Book burning (also biblioclasm or libricide) is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, books or other written material. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned or shredded. Book burning is usually carried out in public, and is generally motivated by moral, religious, or political objections to the material.
Book burning can be emblematic of a harsh and oppressive regime which is seeking to censor or silence an aspect of a nation's culture. In some cases the works destroyed are irreplaceable and their burning constitutes a severe loss to cultural heritage. Examples include obliteration of the Library of Baghdad, the burning of books and burying of scholars under China's Qin Dynasty, the destruction of Aztec codices by Itzcoatl, and the Nazi book burnings.
Book burning can be an act of contempt for the book's contents or author, and the act is intended to draw wider public attention to this opinion. Examples include the destruction of the Sarajevo National Library, the burning of Wilhelm Reich's books by the FBI, the 2010 Qur'an-burning controversy, and the burning of Beatles records after a remark from John Lennon concerning Jesus Christ.
Read more about Book Burning: Historical Background, Burnings By Authors, Books Saved From Burning, Burning For Other Reasons, In Literature, Film and Television
Famous quotes containing the words book and/or burning:
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
—William Blake (1757–1827)