{"id":65759,"date":"2026-10-12T11:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/?p=65759"},"modified":"2026-10-12T11:48:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T11:48:54","slug":"read-a-banned-book-banned-books-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/read-a-banned-book-banned-books-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Read a Banned Book! – Banned Books Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banned Books Week<\/strong> is an annual event that highlights censorship and celebrates free access to literature and information. The event has been held in the US since 1982, originating as a response to growing censorship and the banning of literature in schools, bookstores and libraries. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as important as celebrating freedom of expression is raising awareness about the threats facing it. Throughout history literature has been banned for various reasons. A recurring argument is that children need to be protected from \u201cinappropriate content\u201d or propaganda. The genres most frequently targeted are sci-fi, fantasy and queer literature.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some well-known examples of banned books include Persepolis<\/em> by Marjane Satrapi, 1984<\/em> by George Orwell, Harry Potter<\/em> by J.K Rowling and Beloved<\/em> by Toni Morrison. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the Nordic countries have strong constitutional protections for freedom of the press and speech, we should not assume that we are immune to what is happening elsewhere in the world. Nordic books and authors have also faced censorship or attempts at it; these are presented below. The books are available to borrow at the Nordic House. Through Banned Books Week<\/strong> we aim to help keep freedom of expression alive. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nordic books and authors subjected to censorship<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do you make a baby?<\/em> – Anna Fiske
\n<\/span><\/b>The book has been banned in school libraries in the US because it was deemed pornographic. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Brothers Lionheart<\/em> – Astrid Lindgren
\n<\/span><\/b>In former Czechoslovakia, the book was not allowed to be published because it was considered to inspire the people to rebel against the authorities. Despite this, it was smuggled into the country and translated. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<\/em> – Stieg Larsson<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>The book has been banned in school libraries in Florida, the US.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kristin Lavransdatter<\/em> – Sigrid Undset<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>All of Sigrid Undset’s books were banned in Nazi Germany due to her ant-nazi stance. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A doll’s house<\/em> – Henrik Ibsen<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>The work faced criticism from its time, primarily due to the ending in which\u00a0Nora leaves her family. In Germany, an alternative ending was written because the original was considered to undermine family morality.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Juhannustanssit (Midsommardansen)<\/em> – Hannu Salama<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>The book caused a stir due to its attack on Christianity. Salama was charged with blasphemy and sentenced to three months in prison.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Banned Books Week is an annual event that highlights censorship and celebrates free access to literature and information. The event has been held in the US since 1982, originating as a response to growing censorship and the banning of literature in schools, bookstores and libraries. \u00a0 Just as important as celebrating freedom of expression is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":65775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","no-banner-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nordichouse.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}