There are few things that are as deeply feared in history as printed word. The suppression of literature was one of the main tools used by governments and institutions to dictate truth and shape culture. However, the only thing this did was enforce conformity. Centuries of state sanctioned bans and public burnings have tried and failed time and time again at censoring and eradicating literature. Books have survived revolutions, showing that the power of ideas cannot be repressed.
One of the first documented literary censorships dates back to 213 BCE, as Emperor Qin Shi Huang of China ordered the systematic burning of historical and philosophical texts, he did this to “unify thought and erase competing political theories” (Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian). Centuries down the line, the Roman Catholic Church formalised ideological control. This was done through what is called the “Index Librorum Prohibitorum” of 1559, a list of prohibited books that lasted over four centuries, subsequently banning works of many thinkers or as we call them now – philosophers. The works of Galileo Galilei, René Descartes and Victor Hugo were classified using specific, very charged terminology to justify their suppression. Many other literary works, poetry and plays were banned on grounds of promoting moral corruption, earthly passion or “improper behaviour.” Yet the same ideals will be found centuries down the line in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and still in the present day.
In the 20th century, authoritarian regimes used literary suppression as a weapon, as Nazis burned thousands of volumes written by Jewish, socialist and pacifist authors in 1933. One of many targeted writers included Heinrich Heine, who warned the public in 1821 of the future, saying “Where they burn books, they will in the end burn human beings.” This can similarly be seen, in the Soviet Union, where the state censored works under Glavlit, forcing many writers into exile or silence. Famously, works like Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago had to be smuggled out of the country to be published abroad as it offered a humanistic critique of the Russian Revolution. Later this same work won the Nobel Prize in Literature all while remaining banned in its homeland. Moreover, one of the most revolutionary pieces of literature, George Orwell’s 1984, was banned during the totalitarian regime of Joseph Stalin, who recognised that Orwell’s depiction of “Big Brother,” the “Ministry of Truth,” and forced public conformity was a reflection and satirisation of the Soviet Union. The ban was enforced across the USSR in 1950 and remained for nearly four decades until the late 1980s under Glasnost, when the ban was lifted in a social and political reform policy that focused on transparency in media, literature and news.
Meanwhile, during the Cold War, 1984 also faced challenges in the United States as a school district in Florida challenged the novel on grounds of being “pro-communism” and containing explicit sexual themes. Thus, Orwell’s depiction of authoritarian systems was misinterpreted by censors as anti-American propaganda. Furthermore, the current landscape of book bans in the United States is characterised by legislative campaigns that target public schools and libraries. Between 2025-2026 alone, PEN America reported nearly 12,000 book bans in US public schools, the highest recorded single-year total since its tracking began in 2021. Some of the main topics that have seen an increase in bans are particularly those centred around race and gender. Books like Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue are frequently challenged under the guise of protecting public morals and youth.
Recently, in the UK Sally Rooney’s books have been withdrawn from sale as her support for Palestine Action has caused a legal conflict with her publisher, Faber. As the UK government officially named “Palestine Action” a UK-based activist network that targets Israel-linked defence firms as a designated terrorist organisation under the UK Terrorism Act 2000. Subsequently, Faber can no longer legally pay Rooney her UK earnings, causing her books to be pulled from UK shelves. Although the UK state did not pass a law to ban her novels for their text, the broader view of removing her entire catalogue from British bookstores for supporting an anti-terrorist organisation is making her case rather prominent in the discussions surrounding indirect state-enforced censorship.
When governments and institutions ban texts, it is an acknowledgement the power those texts hold. It is their confession of vulnerability and admission of wrong-doing. Literature is revolutionary in its capacity to evoke empathy, challenge ideas and present alternative views of the world around us. A revolutionary book rarely ever incites a violent uprising, rather it picks apart the ideals and frameworks under which we live that allow such oppression to exist.
Illustration by Tracy Ratliff @paisley_pen_creative for The Student
