Literatura in cenzura - Društvo za primerjalno književnost - ZRC SAZU

Literature and Censorship: Who is Afraid of the Truth of Literature?between freethinkers and conservatives culminated in the Spanish CivilWar of 1936.Verdaguer thought that social instability could only be combated withdecisive actions based on Christian charity. His position, which precededeverything that happened in the twentieth century, combined the structuresof traditional society with the intuitive feeling that more fundamental,revolutionary changes were on the way. It is not surprising that histruth – which God, according to Verdaguer, would sooner or later confirm– was so convincing for so many people. Verdaguer owed his popularityto his capacity for in-depth analysis of the times in which he lived,inside and outside the frontiers of his own language. In this fight with thecensor it was certainly the poet that won.What is most interesting from today’s point of view is the poet’s absoluteconviction that he was in possession of the truth, that his consciencecame from God, and that he was acting in accordance with an unalterableprinciple. Every theoretical reflection on censorship must start from thispremise: who is the guardian of the truth? To invoke the name of Godtoday, in the secularized societies of Western Europe, is not altogetherconvincing. However, even in the case of Verdaguer it is very clear thatthe fact that the Supreme Being controls his conscience is nothing morethan a rhetorical weapon: Verdaguer used it to consolidate his positionwhen he found himself in collision with those wielding power.Jacint Verdaguer’s articles, written in Catalan, were printed in a newspaperthat was published entirely in Spanish, and he was the only contributorfor whom an exception was made to respect the author’s originallanguage. Fifty years later an article such as “En defensa pròpia” would nolonger be publishable in Barcelona, and not only for this reason; the persecutionof the Catalan language after 1939 is a well-known fact. The complex,well-organized structure of Franco’s repressive regime aimed notonly to remove political opposition, but also to eliminate all linguistic andcultural diversity in Spain. After Franco’s death, democracy returned tothe country, but the experience of his dictatorship has meant that freedomof expression is still regarded with special respect. In any case, I would liketo explore the limits of freedom and to show some very specific cases ofpersons that claim that everything is permissible.298Love for a dead neighbourThe abuse of media power and the use of facile oratory by demagoguesare not unusual when people try to cling to positions of power. The Spain