Literature Paper mini 5pages

Yixin_Research Plan

World Literature Week 5 / Discussion post

Discussion:

I would like to discuss the topic about censorship of Literature, inspiring by the story of Voltaire. Voltaire fought censorship in France for his controversial idea towards the church. There are always arguments about the right to absolute freedom of expression and the criticism to the censorship and literature. Therefore, I think it would very helpful to do a research on Voltaire's work by analyzing with its social context. If possible, I think it would also fascinating idea to compare the censorship of literature at the period to the current society (especially Asian countries).

Thesis:

With the difference social and historical background, the criteria of censorships in literature has always been seen as political weapon to the rulers, such as Church in early Europe, Government in China, etc. since early Europe to Asia.

References:

Popova, Maria. “Voltaire on the Perils of Censorship, the Freedom of the Press, and the Rewards of Reading.” Brain Pickings, 21 Nov. 2015, www.brainpickings.org/2013/11/21/voltaire-on-censorship-and-reading/.

Rubin, Jay. “From Wholesomeness to Decadence: The Censorship of Literature under the Allied Occupation.” Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 11, no. 1, 1985, pp. 71–103. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/132230.

Reeves, Callum. “Chinese Escalation of Literature Censorship.” The Organization for World Peace, 30 Dec. 2019, theowp.org/Chinese-escalation-of-literature-censorship/.