The Department of Middle Eastern Studies cordially invites you to a lecture with Q & A of Alireza Abiz, literary researcher, translator, and poet.

Thursday 26 October from 17:45, Celetná 13, Prague 1, room 1.08.

All major approaches to censorship debate are centred round one central question: definition. Their difference lies in what they consider to be censorial acts. Censorship in present-day ran is all-inclusive, extensive, amorphous, arbitrary, and unpredictable. It covers all areas of literary activity, as well as the public and private life of authors and readers. The state uses two main sets of policies to control culture: intimidation and tokenism or in other words reward and punishment. It is the scope of censorship regimes and the tools they use which make all the difference. I therefore believe that any definition of censorship which ignores the experience of the censored author is a failed attempt which will lead to an endless debate on the binary concepts of repression versus free speech. Those on the receiving end of censorship know that it can take diverse shapes. It is as diverse as the experiences of every censored individual.