An expurgation of a work, also known as a bowdlerization, fig-leaf edition or censorship by political correctness is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media.[1][2][3][4]
The term bowdlerization is often used in the context of the expurgation of lewd material from books.[5] The term derives from Thomas Bowdler's 1818 edition of William Shakespeare's plays, which he reworked in ways that he felt were more suitable for women and children.[6] He similarly edited Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.[7] A less common term used in this context, also based on common editorial practice, is Ad usum Delphini; referring to a series of consciously censored classical works.[8][9]
A fig-leaf edition is a more satirical term for a bowdlerized text, deriving from the practice of covering the genitals of nudes in classical and Renaissance statues and paintings with fig leaves.
Another term used in related discourse is censorship by political correctness.[10]
When this practice is adopted voluntarily, by publishers of new editions or translators, it is seen as a form of self-censorship.[3][11]
Texts subject to expurgation are derivative works, sometimes subject to renewed copyright protection.[12]
- ^ Salvador, Roberto (13 June 2023). "Censorship and Expurgation of the Selected Children's Literature". The Quest: Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development. 2 (1). doi:10.60008/thequest.v2i1.57. ISSN 1908-3211.
- ^ Sturm, Michael O. (1983). "Censorship: Where Do We Stand?". American Secondary Education. 12 (3): 5–8. ISSN 0003-1003. JSTOR 41063608.
- ^ a b Merkle, Denise (2001). "When expurgation constitutes ineffective censorship: the case of three Vizetelly translations of Zola". In Thelen, Marcel (ed.). Translation and meaning. 5: Proceedings of the Maastricht session of the 3rd International Maastricht-Łódz Duo Colloquium on "Translation and Meaning", held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 26 - 29 April 2000 / Marcel Thelen .. ed (PDF). Maastricht: Euroterm. ISBN 978-90-801039-4-8.
- ^ "Expurgation of Library Resources: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights | ALA". www.ala.org. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ Goldstein, Kenneth S. (1967). "Bowdlerization and Expurgation: Academic and Folk". The Journal of American Folklore. 80 (318): 374–386. doi:10.2307/537416. ISSN 0021-8715. JSTOR 537416.
- ^ Wheeler, Kip. "Censorship and Bowdlerization" (PDF). Jefferson City, Tennessee, USA: Carson-Newman University. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- ^ Gibbon, Edward (1826). Gibbon's History of the decline and fall of the Roman empire, repr. with the omission of all passages of an irreligious or immoral tendency, by T. Bowdler. pp. i, iii.
- ^ Hollewand, Karen E. (11 March 2019), "Scholarship", The Banishment of Beverland, Brill, pp. 109–168, ISBN 978-90-04-39632-6, retrieved 21 August 2024
- ^ Harrison, Stephen; Pelling, Christopher, eds. (2021). Classical Scholarship and Its History. doi:10.1515/9783110719215. ISBN 978-3-11-071921-5. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ Essi, Cedric (December 2018). "Queer Genealogies across the Color Line and into Children's Literature: Autobiographical Picture Books, Interraciality, and Gay Family Formation". Genealogy. 2 (4): 43. doi:10.3390/genealogy2040043. ISSN 2313-5778.
- ^ Woods, Michelle (2019). "Censorship". In Washbourne, R. Kelly; Van Wyke, Benjamin (eds.). The Routledge handbook of literary translation. Routledge handbooks in translation and interpreting studies. London New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 511–523. doi:10.4324/9781315517131-34. ISBN 978-1-315-51713-1.
- ^ Smith, Cathay Y. N. (12 January 2024). "Editing Classic Books: A Threat to the Public Domain? - Virginia Law Review". virginialawreview.org. Retrieved 21 August 2024.