Policing Expression
Literature is, in principle, unpoliceable. Literature is, in fact, always being policed.
– Peter D. McDonald
This seminar is occasioned by the first major study of apartheid censorship, The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and Its Cultural Consequence(Oxford UP) by Peter D. McDonald. The book reveals the murky world of censorship and explores its unpredictable consequences and the many forms of cultural resistance it inspired. The Literature Police also uncovers a complex web of cultural connections linking Africa and Europe, and the seminar will ask what role Norwegian development aid played in South Africa in this period.
Since its liberation from apartheid, South Africa has struggled to find a balance between freedom of expression and the interests of minorities. Taking this situation as a departure point, we will ask what should be the boundaries of expression in today’s intercultural world.
The seminar will be held at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, Friday 15 May 2009, 10.30–15.45.
The seminar is a co-operation between Stiftelsen Fritt Ord, Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages (ILOS) and The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR).
Part I Revisiting Apartheid Censorship
Chair, Malcolm Langford, Research Fellow, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
10.30 Opening
Her Excellency BR Sisulu South African Ambassador
10.45 Keynote: The Unfolding Culture of Liberation in South Africa
Prof. Mbulelo Mzamane, writer and academic, University of KwaZulu-Natal
11.30 Panel Responses
Dr. Peter D. McDonald, St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford
His Excellency Bjarne Lindstrøm, Norwegian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Marianne Millstein, Associate Professor, Oslo University College
12.15 Discussion
13.00 Lunch
Part II Boundaries to Expression?
Chair, Professor Tore Rem, University of Oslo
14.00 Our Norwegian ‘We’ and Freedom of Expression
His Excellency Jonas Gahr Støre, Foreign Minister of Norway
14.30 Panel Responses
Professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen, University of Oslo
Hilde Sandvik, Debate editor, Bergens Tidende
Abid Raja, Advocate and Liberal Party (Venstre)
15.00–15.45 Discussion and Close
