Individual Presentation or Panel Title
“As good almost kill a man as kill a good book”: Censorship and the Development of the Public Sphere in the English Civil War and Today
Abstract
In 1641, state censorship of the press lapsed in England with the start of the Civil War, causing an explosion of printed material. This project studies the results of that explosion, particularly the development of the English public sphere. Media theorist Jüergen Habermas’ classic chronology of the development of the English public sphere is challenged, and laws and pamphlets from this time period are examined to understand how the public sphere emerged, how it functioned, its output, and attempts to control it. The parallels of the early English public sphere with the Internet’s potential to become a modern, global public sphere are also discussed. The English public sphere emerged as a direct result of the lapse in censorship, and it allowed a much wider range of people to engage in public debates, though it was still limited by education and financial status. Once removed, censorship proved difficult to re-implement. Today, the Internet faces similar challenges of literacy and socioeconomic status as well as fragmentation and isolation from the vast amount of information available online.
Location
Goodwin Private Dining Room
Start Date
3-5-2014 2:30 PM
End Date
3-5-2014 3:20 PM
“As good almost kill a man as kill a good book”: Censorship and the Development of the Public Sphere in the English Civil War and Today
Goodwin Private Dining Room
In 1641, state censorship of the press lapsed in England with the start of the Civil War, causing an explosion of printed material. This project studies the results of that explosion, particularly the development of the English public sphere. Media theorist Jüergen Habermas’ classic chronology of the development of the English public sphere is challenged, and laws and pamphlets from this time period are examined to understand how the public sphere emerged, how it functioned, its output, and attempts to control it. The parallels of the early English public sphere with the Internet’s potential to become a modern, global public sphere are also discussed. The English public sphere emerged as a direct result of the lapse in censorship, and it allowed a much wider range of people to engage in public debates, though it was still limited by education and financial status. Once removed, censorship proved difficult to re-implement. Today, the Internet faces similar challenges of literacy and socioeconomic status as well as fragmentation and isolation from the vast amount of information available online.