CZ-HU CENSORSHIP

Academic Censorship under State Socialism: Czech Republic and Hungary

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The research project proposes to study broader implications of differences and similarities in censorship structures and mechanisms in academia between the Czech Republic and Hungary during late state socialism (1968-1989) as a part of European intellectual history that has only been marginally researched. There was no official censoring body during this period in either country, yet multiple layers of censorship existed not only in the media and literature, but also in academic work. The two countries show numerous similarities in censorship structures and practices, but also important differences which have had lasting effects. The project aims to conduct a comparative analysis of “coding” and self-censoring strategies of Czech and Hungarian authors in social science and humanities; to analyse and describe censoring mechanisms to which the authors were exposed; and to analyse the implications and consequences of the potential differences in censoring and self-censoring practices between the Czech Republic and Hungary. The research will employ interviews with academics who published at the time and archival sources. The project draws on empirical research already conducted by the researcher in the Czech Republic. The researcher will carry out the empirical research for the Hungarian component and will prepare a book manuscript from the project during the term of the fellowship.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Under state socialism, censorship of academic material was rife in Hungary and the then Czechoslovakia. While more than two decades have passed since then, the consequences and implications of such censorship are still being felt today in the scientific world.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded 'Academic censorship under state socialism: Czech Republic and Hungary' (CZ-HU censorship) project investigated the conditions of academic life and publishing in the social sciences and humanities during the 1970s and 1980s. The project drew on state and Communist Party policy documents, as well as information from academics in those countries at that time that are still considered scholarly authorities today. The main focus was on academic censorship and self-censorship, and analysis of the censorship mechanisms to which authors were exposed.

Studies revealed that Czechoslovakia centralised the control of academic research and encouraged ideological loyalty from 1968 to 1989, particularly through the social sciences and humanities. On the ground, many of the interviewed academics perceived that the opposite took place in research institutes and university departments.

In contrast, while Hungarian academic institutions had more autonomy, they were also subject to the research priorities set down centrally by the party and the government. Party documents in Hungary stressed economics rather than ideology as the priority in the social sciences.

Overall, Czechoslovakia suffered from preventive censorship while Hungary suffered from post-publication censorship. This explains the different 'national' narratives expressed in the interviews: Czechoslovakian researchers emphasised the lack of academic freedom, while the Hungarians talked about its considerable extent. Also, the former related their professional trajectories then to serial oppression, restrictions, threats and fear. This was absent from Hungarian narratives, although interviewees listed cases of expulsions from research institutes, imprisonment in the 1970s, and silencing in the 1980s for academic writing.

These phenomena were not recorded among the Czechoslovakian interviewees. Extensive party purges in 1969 and 1970 that resulted in mass silencing and job losses were retributions for political involvement in the Prague Spring rather than for academic writing.

The different 'national' narratives have reflected on the present in different ways. Hungarian academics expressed strong criticism of post-state-socialist academic and social development while the then Czechoslovakians characterised the present with relief, liberation, achievement and academic freedom. The latter were rarely critical, except for those who entered academia in the 1970s.

Such observations and findings are important in understanding academic publication in these countries today and in furthering research. They also allow academics and researchers from that time to deal with past injustices by exposing a darker recent past and looking at the broader picture.