The White Raven publishing home utilized to us that it publishes only books very good and besides very important. And this is the case with “Historia censorship. From Antiquity to the 21st century” by Jakub Maciejewski.
Tom, as always in the case of this editor who is an editorial gem, is impressive. But can even in the broadest possible way the phenomena of the millenniums in all civilizations and in the most diverse forms be touched? It turns out that with the pen of an erudite well-known subject both in its historical aspect and in terms of the wide aspect of methods of controlling the flow of thought – specified a mastery is possible. And its fruitage is simply a fascinating, though unfunny work containing the quintessentialness of what has been accompanied by mankind for countless generations in a multitude of frequently astonishingly insidious incarnations. And whose continuous functioning should be conscious of any aspiring not only to participate, but even to wisely observe the surrounding reality.
The fact that censorship not only has a name, but besides does not have 1 common ethical denominator, the author draws attention to the intentions of the church's people who stand watch over the faithfulness of Bible translations. If poesy is defined as “what perishes in translation” then what hazard could there be of losing the actual meaning of texts erstwhile translating the content of authors created under inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Although the Old and fresh Testament translations were of a function akin to the censors, their intent was not to prohibit access to the written books, but to guarantee that they did not contain inaccuracies, errors, or perversions. In view of the extraordinary origin and the unique function of Bible works, and the almost impossible translation of texts written thousands of years ago in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic into Slavic, Ugrofian, or even more distant from what are any another and ancient ones, serious translators had to even happen to translators motivated by the best intentions. Keeping an eye on the faithfulness of the translation could be like what we associate with censorship. In this case, it was and is simply a service of truth. At the same time, the recipient, who thanks to this service can interact with the content in all respect most appropriate to the original.
Jakub Maciejewski besides dispels many harmful and powerfully established myths and straightens out a series of centuries of heavy nested in textbooks or pop culture of historical perversions. This is the case, for example, with the Forbidden Books Index, whose real function was to a greater degree a informing function than a sanctioning – repressive role. From my individual experiences, I remember that without half a century ago in spiritual lessons, he brilliantly explained this unforgettable Wroc3aw Salesian St. And then, rather similarly, the “Fronda” editorial board publishes something like a “own frontal index of banned books” simply recommending not to mention to the titles mentioned in this writing that affect consciousness, which cripple sensitivity. As a rebellious teenager, I may not have believed in the intentions of the authors of specified “indexes of forbidden books” and ignored their warnings in the belief that it was essential to be open to face any content. And since I've read quite a few different things, I've come into contact with those I've regretted. First, I regretted seeing 1 of Davies Cronenberg's films. The vileness of the images that attacked from the cinema screen proved to be so calibre that despite the strenuous efforts of this abomination I could not get out of my memory. And then I regretted that individual had warned me about content that did not service good, but simply harmful. The same conclusion led me to read Klaus Kinski's book. Although he was a psychopath in most of his roles, he was an actor, an artist, who came from my country and, although nationally defined as Germany, had any Polish roots. And my curiosity this time turned out to be not the first degree to know, but as in a well-known proverb – to hell. Although I did not scope him entirely, any corner of my head and my memory as if – he was in hell. Kinski's autobiographical book convinced me that there truly are content to interact with. And that it is definitely adequate to have a theoretical awareness of the existence in the planet of inventions specified as koprophagia. However, I powerfully advise against gathering with a detailed description of her practice. due to the fact that I besides know that stopping reading these descriptions and pressing it in the trash can is not an adequate antidote to a number of sentences, which, however, have already been read. Since specified adventures, I know that the "warning index of books or films" produced by the right people is truly a very useful idea. Although the consequence of specified adventures may be better understood and appreciated by the intentions of the right people, the wise and noble people of the Church, whom Jakub Maciejewski writes in his book.
An highly valuable feature of the "History of censorship" is the description of these practices, which origin a complete distortion of the image of historical epochs, national – national traditions or the generation of perfect lies. And this is what we are dealing with, even in the case of Kazimierz Łyszczyński. Each group has the right, closest to the real picture, the fundamental course of history. And each has its own pathological margin and paradoxical events, absurd, completely random and for a given group highly unrepresentative, marginally inadequate. Poland has had powerful and highly consistent enemies in its anti-Polish activities for centuries. For this reason, for centuries the endless taboos of feathers have written an alleged Polish past woven only from what happened in Poland and most of all – from those vile things that did not even happen completely in it, but which various Wolts and another creators hired by the invaders successfully managed to delegate Poland. Hence to this day various anti-Polish although sometimes and Polish-language deposits inactive produce our image as e.g. slave owners and murderers of Jews. An example of specified a successful arch – lies is the communicative of Kazimierz Łyszczyński, which was cut down in the Warsaw marketplace Square in the late 17th century. In fact, it was a tragic case that could be counted as judicial errors. It's the kind of thing that's in our day. Not long ago, the BBC filmed a long series of death sentences completed in trials in which completely innocent people were convicted after planet War II. There were dozens in fresh past of Britain and another Western countries. In earlier times and in another civilizations – until fear to think how much. It happened with us. Also, although rarely, in pre-selection Poland. specified an exception confirming the regulation of an exceptionally just and unparalleled state in terms of spiritual and perfect tolerance was the case of the conviction of Kazimierz Łyszczyński. The landowner, who spent respective years in the Jesuit monastery, was a philosopher-reading thinker, the consequence of which were manuscripts containing, among others, a world-viewed dialog on the nature of the planet and the existence of God. These works were written “to the drawer”, debated only in a narrow circle, and it is not known whether he intended to print them at all. Lyszczyński, however, had enemies, including debtors curious in getting free of his creditor. Taking advantage of the exceptional political turmoil that then shook the Republic of Poland, they unleashed hysteria, gained public opinion and part of the justice strategy leading to a curiosity and brightly contrary to the then order of our country's judicial crime. This tragedy did not end at the very execution of Łyszczyński, as Poland's enemies were utilized as an argument for alleged ignorance, backwardness and the danger that Poles would pose to another peoples of Europe. This tragedy has no end and today. Contrary to all facts, the effect of blocking access to accurate cognition of this communicative and lying both to the activities of Lyszczyński and the circumstances which led him to the stewardship, he was created as a martyr of free thought, murdered by supposedly hateful clerics and half-wild Poles. As a result, it is hard in pre-trial past for a akin case, it was from Lyszczyński that the enemies of Poland and Lord God made a sacrifice of the Church, Christianity and Polish murderism. This Hucpa continues to this day – anti-Polish creatures proceed to publicize lies about Łyszczyński, its character serves them as the subject of subsequent wicked happenings and the dominance of post-communist and German media in Poland allows millions of heads of specified "truths" about Poland, Poles and Catholic Church.
Thus, under the word "censorship" there are sometimes very different phenomena. The church-related censure had as its object the service of fact and, above all, the faithfulness of the message of God's Word. A civilian authority censura could sometimes service to defender crucial national and state safety of military secrets. More often, however, it served the interests of the rulers. The top havoc was the censorship committed to totalitarian ideology. The communists called the fact their lies about Lyszczyński and thousands of another stories and methods for respective decades criminally watched over this precisely, Bolshevik, so from the essence of things marginally falsified narrative. And it was in totalitarian realities that censorship became what Jakub Maciejewski called “pulling the soul out of human minds.”
The foretaste of how frightening the scope of censorship can be gave the cacapian satrapia. In Russia, tsars were censored not only by visiting tickets and eating menus, but even by confectionery, whose form was besides suspected of wearing any ideologically dangerous pronunciation. And, of course, the censorship of the time was able to lie to all thread of history, to produce protracted and pro-Russian mythologies without a single word of truth, after which this form of past was enforced under sanctions of exile to Siberia and even hanging or shooting. It is not surprising, then, that the Bolsheviks who gained power in 1917 felt at home. Though they rapidly proved that many in this home of captivity could perfect. Above all, this plague, which they themselves constituted, effectively exported to many countries of the world, including Poland. Despite the hard, widespread and consistent resistance, this plague rapidly brought terrible toll in our homeland. It was damaged by large works of national culture. Many fresh ones – could not be created at all. The largest luminaries of literature and art russian censorship degraded, destroyed and even killed. In Polish protests where it was stated that "the activity of censorship threatens the existence of national culture" there truly was no exaggeration. What is possibly the worst in this communicative is the constant existence of censorship even after the events of 1989, by many considered to be groundbreaking. The supposedly "non-communist" government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki did not think to liquidate the Office of Publications Control and Widowisk. On the contrary! Despite the deficiency of money at the time for the most existential needs in the 1990 budget, the government predicted evidence amounts for further censorship! Books and magazines were punctured by censors for a year after the June 1989 election. And then – it wasn't better. The repressions that have fallen upon the daredevils to have their own opinions were frequently much more severe than those that have fallen on oppositionists in fresh years of the Polish People's Republic. In September 1986, the owners of the People's Poland, for which the problem of many political prisoners was increasingly uncomfortable, introduced a law meaning that for printing uncensored content only 3 months of imprisonment threatened to be replaced with a fine and - confiscated the subject of the crime. So – printing devices, independent prints or cars were confiscated, if they found debitless releases. On the another hand, the customized of any of the environments in 1989 co-opted into the communist nomenclature was to sue those who dared to talk something that they considered inappropriate. And post-communist (because there were no others) courts were willing not only to fine the maximum amount, but besides ordered the publication of a series of paid apologies in a newspaper. Apology in the form of a large-format announcement, which meant enforcement of the sentenced sum usually greater than all its assets. So – not only to clean out all bank deposits, dowry activities and sale not only TV, furniture or car, but besides to collect the apartment. So if individual claims that in 1989 Poland became a country of freedom of speech, he does not know what he is saying. Since 1989, all hell has been worse.
And unfortunately – it does not look optimistic both the present and the future. Moving media from the planet of printed paper to the planet of electronics gives fresh transmission possibilities, but besides tremendous possibilities for its control. Manipulation with all kinds of content – they have entered into the quality of a completely different scale. Even worse forecasts should be linked to the coming times of artificial intelligence, which may mean multiplying the priceless performance not tens or hundreds, but thousands of times. And remember what intelligence is without human empathy. The sharpest human mind, whose deficiency of compassion is simply a psychopath. And artificial intelligence, of course, will not have empathy. To
So possibly we are already approaching an era in which the supervision of human minds will be entrusted to the most ruthless and at the same time incomparably more effective than all the erstwhile ones.
The book by Jakub Maciejewski contains the word “history” in its title, but to the top degree it tells about what is most contemporary to us. And the dangers of the close future that are already rising over us. If we are dreaming of a small freedom, if we are counting on any subjectivity in the planet of getting closer to next day – we absolutely request to know and think solidly about Jakub Maciejewski's "Historia of censorship".
Artur Adamski
