According to Parker, a prime example of this revolves around Denise Chong's most recent book Egg on Mao, which focuses on the story of a farmer who threw paint eggs on a portrait of Mao in the Tiananmen Square protests. Chong says that many people assume that the book attacks Chinese policies. Since its publication, the Library of Congress is among others who have refused to participate in events at which Chong was to be featured. Parker strongly implies that this is a direct result of the power of money the result of the spider web that ties that the world's economy together.
The Chinese government has pressured organizations to disinvite dissidents, as was the case at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
One of the "dissidents", an American professor at Princeton claims that this is leading to self-censorship among academics. saying anonymously that as a group, scholars are "compromising our academic ideals in order to gain access to China . . .we all do it."
Does everything really have its price, or is the article just filled with self-justifying rationalizations and excuses?
Is this any different from a school signing on with Channel One or an exclusive contract with Coca Cola?
Do we as librarians do the same sorts of things if we accept grants or gifts that come with strings, even if they're unspoken?
Parker, Emily. "Censors without Borders." The New York Times Book Review, May 16, 2010, pg. 35.
Do we as librarians do the same sorts of things if we accept grants or gifts that come with strings, even if they're unspoken?
Parker, Emily. "Censors without Borders." The New York Times Book Review, May 16, 2010, pg. 35.
I think the old saying of "there's no such thing as a free lunch" is absolutely true. I'm curious to know, though why Chong says that "many people assume" that the books is negative. Having never read it, I can't say, but is she trying to say that the book actually has other things to say other than slamming Chinese politics?
ReplyDeleteThe author is making a career out of taking Kodak moments that define an era and using that picture to look at the whole event. Her first book was about the screaming little girl, ablaze with napalm, running down the road in VietNam. Here's hoping you're too young to remember that one. : )
ReplyDeleteThe farmer who threw the paint eggs with others traveled several hundred miles for the protest, and was jailed for 10 years. Yeah, it deals with Chinese human rights violations, sham democracy, and other facts that the Chinese would rather ignore. The issue, according to the author is that groups are more than willing to let their lunches be purchased.