Imoral, Comunista e Pornográfica: a Biblioteca dos Serviços de Censura do Estado Novo

(PT)

Que livros não se podiam ler durante o Estado Novo? Entre 1934 e 1974, os censores redigiram mais de 10.000 relatórios de leitura livros de autores portugueses e estrangeiros. Acusados de serem “imorais, pornográficos, comunistas, irreligiosos, subversivos, maus antissociais, anarquistas ou revolucionários”, os livros censurados abrangem todas as áreas do saber. 

O presente catálogo testemunha o modo como a ditadura amputou e desfigurou a vida cultural, o desenvolvimento das mentalidades e afetou as gerações vindouras. O catálogo acompanha a exposição "Obras Proibidas e Censuradas no Estado Novo", comissariada por Álvaro Seiça, Luís Sá e Manuela Rêgo, na Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal entre 3 de março e 16 de setembro de 2022. 

O catálogo compila, pela primeira vez, os livros resgatados da Biblioteca dos Serviços de Censura e as “obras proibidas” de ir à leitura na Biblioteca Nacional, sendo completado por imagens das capas dos livros e de páginas cortadas, pela transcrição dos relatórios de leitura e por dois ensaios introdutórios de Álvaro Seiça e José Pedro Castanheira.

O ensaio de Seiça está disponível neste repositório ou através da livraria da BNP.

Livro/E-book: https://livrariaonline.bnportugal.gov.pt/Issue.aspx?i=322255

(EN)

Which books could not be read during the Estado Novo dictatorship? Between 1934 and 1974, censors wrote more than 10,000 "reading reports" on books by Portuguese and foreign authors. As they reviewed the censored books covering all areas of knowledge, they accused some of being “immoral", "pornographic", "communist", "irreligious", "subversive", "bad", "antisocial", "anarchist" or "revolutionary”.

This catalogue bears witness to the way in which the dictatorship amputated cultural life and disfigured the development of mentalities, as well as it affected future generations. The catalogue accompanies the exhibition "Obras Proibidas e Censuradas no Estado Novo" [Forbidden and Censored Books during the Estado Novo], curated by Álvaro Seiça, Luís Sá, and Manuela Rêgo at the National Library of Portugal, between March 3 and September 16, 2022. 

It is the first-ever exhibition and catalogue to compile part of the original copies censored, stamped, underlined, and expurgated by the censors of the Estado Novo dictatorship, as well as the "forbidden books" cataloguing system that the National Library kept in order to prevent some books to be accessed and read. Until today, the original copies from the Library/Archive of the Direcção dos Serviços de Censura (The Directorate of Censorship Services) – which, under different names, kept an archive during 40 years – were unknown to the public. 

The discovery of this hidden treasure is a significant moment, since it enriches the study and perception of the censorial practice as a heterogeneous and fluctuating process. The catalogue is further complemented by the digitization of book covers and pages with censorial cuts, in addition to the transcription of reading reports and two introductory essays by Álvaro Seiça and José Pedro Castanheira.

Seiça's essay is available on this repository or via the National Library of Portugal's bookshop.

Book/E-book: https://livrariaonline.bnportugal.gov.pt/Issue.aspx?i=322255