THE CASE AGAINST CENSORSHIP

A left-leaning paper, Realta',  issued by University students was in Novembr (2009) banned by the Rector of the University of Malta for carrying a " short story" displaying graphic sex scenes and a dose of expletives. The Rector argued that the story could  fall in the hands of minors attending the University Junior College and he was duty-bound to block such an eventuality.
Mario Azzopardi was invited to speak at a public debate on the matter.

Azzopardi argued against the sensationalist nature of the text in question but said in various interviews that the Rector’s decision was definitely an error of judgement and that even obscene literature had the right of circulation, and would then be assessed according to literary criteria and aesthetic merit or otherwise. He reminded the audience that in the UK , The Literary Review awards an annual prize for Bad Sex in Fiction. He also said that the censorship issue in Malta is being hijacked by the media, whereas it should be the authors themselves who take a forefront stance to confront the situation. The following is a brief report which appeared in the National Book Council Newsletter (December 2009) on Azzopardi’s intervention.

Intervent interessanti sar minn Mario Azzopardi. Huwa ġibed l-attenzjoni li suppost li fl-2010 qed niddiskutu l-valur intrinsiku tal-letteratura lokali, u mhux nikkumbattu kontra ċ-ċensura.  Hu jemmen li anki jekk kitba ma tkunx ta' livell, jew kruda, jew sensazzjonalista, għandha l-jedd li tiċċirkola, imbagħad tkun evalwata skont kriterji stretti skont il-kompetenzi ġusti.

Azzopardi jemmen li każ Vella Gera kien maħtuf mill-hekk imsejħa opinion makers u ftit kienu dawk l-awturi jew akkademiċi li ħarġu bil-fehmiet tagħhom. Dan hu każ ieħor, għal Azzopardi, tal-abrogazzjoni tar-responsabbiltà min-naħa tal-kittieba nfushom, li qed jippreferu li jabbundaw l-isfera pubblika.  Huwa ġibed l-attenzjoni li kien hemm artikolisti li kitbu dwar il-każ meta lanqas biss qraw il-kitba kontenzjuża.

Mario Azzopardi ġibed ukoll l-attenzjoni għall-fatt li hemm l-ipokresija ta' ċerti setturi tal-media: kien hemm fejn kienu kkwotati frażijiet mill-kitba kontroversjali, imma minflok il-kliem proprju, intużaw l-asteriski.

Hu rrimarka li kien hemm anki fejn kienet "riprodotta" l-kitba oriġinali, imma żżelget apposta b'mod li ma setgħetx tinqara. Jiġifieri l-edituri mponew iċ-ċensura fuqhom infushom, filwaqt li qed iwerżqu kontra ċ-ċensura.

Mario Azzopardi jemmen li jrid ikun hemm miżura dwar il-linja bejn kitba sesswali ta' kalibru u kitba ta' livell baxx. Semma li fl-Ingilterra il-Literary Review ta' Londra saħanistra tagħti l-Bad Sex in Fiction Award ta' kull sena, li ilu jingħata mill-1993.  Fost dawk li kkwalifikaw għal-letteratura sesswali baxxa u bla gost kien hemm uħud tal-kalibru ta' John Updike jew Norman Mailer. (Waqt id-dibattitu kienu kkwotati minn M Azzopardi siltiet mix-xogħlijiet ta' Christopher Rush u Richard Milward, tradotti apposta bil-Malti).

Ir-razzjonal wara l-għoti tal-Bad Sex Award hu "to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of passages of sexual description in modern fiction and to discourage it".  Bad Sex, saħaq Azzopardi, kemm trid, imma qatt m'hu ċensurat jew ibbannjat.