A Matter of Obscenity

Viac o knihe

For Victorian lawmakers and judges, the circulation of a book hinged on the perceived mental and moral capacities of its readers, particularly the increasingly literate working classes. This legal perspective persisted despite societal changes. In 1960, during the obscenity trial of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, the prosecutor questioned whether the book was suitable for one’s wife or servants. Christopher Hilliard explores the evolution of British censorship from the Victorian era to Margaret Thatcher, highlighting the friction between obscenity laws and a transforming society. He delves into significant obscenity trials and the everyday practices of censorship, offering insights into the British reception of literary modernism, cinema, and American pulp fiction. Hilliard examines the perspectives of lawyers, police, authors, publishers, politicians, and citizens as they navigated the complexities of freedom and morality. He illustrates how both supporters and opponents of censorship sought to reshape the law in response to evolving views on sexuality and culture that emerged in the 1960s. Drawing on extensive archival research, this book reveals how censorship issues prompted British society to confront challenges related to mass literacy, democratization, feminism, gay rights, and multiculturalism.