Literary Censorship

[TheLastWolf]

Not the first or last person to wonder about this...

Movies, TV shows, web series, documentaries, anything visual has censorship ratings for different age groups and specific content. 

By that logic shouldn't books carry similar labels?

I for one never watched or read anything after giving a shit about the age restrictions, if I liked it, I had it. Taxi Driver at 14 may be too much for some but Tarantino'd feel too late. Likewise Catcher in the Rye is about teen angst broadly, yet faced extreme censorship (age and otherwise) and still does. Yet lesser calibred but higher disturbing content filled books line the shelves these days.

I'm not for it but just speculating its non existence especially when historically homo sapiens love burning and censoring knowledge.

And if you are for or against, no matter, what works do you think could fall under this umbrella?

Edited June 8, 2023 by TheLastWolf

[Ormond]

Simply giving something a rating as to what age it is appropriate for is not "censorship." And many books certainly do carry designations as to what age child they are appropriate for. It's just that these are suggestions given by the publisher rather than ratings given by an independent board, as done for films in the USA. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Agreed with @Ormond.  I think it’s really important for parents to guide kids toward more challenging books over time while keeping an eye on appropriateness — not strictly by age, but also knowing their own child’s maturity.

Our son started the Harry Potter series quite young (six or seven, IIRC) but we paused him after the third book for a few years because we knew the fourth book was a bit darker and included a traumatic (for his age) death.  I introduced GoT at age 14, but wouldn’t have recommended twincest with defenestration of children earlier than that. 

[dog-days]

Age rating aren't censorship, though indirectly they can encourage self-censorship. e.g. If your funders want access to the under-twelves market, any scenes risking a 12+ rating could get snipped. I imagine it could work similarly for books with the stale pressure of suitability encouraging authors towards conservatism. 

I grew up in a house full of books, and largely read whatever I picked up, which was mostly children's and young adult lit, but occasionally wasn't. The Raj Quartet probably wasn't written with an audience of eleven-year-olds in mind. Generally, I think that's fine. Maybe a kid who never reads but then for whatever reason chooses one deeply unpleasant book could be badly affected, but if they're reading widely and being encouraged to take a broad view of things, I reckon any negative consequences will just bounce off them. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by dog-days

[TheLastWolf]

On 6/9/2023 at 8:06 AM, Ormond said:

It's just that these are suggestions given by the publisher rather than ratings given by an independent board, as done for films in the USA. 

exactly, that. I'm wondering why that's not present virtually anywhere. I know reading is dying, still, so is cinema, yet it has the MPAA and whatnot...

On 6/9/2023 at 11:18 AM, dog-days said:

Age rating aren't censorship

 

On 6/9/2023 at 8:06 AM, Ormond said:

Simply giving something a rating as to what age it is appropriate for is not "censorship.

inarticulate me, I know it isn't but couldn't think of a better word. 'Rating' seemed more like a critique to me then. So I've seen publishers put age recommendations (that I've never heeded) but no state stepping in to regulate stuff. I'm not bemoaning the lack but curious why, since authority everywhere is all about straitjacketing. Or maybe they think people who still read are a fringe risk of dissidence and not worth the effort which would counter productively make more subjects aware.