Literature must be free, wild, allowed to be angry and to hurt - otherwise it loses its appeal, says Melanie Möller. It must remain a free space for unguarded thoughts and sharp words. The author delivers a wild ride through several centuries of literary history in the fight for the freedom of the word.
Banning the bible from schools in Utah and classics from curricula and textbooks, smoothing out translations, censoring classics, politically correct guidelines for literature, sensitivity reading, trigger warnings, banning 'difficult' vocabulary: a disaster, says Melanie Möller, and warns against underestimating the reader. There must be no compromises when it comes to art. If you water it down, you incapacitate the reader - and the reader is smarter than you think.
"What is lacking is a passionate fight for the autonomy of literature that protects it like an endangered minority - without compromise" - Melanie Möller
