Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works

Overview

Course No. 20050
Professor Maureen Corrigan examines the controversial history of literary censorship through:

• 24 case studies of challenged works from Shakespeare to Harry Potter
• The evolution of censorship from religious prohibitions to modern “cancel culture”
• Analysis of recurring objections: profanity, sexuality, race, and political content
• The psychological and social impacts of book banning

Explore how censorship attempts reflect cultural anxieties while shaping intellectual freedom debates.

Video Lessons

Historical Foundations of Censorship

1. Bowdlerizing Shakespeare (32 min)
   How Victorian editors sanitized the Bard’s works
2. Ulysses on Trial (36 min)
   James Joyce’s modernist masterpiece vs. obscenity laws
3. Lady Chatterley’s Lover (34 min)
   D.H. Lawrence’s battle against moral crusaders
4. Inquisition to Puritans (34 min)
   Religious roots of Western censorship
5. Anthony Comstock’s Crusade (32 min)
   Victorian morality policing in America
6. Book Burning History (30 min)
   From Reformation to Nazi Germany

20th Century Literary Battles

7. Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” (33 min)
   Beat poetry’s obscenity trial
8. Catcher in the Rye (33 min)
   J.D. Salinger’s controversial classic
9. Nabokov’s Lolita (37 min)
   Artistry vs. morality debates
10. Self-Censoring Authors (33 min)
    Writers who destroyed their own works

Children’s Literature Controversies

11. Fairy Tale Dangers (32 min)
    Subversive elements in classic stories
12. Children’s Classics Challenged (32 min)
    From Alice in Wonderland to Roald Dahl
13. Modern Kids’ Books (33 min)
    Dr. Seuss to Captain Underpants

Race & Social Justice Battles

14. Canceled Authors (33 min)
    When personal lives impact literary legacies
15. Huckleberry Finn (32 min)
    America’s most banned novel
16. To Kill a Mockingbird (31 min)
    Enduring challenges to Harper Lee
17. YA Fiction Controversies (30 min)
    Judy Blume to modern young adult novels
18. #MeToo Literature (30 min)
    Feminist works under fire
19. Critical Race Theory (31 min)
    Textbook and curriculum battles
20. Walker & Morrison (34 min)
    Black women writers targeted

Modern Censorship Frontiers

21. Textbook Wars (35 min)
    History curriculum conflicts
22. Harry Potter Backlash (26 min)
    Occult panic over fantasy
23. Fun Home Graphic Novel (31 min)
    LGBTQ+ memoir challenges
24. Great American Novels (37 min)
    Why classics still face bans