Writer Christopher Mlalazi discusses censorship in Zimbabwe at the "Enemy Number One" panel discussion

Zimbabwean writer Christopher Mlalazi and USC College professors Michelle Gordon and Wolf Gruner joined moderator Marje Schuetze-Coburn of the USC Libraries yesterday for "Enemy Number One": Lion Feuchtwanger and the Literature of Exile, a discussion about censorship and the political repression of writers. The libraries and USC Visions and Voices held the event in conjunction with the recent publication of Lion Feuchtwanger's memoir The Devil in France. 

Gordon hailed The Devil in France, an account of the Jewish-German novelist's internment in Nazi-occupied France, as a warning against the "uncritical acceptance of authority." A professor of English who specializes in African American literature, Gordon spoke about the long history of censorship in the United States. She told the story of Arna Bontemps, a prominent African-American novelist and poet who also taught at Oakwood Junior College in Hunstville, Alabama. When school administrators accused him of spreading beliefs, and the school's headmaster ordered him to burn books from his personal library that were considered offensive. Bontemps refused and moved to Los Angeles.

Feuchtwanger Fellow Christopher Mlalazi shared stories about the repression of writers in his native country of Zimbabwe. Mlalazi is a playwright and short story writer who is under government surveillance for writing critically of the Mugabe regime. After independent newspapers were banned, he took up the task of exposing government missteps and impropriety. To protect himself from persecution, Mlalazi uses what he calls "indirect writing," wrapping his criticism of the regime in traditional tales, or setting his story in a different country.

Wolf Gruner is a professor of history who specializes in Jewish studies. He discussed the history of book burning in Nazi Germany and the gradual silencing of published, independent thought. Gruner also related a story from his time as student in East Germany, when he had to receive special permission to access West German books about the Holocaust, which were kept in a secret library reading room.

A special exhibition featuring handwritten manuscripts, photographs, and other rare items from the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library followed the discussion.

Online registration for the second event in the "Enemy Number One" series on Tuesday, October 26 opens today. The event features a special tour and performance at Villa Aurora, the former Pacific Palisades home of Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger. Registration is required, and the event is open to current USC students only.

Items from the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library on display at a special exhibition that followed the discussion

 

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