely concerned not to do anyone down in the process' (web.onetel.net). Burgess' aim was to portray teenage sexuality in a realistic light, and to reassure his readers that they were normal. He talks openly about Fine's attack on his novel, calling it 'the most thorough hatchet job in the history of children's books' (web.onetel.net). He also asserts his opinion that there was 'no real intellectual back-up, no argument' in Fine's article (web.onetel.net). Indeed, many of the passages Fine quotes are taken out of context and not explained properly in her article, giving a misleading impression of the book's moral tone and unfairly depicting it as being insensitive and crude. More specifically, Fine's article criticises the publishers involved with Doing It. Her attack on them is vehement and unrelenting throughout the article: What are three separate children's publishers thinking of, peddling this grubby book, which demeans both young women and young men…And, make no mistake, the publishers may slap a warning and a picture of a condom on the front and substitute a grown-up penguin for a puffin, but it was the children's publisher Andersen Press that commissioned this novel. (The Guardian, 29.03.03) This article illustrates exactly how publishers can be affected by criticism and censorship, and how their decision to publish the book can be criticised. It is clearly important that publishers take action to avoid such attacks, especially from renowned authors such as Fine, whose opinions are well-respected. Fine's attack concentrates primarily upon the classification of the book as children's/teenage fiction as opposed to adult fiction. She talks of the 'hypocrisy' of Penguin's claim that they have published the paperback responsibly, arguing that every preparation for the book has gone through the children's side of the publishing house, and that this was inappropriate. She concludes by saying: 'All of the publishers who have touched this novel should be deeply ashamed of themselves…They should pulp their own copies now' (web.onetel.net). Klaus Flugge, Publisher and Managing Director at Andersen Press, hit back at criticism of Doing It with the following statement: This book is specifically aimed at the 16+ age group which is quite evident from the cover, with its adult treatment and clear warning of explicit content. The advance positive reactions we've had to date from highly respected critics and authors confirm our belief in both the book and the integrity of Melvin Burgess as a distinguished, prize-winning author of teenage fiction. (web.onetel.net) Burgess' paperback publisher, Penguin, who are no strangers to censorship attempts since the Lady Chatterley's Lover trial, commented: Melvin is one of our most exciting and original contemporary writers-writing for teenagers about things that are of huge importance to them. Doing It is about sex, but it is as much about not doing it as doing it-and about love in its different forms too. It's incredibly warm, funny and life-affirming. It is a book which needs to be published: there are lots of teenagers who will be hugely comforted and relieved to read it. But it is definitely a book for older teenagers-and when we publish the paperback edition of the book, it will be branded with a Penguin adult logo-not our children's Puffin one. (web.onetel.net) It would be unfair to accuse Andersen Press or Penguin of inaccurately marketing the title, as it is clearly aimed at the sixteen and over age group, as is made clear by the cover design. It has also been published as adult fiction, with a different cover design depicting a girl undressing. Burgess does recognise the source of the problem, and the source of my debate in this dissertation: the classification of teenage books: Anne did have one genuine point to make, however - about the marketing of books like this. Teenage fiction has grown up out of children's fiction, and books like mine don't sit happily with Peter rabbit. Because book shops are divided into children's and adult sections, buying a book makes a statement about who you are. (web.onetel.net) Burgess recognises that teenage fiction is different, being caught somewhere between children's and adult fiction, and therefore creating problems of classification. Burgess' books have received much praise, especially from young readers who appreciate his candour and the fact that he avoids patronising his readers. Burgess has set up a 'reviews and comments' section on his website where he posts comments from young readers. One reader of Doing It told Burgess, 'You've done a lot of worried lads a favour' (web.onetel.net). Another wrote in, 'It all adds up to a great and true-to-life story' (web.onetel.net). Case Study 3: Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy Children's Covers Published: 1995, 1997 and 2000 respectively Publisher: Scholastic Age: Teenage/adult Awards: Northern Lights won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award, and The Amber Spyglass won the Whitbread Book of the Year 2001. The His Dark materials trilogy was the bestselling backlist title for Scholastic in 2004, and Pullman was the fifth highest children's author by value in the same year (The Children's Bookseller, 18.03.05). Cover: The teenage and adult covers are very different, with the teenage covers being very colourful, and the adult being very dark. It seems that the same censors who objected to Harry Potter on religious grounds also object to the His Dark Materials trilogy for the same reasons. Since the publication of his His Dark Materials trilogy, the first of which, Northern Lights, was published in 1995, Pullman has been accused of having a dark and anti-Christian agenda. The Mail on Sunday described him as the most dangerous author in Britain, and numerous Christian groups have condemned his series as blasphemous. Pullman describes his religious beliefs as being somewhere in between atheism and agnosticism. His religious opinions have manifested themselves through his books. However, in his interview with Susan Roberts in November 2002, he defends the content of the trilogy: I'm telling a story, I'm showing various characters whom I've invented saying things and doing things and acting out beliefs which they have, and not necessarily which I have. The tendency of the whole thing might be this or it might be that, but what I'm doing is telling a story, not preaching a sermon. (www.surefish.co.uk/features/pullman_interview.htm) Again, the censors seem to be overlooking the fact that the trilogy is a work of fiction, and not intended as a factual attack on religion. However, this statement has not appeased the Chief Executive of the Association of Christian Teachers (ACT) Rupert Kaye. He states: My key concern is that many young people (and adults) who read Philip Pullman's trilogy will be left with an extremely distorted understanding of what Christians actually believe and what the Bible really says about the person of God. (www.Christian-teachers.org.uk/news/Heresyand Blasphemy.htm) Many members of the Christian church perceive the His Dark Materials trilogy as a threat to their principles and authority, and believe that Pullman's depiction of the Christian faith is inaccurate and misleading. They fear that the trilogy portrays the Christian faith in a negative way and that the trilogy will negatively impact their reputation. Case Study 4: J K Rowling's Harry Potter series Children's Covers Adult Covers Published: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2005 respectively Publisher: Bloomsbury in UK, Scholastic in US Age: 9-12/adult Awards: The Philosopher's Stone is a triple Smarties Gold Award winner, The Prisoner of Azkaban won the 1999 Whitbred Children's Book of the Year, The Order of the Phoenix won the WH Smith Fiction Award 2004. Cover: There is a strong distinction between the children's and adult covers, with the children's being high colour cartoon depictions of the characters, and the adult being dark and using photographs as opposed to illustrations. Harry Potter has undoubtedly created a new crossover market for children's fiction. The order of the Phoenix was the top children's book by volume in 2004 (The Children's Bookseller, 18.03.05). Rowling was the second highest children's author by value in the same year (The Children's Bookseller, 18.03.05). The Harry Potter series has been met with both praise and criticism in both the UK and the US. The Harry Potter books reached number seven on the American Library Association's list of the one hundred most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000 (http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/censorship/a/banharry.htm). According to Elizabeth Kennedy educator and researcher in the US: Depending on who you talk to, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books are either wonderful fantasy novels with powerful messages for kids, or they are evil books designed to promote an interest in the occult since Harry is a wizard. Some say the books have encouraged reluctant readers to read and others that they have encouraged readers to value witchcraft. In a number of states, there have been attempts, some successful, some unsuccessful, to have the books banned in classrooms, and banned or under severe restrictions in school libraries. As a result, those in favour of the books are also speaking out. (http://childrensbooks.about.com/censorship/a/banharry.htm) Kennedy's explanation sums up concisely the Harry Potter debate: the series has been phenomenally popular and encouraged many children to read, but, especially in the US, many people find the books threatening. The following is a list of reasons why people object to Harry Potter: The series promotes an interest in the occult and goes against Christian beliefs Many people, especially in the US, believe that Harry Potter goes against Christian principals and promotes an interest in witchcraft and the occult. In her article of October 22, 1999 for The New York Times, Blume gives her opinion as to the reasons why people object to Rowling's Harry Potter series: In my books, it's reality that's seen as corrupting. With Harry Potter, the perceived danger is fantasy. After all, Harry and his classmates attend the celebrated Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. According to certain adults, these stories teach witchcraft, sorcery and Satanism. (The New York Times, 22.10.99) This opinion that Harry Potter promotes an unhealthy interest in sorcery and Satanism is particularly prevalent in the US where religious rightwing groups are regularly organising book burning rituals. In my opinion, the series provides children and adults alike with wonderful escapism. The books are works of fiction, and Rowling never intended them to affect people's religious beliefs. I strongly disagree with the opinion held by the minority that the books are in any way damaging and that they promote an unhealthy and dangerous interest in the occult. Monk also disagrees with this point of view: Some claim the Potter books lure children into witchcraft. Poppycock. You might as well say Gone With The Wind teaches young readers to be slave owners, or Treasure Island entices children to be pirates, or Peter Pan urges children to run away from home. If we started to ban books dealing with the supernatural, we'd be tossing out some pretty good stuff. (http://childrensbooks.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=childrensbooks&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kidspeakonline.org%2Ffighthp_defense.htm) This, indeed, is the problem with censorship: where does it stop? Monk goes on to list a number of well-renowned literary works which also include occult themes, such as Shakespeare's Macbeth and Dickens' A Christmas Carol. These works are not criticised by the censors who object to Harry Potter, and it seems strange that they should consider them any less threatening if the grounds for their complaint are that the books value magic over religion. There seems to be a remarkable occurrence of double standards regarding censorship, especially in the US. The same censors who work to have Harry Potter banned promote books such as the Left Behind series, written by evangelical American right-wing Christians who preach that we must follow God or die in flames. These are works of fiction, but are extremely frightening, and, in my opinion, more deserving of censorship than Harry Potter. The Reverend Nicholas Bury, Dean of Gloucester Cathedral, defended the books, saying: I regard the books as most wholesome fantasy stories for children, which like all good children's novels, tackle some important issues for children in an imaginative, thoughtful and often very amusing way. The hero discovers his identity, the importance of relationships with his peers, that lies and deceit are corrosive and love conquers evil and so on. It is, I believe, far-fetched to think that anyone could be hurt by such good stories. (www.angelfire.com/scifi/dreamweaver/quotes/qtpotterian.html) Quotes such as this from Rev. Nicholas Bury prove that the view that Harry Potter promotes an unhealthy interest in Satanism is not shared by every member of the clergy. John Monk, editorial writer for The State in Columbia, was quoted as saying of the Harry Potter books, 'They're great. They're wholesome. They're fun' (The State, 22.10.99). The majority of people see no harm whatsoever in the series. Monk speaks for the majority when he says: Though set mostly in a wizard's world, the Potter books promote - through their characters - friendship, love, bravery, self-reliance, the importance of family and tolerance towards those different from us. They depict the quest for knowledge, wisdom and right action - the universal journey every human takes. The books condemn bullies, falsity, rudeness, greed and Nazi-like tendencies to denigrate and hurt those who aren't like us. (http://childrensbooks.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=childrensbooks&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kidspeakonline.org%2Ffighthp_defense.html) The books contain elements of sexual awakening which are unsuitable for its target market It seems that people object to the Harry Potter series because of its element of realism as well as fantasy. Stephen Moss addresses Rowling's inclusion of sexual awakening in the later Harry Potter books, asking '…where will it all end? One wave of the wand and anything could happen' (The Guardian, 29.03.00). Moss prefers children's books to be more innocent - 'There was no sex in the books I read as a child - and I rather liked it that way' - as he believes they should act as 'an escape from hormonal confusion, not an illustration of the dangers and delights that lay ahead' (The Guardian, 29.03.00). However, sales figures for Harry Potter have reached unprecedented levels, selling millions of copies on the first day of publication alone. The series has won numerous prestigious awards, and has been commended for encouraging children to read. This is testament to the fact that children and adults alike love the series, and that children's imagination has survived the repeated attempts to quash it. Case Study 5: Jacqueline Wilson books Published: 1992-present Publisher: Random House Age: 5-8, 9-12 and teenage Awards: Jacqueline Wilson is the Children's Laureate 2005-2007. The Illustrated Mum won the Guardian Children's Fiction award 2000 and the 1999 Children's Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Children's Book Award. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People's Choice award. Double Act won the Smarties Prize and the Children's Book Award. Cover: The books are clearly marketed for young girls, with the cover designs clearly reflecting this through the use of pinks and purples, and through the illustration of girls, flowers, hearts and so on. Jacqueline Wilson has been praised for her mastery of realism and for the way in which she relates to her target audience through her books. She repeatedly explores real-life domestic issues from a child's point of view and provides many readers with comfort and support. Amanda Craig acknowledges this in her article for The Times in 2005, when she comments, 'To children aged between seven and fourteen, however, (Wilson) can feel like a best friend' (The Times, 1st October 2005). However, her books have been criticised, and many are considered 'unsuitable' for their suggested age group due to the issues they explore. They are objected to on the grounds that they take the magic out of childhood, as they explore themes such as single-parent families, divorce, foster care, mental health problems and alcoholism. Some people consider these themes to be unsuitable for children and teenagers. Craig acknowledges this in her article for The Times. She believes many parents 'dismiss Jacqueline Wilson's work as 'slumming' (The Times, 1st October 2005). A recent review of her novel Love Lessons in The Guardian, criticised Wilson for having produced a work of escapist fiction rather than social realism. The novel's depiction of a romance between the main character Prue and her art teacher is, according to Stephanie Merritt, unrealistic: 'it's all terribly tender and romantic, possibly giving teenage girls a misleading impression of relationships with older men' (The Guardian, 11.12.05). Merritt also writes: 'This man should be nowhere near children!' I kept wanting to shout. He's 'in love' with a 14-year old in a six-year old's dress! In what world does a teacher suspected of an improper relationship with an under-age pupil get off with a light caution? (The Guardian, 11.12.05) Merritt sees a danger with young girls believing the storyline to be highly realistic, and possible attempting to emulate the events of the books. The perceived flaws of the current classification system Given that many children and teenagers have no source of income and are reliant upon parents and other adults to buy things for them, it is important to consider parents and adults when providing information about the content of books. Therefore it seems necessary to introduce a method of classifying books which is parent-friendly as well as child/teenager friendly. The following is a table of the current classification systems used by various booksellers in Oxford for children's and teenage books: Amazon 9-1112-16 Blackwell's Younger FictionOlder FictionTeenage Borders 4-98-12Teenage QI ReadingDoingLearning Waterstone's 9-12 Teenage W H Smith 8-12Teenage As previously discussed, the only restriction currently in place for children's and teenage books in the UK is the Obscene Publications Act. As such, there is currently no specific body or organisation which is responsible for deciding what age books are suitable for; it is left to the discretion of the publishers, booksellers and librarians. At present, there is no universal age classification system which can be applied to children's and teenage books. Each bookseller has their own system of classification. However, there are a number of teenage books which carry advisory warnings, such as Melvin Burgess' Doing It, and Julie Burchill's Sugar Rush which have a 'Warning: explicit content' message printed on the cover of the book. At present, publishers provide booksellers with recommended age classifications, usually as part of the AI sheet, in order to help them to classify the book into the most suitable section on the shop floor. It is common practice at present for rep's to be sent out to booksellers with AI sheets to talk to the children's and teenage buyer and provide them with an overview of each book, and recommendations as to age suitability. These recommendations also enable the publisher to categorise each book in their catalogue for marketing purposes. However, there is an important distinction here between recommendation and classification - the publisher is only suggesting an age range which their book may be suitable for. If an age classification system were to be introduced, they would no longer be just recommendations. At present, each bookseller has a unique way of classifying children's and teenage books (see table ? in results chapter), but all have a common disadvantage: the categories are very broad, especially towards the teenage end of the spectrum, with most bookshops having a 'teenage' section which is not sub-divided into categories. The fact that teenage books are not sub-categorised into smaller groups (for example 13-15, 16+) is problematic, and clearly part of the reason for complaints. The term 'teenage' covers seven years, and there is a great difference in development from age 13 to age 19. I believe that this is something which must be addressed. Blackwell's usually only receive complaints from authors rather than customers. This was not elaborated on. Borders do not find that they receive many complaints regarding their children's and teenage books they stock, or the way they have been classified. Waterstone's receive occasional complaints regarding sexual content of books if parents do not believe their children are ready to be exposed to it. The reasons for bad press and censorship attempts Every parent has the right to be concerned for their child's loss of innocence. The most common reason for a children's or teenage book to be criticised is because it is thought to go against a certain 'moral code', or is perceived as being harmful to children, or liable to corrupt them in some way. This is problematic as every individual has their own idea of morality. As identified through the five case studies, people object to books on religious grounds, because they find the books too sexually explicit, or because they contain magical themes which they believe promote an unhealthy interest in the occult. The effect of bad press and censorship on sales and on publisher and author reputation Popular opinion seems to be that the more bad press a book receives, the higher the sales figures. According to Ben Macintyre, 'People who like to ban things never seem to realise that the more a work of art is subjected to the outrage squeals of the censors, the more popular it becomes' (The Times, 24.09.05). This does indeed seem to be the case. When the ban on Lady Chatterley's Lover was lifted in 1960, sales reached two million copies within a year. Melvin Burgess told me that he thought bad press helped sales of his books, because 'Everyone likes to have a nose in what's making a fuss' (see Appendix 1). Burgess believes that bad press will increase media interest in a book and the result will be that children and teenagers are more interested in reading it to see why it is causing such a fuss. If this is the case, censors are making the situation worse for themselves. Andersen Press thought that bad press had increased sales of their books. The Chicken House thought they had increased in the short term but that it could undermine sales in the long term if the quality of writing did not sustain the reputation. Frances Lincoln commented that any press, good or bad, should help sales. Working partners, Scholastic and Piccadilly Press could not respond directly to this question. Borders believe censorship might improve sales of children's and teenage books 'for very overprotective parents' (see Appendix 4). The extent to which censorship is a threat to the publishing industry Burgess does not believe that censorship poses a real threat to the publishing industry. He believes it is something which is effective in theory (and therefore affects schools and libraries) but nothing more. According to Burgess, publishers are well equipped to protect themselves from censorship, and he believes that nobody cares enough to make censorship 'bite' anyway. While being interviewed for this dissertation, Burgess commented that: …although there is an official line on censorship that is effective to some degree in institutions, no one really takes it seriously. This stuff is more active in theory than actuality. It just makes the real work of the education and entertainment industries harder (see Appendix 1). Despite having been a victim of censorship attempts many times himself, Burgess does not see censorship as a threat to the publishing industry; rather he views it as a powerless concept, which has no real influence on the publishing industry. Judy Blume is an active supporter of the National Coalition Against Censorship, and an advocate of the child's right to read whatever they choose. Clearly she recognises that censorship can be a problem: for young readers, for authors and for publishers. However, she does not consider censorship to be a serious threat to the publishing industry today: In the 80s and early 90s this fear affected what a publisher was willing to take a chance on. Fascinatingly, the tide appears to have turned. Even in this fanatically religious political climate, publishers are choosing 'young adult' novels that deal frankly with sex and other topics of interest to teens. (The Guardian, 08.06.05). In Blume's opinion, publishers have ceased to be intimidated by the threat of censorship, and are much more willing to publish contentious books that they perhaps were twenty years' ago. If this is the case, then censorship cannot be regarded as a threat to the industry, since publishers are refusing to let it. However, Blue does recognise that censorship can be a threat to children, who will miss out on the opportunity to read exciting books, to writers, who are cast in a bad light, and to teachers and librarians who risk losing their jobs if they are seen to be promoting books which are considered 'unsuitable' for children. When recounting her experiences with censorship in the 1980s, she comments, 'There seemed to be no-one to stand up to the censors. No groups as organised as they were' (www.judyblume.com). It was her own personal experiences with censorship which led her to join the National Coalition Against Censorship. Four of the six publishers who responded said they did not believe censorship was a threat to the publishing industry. These were Andersen Press, The Chicken House, Frances Lincoln and Working Partners. Scholastic and Piccadilly Press said that censorship was not an issue for them. The response received from Andersen Press was particularly interesting, as they have been subjected to many censorship attempts following the publication of Doing It and Junk, yet they do not believe that censorship is a threat to them. Borders do not believe censorship poses a significant threat to the publishing industry. However, they do think that it could be 'seriously damaging' to children's and teenage literature. Waterstone's agree that it does not pose a serious threat, pointing out that times change and the way books are perceived changes too, and that this will always be the case so censorship is pointless. Blackwell's also agree that censorship does not pose a serious threat to the publishing industry. The extent to which publishers can protect themselves from censorship After carrying out extensive research on the topic, it seems that publishers have a number of options for ways to protect themselves from censorship: Publishers can avoid publishing contentious books for children and teenagers; this is referred to as 'self-censorship' and does already exist to a certain extent in some publishing houses. This, of course, is a very undesirable method of protection. Indeed, in Blume's introduction to Places I Never Meant to Be, she recalls the day her editor asked her to delete certain explicit passages from Tiger Eyes because they would stop the book from reaching its audience by subjecting it to attack and criticism. However, I do not think that self-censorship is a route many publishers in the UK would choose to take, as it would have a detrimental effect on the quality of the books published if publishers were to refuse high-quality books on the grounds that they may be criticised. Andersen Press do not think publishers can protect themselves from censorship, but do not think that it is a problem in the UK. They suggested that one way for publishers to protect themselves would be to open a debate on the controversial subject matter of their books. The Chicken House, Scholastic and Working Partners believe publishers can protect themselves. The Chicken House believe publishers should make sure that age suitability is clearly displayed on the books and have teenage lists clearly packaged. Scholastic believe that as long as publishers operate within the law and avoid plagiarism, libel and slander, they will not come across censorship attempts. Working Partners believe that publishers are adept at avoiding censorship problems before publication through copy-editing and proofreading. Multiple readings of drafts means that any doubts about sex, violence or incendiary comments are eradicated before the book hits the shelves so Working partners do not think anything would be published which would be susceptible to serious censorship. Piccadilly Press and Frances Lincoln did not answer this question. Borders believe that publishers could produce more detailed and 'honest' press releases as a way of protecting themselves from criticism and censorship. Waterstone's believe that 'Warning' and 'Explicit Content' labels on the covers of books ensure the buyer is forewarned about the content of the book and so are able to make an informed, individual decision as to the suitability of the book for the child in question. They cannot, therefore, blame the publishers for not having warned them about the content. Blackwell's commented that 'some publishers have been using the 'cross-over' trend as a method of protection, in order to make clear that the books in question are considered adult reading as well as being suitable for slightly younger readers, so the content is likely to be reasonably mature in nature. The merits of implementing an age classification system Many people, from a variety of professional backgrounds, are of the opinion that it is necessary to introduce an age classification system on the covers of children's and teenage books. Dr Rona Tutt, national officer and former president of the National Association of Head Teachers, is strongly for an age classification system being introduced: I'm not suggesting censorship, just some sort of guidance which would be helpful to parents or people buying children's books. We have accepted for a long time that there is a TV watershed, and we have some labelling of films to give an indication of content. (The Daily Mail, 13th August 2005) Parallels have been drawn between the book publishing industry and the film industry and television in terms of classification systems. It seems many people see the book industry's lack of a clearer classification system as a disadvantage, and believe a more detailed system such as that used for films is needed. Children's author Graham Marks wrote a thought-provoking article for Publishing News in June 2005. He believes that age ranging can never be successful because 'children don't actually come in reading-age ranges that correspond accurately enough to their calendar age' (Publishing News, June 2005). This is very true - some twelve year-olds have the reading ability of a sixteen year old, whilst some eighteen year olds have an immature reading age. Because of this, any attempt at age classification can only be general guidelines. Marks asks, '…why should what children read be matched and made to fit like a shoe size to how old they are?' (Publishing News, June 2005). Hi s conclusion to the age classification debate is that if it has to be introduced, it should take the form of a peel-off sticker 'or some other easily disposable method of identification' (Publishing News, June 2005). Marks evidently does not agree with the principal of age classification but recognises that it may be useful. He concludes by reminding us that such a system would only be beneficial to the adult buyer, 'not the marketing-savvy end user the book was written and published for in the first place' (Publishing News, June 2005). I asked Burgess his opinion on this idea, and he responded: Oh, it's all a complete waste of time really. They've tried it for advertising on one of my books and it just doesn't work no matter what you do. It's certainly not going to warn anyone off is it? Burgess feels that, if anything, an age classification system would encourage children to read books in the older age ranges. Burgess is strongly opposed to age classification of books, and believes that an age classification system would be 'useless'. Burgess made his opinion about age classification abundantly clear in his interview with me, saying: I think it would be a complete waste of time. It's been tried as a piece of censorship and failed, as an advertising gimmick and failed…it would simply satisfy a small, right wing minority, who already have far too much to say; and for that reason, I am against it (see Appendix 1). He further commented that children and teenagers do not want to be told what is suitable reading material for them, and that age classification would not deter them from reading something which they thought was interesting. In the introduction to Places I Never Meant to Be, Blume comments: Some people would like to rate books in schools and libraries the way they rate movies: G, PG, R, X, or even more explicitly. But according to whose standards would the books be rated? I don't know about you but I don't want anyone rating my books or the books my children or grandchildren choose to read. We can make our own decisions, thank you. (www.judyblume.com) Evidently the idea of introducing age certificates for books is being debated in the US as well as the UK. Blume, ever an advocate for freedom of choice, is unsurprisingly opposed to the idea, for similar reasons to Burgess. Scholastic and Andersen Press are against age classification - Andersen Press because they believe it is too difficult to implement and Scholastic because they do not think it is necessary. Frances Lincoln are also against age classification as they do not want to limit their readership. They believe age classification my help with teenage books. However, they believe age classification is controversial as a child's interest and reading levels are often different, interest levels being much wider. The Chicken House are strongly for age classification at the bottom end of the scale, i.e. under fives and ten+/twelve+ as it is helpful to parents, teachers and children. However, they do not believe age classification stops children 'roving' (see Appendix 2). Working Partners believe that the current system of age classification in bookshops works well as a rough guide. The response received from The Publishers Association was encouraging. The Publishers Association children's book group has recently been awarded a lottery grant to help fund consumer research on the topic of age classification. Kate Bostock was able to give me some general information regarding children's publisher's opinions on classification. According to her, the children's publishers in membership of the PA agree that the book industry should exercise some form of self-regulation in order to alleviate the problem of censorship. They also agree that parents and teachers need a 'rapid signposting system' to inform them of the content of the book. The PA also commissioned another research project two years ago to ascertain retailer's opinions on age-ranging. Although this has not been made publicly available yet, Bostock told me that the report shower that retailers were far more perceptive to the idea of age classification that they had at first thought (see Appendix 3). Blackwell's do not believe implementing an age classification system would be of benefit to anybody. They believe that such a system would generate further complaints as 'children's reading abilities and emotional maturity differ so greatly'. Blackwell's do believe, however, that if a system were to be introduced, it should be the booksellers who control it 'to cater to their own particular local market' (see Appendix 4). Borders are aware that in order for an age classification system to work, it would have to be consistent. The head of children's and teenage fiction commented: The way our company splits books between 4-9, 8-12 and teen is almost completely arbitrary. Books in the same series are spread across different age ranges and if you go into other book retailers they'll categorise the same title differently which is very confusing for customers. (See Appendix 4) Borders also feel that an independent body would be the best group to implement an age classification, including 'parents/teachers, adults who have close ties to the children and teens in question, and are a lot more in touch with their reading habits'. The also suggested that a children's focus group should also be involved as 'past a certain point kids read what they want without adults knowing' (see Appendix 4) The Waterstone's children's buyer is satisfied with their current method of classifying children's books as 5-8, 9-12 and teenage, and admitted, 'it makes my life easier as a bookseller, knowing that customers can help themselves to the right book in the appropriate age range for their child' (see Appendix 4). Waterstone's also feel that either booksellers or an independent body would be the best people to implement the system as: …publishers don't interact with customers so they cannot gauge how people would feel about certain books. Booksellers have to work with and discuss books and content with customers therefore can judge what they want. (see Appendix 4) Booksellers' proximity to the customers is a point in their favour, and makes them ideal candidates to implement an age classification system. Problems with implementing age classification If an age classification system were to be introduced in the UK, whoever was given the job would be under a huge amount of pressure and responsibility. It would be no easy task, for a number of reasons: how would we decide who should have the responsibility (should it be publishers or an elected committee), how would they decide what age classification to assign to each book, would they have the resources to implement an age classification system for the huge number of children's and teenage books already in print, and what would happen if the public disagreed with their decisions? It is my personal belief that the least problematic way of resolving the first question would be to elect a specific body of professionals from all areas of the industry-booksellers, publishers, librarians etc-in order to ensure that a wide variety of opinions are considered. An age classification system could itself be regarded as a form of censorship, which may restrict the child's ability to grow and develop. Since every child matures at a different rate, it is impossible to introduce a system of age classification which would be suitable for every child. Instead, the system may become very limiting for certain children, if adhered to stringently, as it may place them in the wrong reading age bracket and stunt their development. Such a system of classification would involve electing a specific professional body to classify the books. The classification process would take time, and the professional body would have to be paid. Therefore, there is also the funding element to consider. If an age classification system were to be introduced, booksellers and other retailers would be faced with the difficult task of policing the system. Would children's and teenage books have to be placed by the tills in shops, or on high shelves? As with films and all other products which have age limitations imposed upon them such as alcohol and cigarettes, there is nothing to stop an older child or an adult buying a book and giving it to a younger child, or a younger child picking a book off a shelf in a shop and browsing through it. Nor, for that matter, is there anything stopping children perusing adult books in bookshops - even sex manuals etc, despite these sections usually being closely monitored by camera. Evidently it will never be possible to keep an eye on children at all times and they will inevitably be exposed to information their parents may feel is unsuitable for them. This, obviously, is a much bigger problem. A further problem with the age classification system is that children buying books for themselves would be required to provide ID if they wished to buy books from the older age ranges. As children in the UK are not currently required to carry ID with them, this causes further problems. This is a problem acknowledged by Borders, who asked 'How would (age classification) be enforced by shops? Kids don't have ID' (see Appendix 4). If age classification were to be enforced in the UK, ID cards would have to be issued to all children and teenagers. This would take a long time and cost a great deal of money, and therefore is not a viable option. Other solutions Classification by Genre Whilst carrying out research for this dissertation and visiting various booksellers for inspiration, it occurred to me that perhaps arranging children's and teenage books by genre in bookshops would be a more effective solution to the problem of age classification. At present, most bookstores categorise their books as '9-12' and 'teenage'. If books were classified by genre, for example having sections for 'fantasy', 'social realism', 'romance' etc., the book buyer would at least have a clear idea of the overriding themes in the book and how to classify it. Burgess seemed more keen on this idea than on classifying them by age. He pointed out that it would be quite difficult to categorise books into just one genre, but admitted that it could be done and that he would be happy to see it (see Appendix 1). Borders believe it would be useful for parents who believe their children only read one genre of books. However, they also expressed concern: In terms of content, it's shaky ground. Plenty of fantasy adventure books include sex/drugs and huge amounts of violence, as well as 'realistic' action/adventure. And the girlie books can be more explicit than you first think. (See Appendix 4) Content warning table As an alternative to age classifications, a content warning table could be included on the back of books for children and teenagers. For example, the table could include 'language', 'references to sex', 'violence' and 'other' sections, as used for many DVDs. Borders would be happy to see this method used rather than a general age recommendation because 'different parents worry about different things'. However, Borders also worry that if this information is taken out of context and not related to the book as a whole, it 'might shock parents and then people who lose out are the kids' (See Appendix 4) It may also be possible to hire more booksellers to work in children's and teenage sections of booksellers to provide help and advice for customers. Having a separate section and till for children's and teenage sections may assure that no child is allowed to buy a book which would be 'unsuitable' for them and that parents can ask the advice of the booksellers before purchasing for their child. Limitations and suggestions for further research One major limiting factor affecting this dissertation was the fact that only a small percentage of the various authors, publishers, professional bodies and booksellers responded to the questionnaires: 6 out of 22 publishers, 1 out of 5 authors, 1 out of 5 professional bodies and 3 out of 5 booksellers responded. Although the answers the respondents gave were helpful and answered the questions well, more responses would have produced a better-informed conclusion. Another limiting factor was the geographical scope for the bookseller questionnaires. Only booksellers in Oxford city centre were questioned, producing only a small sample of answers. It would have been useful to have collected responses from a variety of booksellers all over the UK, and contacted their head offices to obtain more formal responses. It would have been useful to have created longer questionnaires for the publishers, authors, professional bodies and booksellers contacted asking more in-depth questions. However, I was aware that they may not have much time to respond, and so kept my questions as simple and minimalistic as possible. The time scale in which I had to work for this dissertation further limited the results obtained. Although one year was sufficient for this dissertation, if the topic is to be researched more thoroughly, more time would be needed. Having completed this dissertation, and in light of the response received from The Publishers Association, I believe it is vital for more in-depth research to be carried out on the topic of classification of children's and teenage literature, in order to address the problem of classification and censorship. At this point, the results of the research project commissioned by The Publishers Association have not been released, as so I am unable to comment on their comprehensiveness. However, I believe this research should be carried out by an organisation such as The Publishers Association, and should take place over two or three years. It should involve questioning a broader spectrum of publishers, authors, professional bodies and booksellers from all over the UK, and the questionnaires should consist of more questions which require more in-depth responses. It may also be useful to conduct similar research in other countries, and it would be especially interesting to carry out a research project in the US, based on the findings of this research. Conclusions With regard to the five case studies used in this dissertation, there seems to be no viable reason why they should be subjected to censorship. None of the books pose any threat to children. Instead, they promote positive ways of living, and extol values such as love, friendship, loyalty and tolerance. All five case study authors are at the top of best-seller lists and have been presented with numerous awards to mark their significant contribution to children's literature. Although some schools and libraries in the US have succeeded in having the books banned, they are hugely popular with children and teenagers and promote an interest in reading. I must conclude that their objectors are a tiny minority of people who seem to have misunderstood the books' messages. Despite the numerous censorship attacks being levelled at them, none of the children's publishers questioned thought that censorship had a negative impact upon sales figures or their reputations. This was an unexpected, but encouraging result. Instead, they believe that censorship actually increases sales of books, and this seems to be true for my case studies, all of which are in the top ten bestselling children's author list. As Ben Mcintyre notes in his article for The Times in 2005, 'Censorship of anything, for any reason whatever, anywhere in the world, at any time in history, has always been, and always will be, doomed to eventual failure' (The Times, 24.09.05). Censorship, therefore, is not a real threat to the publishing industry in the UK. Children's and teenage books are criticised regularly, but this criticism never results in books being censored by law, and very rarely results in them being censored in schools and libraries. However, although publishers do not seem to be suffering at the hands of censorship, it does have a negative impact on many areas of the book industry. The booksellers, on the front line, are having to deal with criticism from customers about how books are classified and the content of certain titles. Children are missing out on reading some important books since either their parents or teachers object to them. School and public libraries, especially in the US, are not as rich and varied as they could be, since authorities have forced them to remove certain titles which are controversial. For concerned parents, I believe reading controversial books with their children would be an effective way for parents to be involved in the reading process and influence the child's perception of the book. There is a clear need for a more universal classification system to be introduced from children's and teenage books, since, at present, each bookseller categorised books differently, and this is misleading for customers. I have come to the conclusion that this disparity between classification systems is responsible for many complaints aimed at children's and teenage literature, rather than the actual content of the books themselves. This dissertation's chief aim was to assess the viability of introducing an age classification system in the UK for children's and teenage books. After carrying out much research into the topic, I must conclude that this would not be a viable solution to the problem of censorship. This conclusion was reached for a number of reasons: it would be difficult to implement in terms of who would be responsible for deciding what age books were suitable for, and how they would reach these decisions, and it would be difficult to police, in that children buying books would need to carry proof of age. It would be a very limiting form of classification and it does not take into account that reading ability varies from child to child, as does understanding of issues raised in books. As a result of my research, I propose that a form of classification should be introduced for all children's and teenage books in the UK. This classification should take the form of 'sex, language, violence, other' certificates, which should include a breakdown of the content of the book. This system would be particularly useful to parents and other adults buying books for children or teenagers and who needed specific guidance as to content. I further propose that a professional body be set up who would take on the responsibility of classifying all children's and teenage books, similar to the British Board of Film Classification. Despite the limitations to this dissertation mentioned in the previous section, my research has uncovered many useful facts regarding the topic of classification of children's and teenage literature. As no books currently exist which deal with the topic, it has added to the existing literature and has complemented the recent research carried out by The Publishers Association. As a result of analysing all the data I have collected, I believe that it is not the publishing industry who is the victim of censorship, but the children and teenagers who are being denied the opportunity to read freely. It is for the sake of children and teenagers that content warnings should be introduced for books, and that organisations such as The NCAC and Index on Censorship should receive our full support. References/Bibliography Secondary Resources Books (2000). An Interview with J K Rowling. London: Egmont. Bird, J. (1982). Young Teenage Reading Habits. London: British Library. Craig, A. (1962). The Banned Books of England and Other Countries. London: Gorge Allen & Unwin Ltd. Eccleshare, J. (2002). A Guide to the Harry Potter Novels. London: Continuum Feather, J. (1988). A History of British Publishing. London: Routledge Feather, J. (2006). A History of British Publishing. Second Edition. Oxford: Routledge. Finkelstein, D., McCleery, A. (2005). An Introduction to Book History. Oxford: Routledge. Gupta, S. (2003). Re-Reading Harry Potter. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Jones, H. & Benson, C. (2006). Publishing Law. Third Edition. Oxford: Routledge. Lenz, M. & Mahood, R. M. (comps). (1980). Young Adult Literature. United States: American Library Association. Moon, E. (1969). Book Selection and Censorship in the Sixties. New York: R. R. Bowker Co. Nel, P. (2001). J K Rowling's Harry Potter Novels. London: Continuum. Thacker, D. C. & Webb, J. (2002). Introducing Children's Literature: From Romanticism to Postmodernism. London: Routledge. Thomas, D. (1969). A Long Time Burning: The History of Literary Censorship in England. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. Travis, A. (2000). Bound and Gagged: A Secret History of Obscenity in Britain. London: Profile Books. Tucker, N. (1976). Suitable for Children? Controversies in Children's Literature. Second Edition. Sussex: Sussex University Press. Woods, L. B. (1979). A Decade of Censorship in America. London: The Scarecrow Press Inc. Newspaper and Magazine resources The Bookseller, 18th February 2005 The Bookseller, 8th April 2005 The Bookseller, 24th June 2005 The Guardian, 29th March 2003 The Guardian, 8th June 2005 The New York Times, 22nd October 1999 The Observer, 11th December 2005 Publishing News, 27th May 2005 Publishing News, 10th June 2005 The Times, 7th May 2003 The Times, 5th July 2003 The Times, 24th September 2005 The Times, 1st October 2005 Internet resources www.angelfire.com/scifi/dreamweaver/quotes/qpotterian.html www.booksellers.org.uk http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,923907,00.html#article_continue http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/childrenandteens/0,6121,935385,00.html/#article_continue www.britishcouncil.org.uk www.cfif.org/htdocs/legal_issues/legal_updates/first_amendment_cases/harry_potter_censorship.htm http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/censorship/a/banharry.htm http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/harrypotterplus/ www.christian-teachers.org.uk/news/HersyandBlasphemy.htm www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin157.shtml www.indexonline.org www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk www.jkrowling.com www.jubileebooks.co.uk/jubilee/magazine/authors/melvin_burgess/melvin_interview2.asp www.judyblume.com/articles/mark_west.html www.la-hq.org.uk www.ncac.org www.philip-pullman.com www.publishers.org www.publishingnews.co.uk www.randomhouse.co.uk/childrens/jacquelinewilson/fanclub/main/about_jackie.htm www.surefish.co.uk/features/pulman_interview.htm www.teenreads.com www.thebookseller.com www.timesonline.co.uk/books www.trelease-on-reading.com/censor1.html http://web.onetel.net Primary Resources Blume, J. (1975). Forever Burgess, M. (2003). Doing It. London: Andersen Press. Burgess, M. (2003). Junk. London: Andersen Press. Pullman, P. (1998). Northern Lights. London: Scholastic Children's Books. Pullman, P. (1998). The Subtle Knife. London: Scholastic Children's Books. Pullman, P. (2001). The Amber Spyglass. London: Scholastic Children's Books Rowling, J.K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury Rowling, J.K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury. Rowling, J.K. (1999). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury. Rowling, J.K. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury. Rowling, J.K. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury. Rowling, J.K. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury. Wilson, J. (2004). Best Friends. London: Random House Children's. Wilson, J. (2006). Candyfloss. London: Random House Children's. Wilson, J. (2005). Clean Break. London: Random House Children's. Wilson, J. (2004). Diamond Girls. London: Random House Children's. Wilson, J. (2002). Dustbin Baby. London: Random House Children's. Wilson, J. (2002). Girls in Love. London: Random House Children's. Wilson, J. (2005). Girls in Tears. London: Random House Children's. Wilson, J. (2005). Love lessons. London: Random House Children's. Appendices Appendix 1 Interview with Melvin Burgess (12.07.06) Steph: Do you consider censorship to be a threat to the publishing industry? Melvin: Not really. The fact is, although there is an official line on censorship that is effective to some degree in institutions, no one really takes it seriously. This stuff is more active in theory than actuality. It just makes the real work of the education and entertainment industries harder. Steph: Overall, would you say bad press and censorship attempts decreased sales of your books or increased them? Melvin: I'd say it helped. Everyone likes to have a nose in what's making a fuss. Steph: To what extent do you believe authors and publishing houses can protect themselves from censorship? Melvin: Pretty well, by and large, since no one really cares enough to make censorship bite. The only people who suffer in the case of children are teenagers really, and they soon grow up and stop worrying about it themselves. Steph: With reference to children's and teenage books, do you think that introducing age classifications on the covers of the books would be a good method of protecting authors and publishers against censorship? Or would it lead to further problems? Melvin: I think it would be a complete waste of time. It's been tried as a piece of censorship and failed, as an advertising gimmick and failed…it would simply satisfy a small, right wing minority, who already have far too much to say; and for that reason, I am against it. Steph: You said that there was an official line of censorship that's effective to some degree in institutions. Were you talking about schools and libraries, that kind of thing? Melvin: Mainly yes. The point being I suppose that privately everyone ignores the rules for what is suitable for eighteens and fifteens and so on but they are rather less able to do so in institutions. Steph: Do you think that categorising teenage books by genre in bookshops would be an effective alternative to age classification? Melvin: Age classification is certainly fairly useless really so I suppose anything would be a step forward. It's obviously rather difficult to classify novels but I'd go along with that yeah. I'd be happy to see that. Any form of classification is rather tricky, you only have to go into a music shop and see how they try and classify music, they kind of fumble around a bit, but you generally end up with some sort of idea and it's even harder with books because style isn't necessary, but it can be done and I would prefer it that way. Steph: Graham Marks suggested that if age classification had to be introduced, age ranges should be printed on peel off stickers rather that on the actual covers of the books. What do you think of this? Melvin: Oh, it's all a complete waste of time really. They've tried it for advertising on one of my books and it just doesn't work no matter what you do. It's certainly not going to warn anyone off is it? I think it was 'Lady' they put some sort of warning thing on, but they did it as an advertising thing, on the grounds of course that it would attract people. It didn't particularly work because the amounts to which it attracted people was balanced quite neatly by the amount to which it put off people who would be buying it for other people's children. Steph: I imagine you'd think it would be quite difficult to categorise teenage books by age if it was insisted upon because books are so open to interpretation. Melvin: I'd be very much against it being done by age. I mean the whole thing is ridiculous really. Teenagers don't particularly want to be fed stuff which is considered suitable for them by someone else, needless to say, so you're just on a losing battle really. And all it does is actually put people off stuff that they might find interesting, which is actually written for them. Steph: Have you ever read any books that you did think deserved to be censored? Melvin: I don't think I have actually. No. I can't say I've ever come across one. Steph: Do you think there would be any circumstances under which you would think that a teenage book deserved to be censored? Melvin: Not really. I mean the only occasions is when it seems to me at all useful is if it's actually putting someone in danger, physically, by someone else. I can't really see that that is particularly to do with being a teenager though. That's just a completely separate set of issues. Steph: Which of your novels do you think has received the most criticism? Melvin: To be honest it doesn't really come to my attention. They never complain to me, it's usually done somewhere else. I don't really know the answer to that. It's certainly Junk and Doing It which attract the most orgiate as I say, but which one gets the most I don't know really. The trouble is, people who are going to complain about this thing are usually coming from a very specific sort of right wing moral position, there's no libertarianism there and they're not really interested in things like freedom of expression or letting people make their own decisions, they're very much concerned with imposing their particular moral standards. Moral standards that people want to impose are usually rather strict, so consequently they are liable to complain about bloody anything really. They are as liable to complain about some of my earlier books like 'Burning Italy' or 'The Cry of the Wolf' as they are about 'Junk' and 'Doing It'. Of course, because a lot of the censorship issue is a press issue really. The people who do the main complaining about these things are a very small group of people usually belonging to specific right wing moral pressure groups, and sometimes they cause scares in institutions and so forth that have to watch out for that sort of thing but I think it's mainly a press issue. It's not really a debate which is very widespread. Books that attract the criticism are not so much disliked by the people who deal with them - teenagers - it's usually that they are just anxious about getting flak. But in answer to your question it's certainly usually the social realist books which attract the attention. Appendix 2 Publisher Questionnaires Publisher Do you consider censorship to be a threat to the publishing industry? A & C Black Declined to comment Andersen Press Ltd At the moment we publish a diverse range of texts often with controversial subject matter. A couple of examples include:War in THE CONQUERORS Rwandan genocide in OVER 1000 HILLS, I WALK WITH YOU (due for publication early next year) Parental indifference in NOT NOW BERNARDViolence, sex, drugs in many of Melvin Burgess's textsOften it needs a courageous publisher to take the work on board in the first place and then to support it once out in the public domain. So far, there have been quite a number of educators, parents or groups that disagree with certain texts, but this has simply lead to a debate as opposed to censorship. I certainly hope it doesn't become a threat to the publishing industry. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Declined to comment The Chicken House Not in this country - trade books for children are clearly age directed or carry warning about content Egmont Books No response Faber & Faber No response Floris Books No response Frances Lincoln Well I'm not in favour of it but we don't come up against it with thesort of children's books we publish. HarperCollins Books No response Hodder Children's No response Macmillan Publishers Ltd No response The Orion Publishing Group Ltd No response Piccadilly Press General response Matthew Price Ltd No response Puffin No response Random House No response Scholastic General response Simon & Schuster No response Time Warner Books No response Usborne No response Walker Books Ltd No response Working Partners In general, censorship is not a threat to the publishing industry, as it is not governed the way the film industry is governed (i.e., there is no publishing equivalent of the BBFC, and a book's placement on shelves is decided by the publishers and retailers). In this day and age, it is a rare book that causes a furore over censorship issues, American Psycho being a case in point, but even then it was an internal argument within the publishing house itself, rather than an external body threatening to outlaw the material. Publisher Overall, did bad press and censorship attempts decrease or increase sales of your books? A & C Black Declined to comment Andersen Press Ltd Possibly increase them. They do say that all press is good press!On the DOING IT cover there is a "warning" about "explicit content" although I imagine this simply encourages teenagers to want to read it as opposed to having the opposite effect. I'd think that similar censorship attempts would benefit sales especially when it comes to teenage literature. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Declined to comment The Chicken House Increase in the short term, but can undermine them in the long term if quality of writing doesn't sustain reputation Egmont Books No response Faber & Faber No response Floris Books No response Frances Lincoln I think any press coverage of children's books, good or bad, will helpsales, as anything that gets them noticed will help. Certainly my oneexperience at Methuen in the 80s of a library banning a book called Nancy NoSize by Mary Hoffman for mistakenly thinking it was racist, did not preventthe book from selling. HarperCollins Books No response Hodder Children's No response Macmillan Publishers Ltd No response The Orion Publishing Group Ltd No response Piccadilly Press General response Matthew Price Ltd No response Puffin No response Random House No response Scholastic General response Simon & Schuster No response Time Warner Books No response Usborne No response Walker Books Ltd No response Working partners We have been very fortunate in that we have not had issues withbad press or censorship, so I'm afraid cannot really answer thisquestion. Publisher To what extent do you believe authors and publishing houses can protect themselves from censorship? A & C Black Declined to comment Andersen Press Ltd I'm not sure they can. Opening a debate on the controversial subject might help perhaps?Anyway, we don't thing there is going to be any in the UK Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Declined to comment The Chicken House Clearly indicate for age suitability of titles, have teenage lists clearly packaged Egmont Books No response Faber & Faber No response Floris Books No response Frances Lincoln No answer HarperCollins Books No response Hodder Children's No response Macmillan Publishers Ltd No response The Orion Publishing Group Ltd No response Piccadilly Press General response Matthew Price Ltd No response Puffin No response Random House No response Scholastic General response Simon & Schuster No response Time Warner Books No response Usborne No response Walker Books Ltd No response Working partners Most publishing houses and authors are very adept at avoidingwalking into censorship problems before the book hits the shelf.Remember, single books can go through multiple drafts, during which time they will be read at least one editor (possibly several), and then acopyedit and galley version is also read meticulously. Any doubts aboutgraphic violence, sex, or potentially incendiary comments, areeradicated through this process. Publisher Do you think that introducing age classifications on the covers of children's and teenage books would be an effective method of protecting authors and publishers against censorship, or would it lead to further problems? A & C Black Declined to comment Andersen Press Ltd Classifications are too difficult, but a note or sticker about explicit content is useful. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Declined to comment The Chicken House I'm strongly for age classification - at least at the bottom end - i.e. 10+/12+ or for the under 5's. It helps parents, teachers and kids themselves. It doesn't stop children 'roving' but provides guidance. I think there is such a thing as a children's book - as distinct from an adult book with children in it Egmont Books No response Faber & Faber No response Floris Books No response Frances Lincoln Might help with teenage books but it is controversial for otherreasons, i.e. that interest levels and reading levels are often different, theinterest level being much wider. So we have always been against limitingour readership by putting age levels on the back covers. HarperCollins Books No response Hodder Children's No response Macmillan Publishers Ltd No response The Orion Publishing Group Ltd No response Piccadilly Press General response Matthew Price Ltd No response Puffin No response Random House No response Scholastic General response Simon & Schuster No response Time Warner Books No response Usborne No response Walker Books Ltd No response Working partners There is a general scheme of classification in the arrangement of retailer's bookshelves, but they are very broad (5-8, 9-12, YoungAdult). As rough guidelines, this is a system that seems to work fine, and probably won't be changed for quite some time. Retailers andpublishers are very responsible when it comes to shelf placing. General responses Piccadilly Press We have a very small list, and we feel that we lose our readers about age 14. Thus we do not publish books which would fall into the censorship trap. We also do not have an age classification for our books. Also, my own feeling it that young teenagers hear enough bad language and gritty tales and what is really missing is humour and romance, so we concentrate on those sorts of books, and as such do not encounter censorship. Scholastic Scholastic do not believe in age classification, since children's books retailers shelve books according to age, critics review books according to their age-group, and the cover design and blurb should make clear who the books are targeted for and what readers may expect. As long as writers and publishers steer clear of plagiarism, libel and slander, and operate within the law, book publishing in the UK has the same freedoms and responsibilities as that of the press, and so a debate about censorship is - fortunately - not much of an issue for our company. Appendix 3 Publishing Bodies responses The Publishing Society email response Thanks for this Steph. I would guess that you must be approaching the end of your course with just the dissertation to write, but let me know if I'm wrong. Our children's book group here have just been awarded a small lottery grant towards the costs of a piece of consumer research on exactly this topic, but the results won't be available for some months. The children's publishers in membership of the PA (all the big ones) are still divided about the extent to which they want to classify books by age range and content. But they would agree that censorship is generally a bad thing and that it's better for the book industry to exercise some form of self-regulation. They are also aware that teachers and parents need a rapid signposting system that will alert them to the content of a book when it deals with controversial issues. Children's publishers have in general a huge sense of social responsibility. To a large extent it's the retailers rather than the publishers who can make or break any new classification system. For this reason we commissioned a piece of research two years ago from BML on retailer attitudes to age-ranging. We have not made this publicly available but the general conclusions of the report were that retailers were far more receptive to the idea of 'classification' than we had first thought. Kate Bostock Secretary PA Children's Book Group