Guest post: Creative Writing vs Censorship

Publisher (and J’accuse reader) Chris Gruppetta has given us his kind permission to republish the following letter that appeared in today’s edition of the Times. J’accuse has not yet entered the numerous debates on the various facets of censorship that flared up this week and we will reserve most of our writing for Sunday’s article. Meanwhile Chris’ letter touches on a number of interesting points that might serve as the basis of kicking off the discussion on this blog. It goes without saying that  the opinion expressed in this letter is Chris’ and not that of J’accuse.

Letter to the Times – Chris Gruppetta, publisher, Merlin Library

I refer to the article Editor, 21, Questioned By Police (November) about the banning on campus, following the chaplain’s flagging of it, of a short story by Alex Vella Gera in a student magazine.

Let me start by saying that Mr Vella Gera is not published by me, nor do I have any connection to the student magazine in question or necessarily share their views. I have read the short story in question: yes, it is very strongly worded; yes, it is quite graphic (by Maltese standards). But since when are we banning strongly worded, graphic works of fiction? Has no one involved in this case read a book in the past 25 years? Or, for that matter, been to the cinema or watched a cable-tv series?

Maltese literature during the past 10 years has shattered taboo after taboo, to the extent that Mr Vella Gera’s story is, frankly, nothing new insofar as explicitness is concerned. The younger generation of Maltese authors has brought real life, as it is spoken, into our literature, starting with Ġużè Stagno in 2001, followed by the likes of Immanuel Mifsud, Clare Azzopardi, Pierre J. Mejlak, all critically respected authors feted by the international literary community. Even veteran authors such as Trevor Zahra and Mario Azzopardi have brought us works of literature that would probably be deemed “obscene” by the University censors. Just as Maltese writing is winning prestigious awards on the international stage (Antoine Cassar and Pierre J. Mejlak being the latest two), we are busy banning this and chopping off that. And the sweet irony of it is that this censorship is going on at University, of all places.

It is ridiculous that in a secular university, a chaplain – with all due respect – should have any say whatsoever in what gets published and distributed in a non-religious magazine. How much longer will we go on making fools of ourselves before the international community?

Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty was a graphic description of, basically, gay sex in Thatcherite London. Some passages in it were probably more explicit than Mr Vella Gera’s story. Did British universities ban it? Ehm, no. It went on to win the 2004 Man Booker Prize.

As a publisher, it is increasingly frustrating to be working in a shackling environment that not only does not condemn actions such as the University Chaplain’s and – by extension – the Rector’s, but actually condones them and thinks of them as normal. As most authors and creatives are leaving this country to live in the 21st century, those of us who remained have to read about plays being banned, undressed clothes mannequins being removed, carnival revellers being discriminated against depending on which religion they decide to mock, uproars about condoms being distributed at University, about photo-shoots in a cemetery, and now this. What of freedom of expression? What of the supposed ban on discrimination on the basis of religion? Have we joined the EU simply to have the departure tax removed?

In the UK, the matter of whether “vulgar language” should be deemed obscene was settled by the Lady Chatterley’s Lover court case way back in 1960. Here in Malta, in 2009, we are still applying our unique blend of fundamentalism and immaturity to keep the arts in a deep coma. And then we wonder about the lack of intelligent discussion in this country.