{"id":1301,"date":"2008-08-25T17:52:54","date_gmt":"2008-08-25T15:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301"},"modified":"2008-08-25T17:52:54","modified_gmt":"2008-08-25T15:52:54","slug":"neues-vom-juwel-von-medina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301","title":{"rendered":"Neues vom &#8222;Juwel von Medina&#8220;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Stanley Fish, der ber\u00fchmte <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stanley_Fish\">Literaturwissenschaftler<\/a>, hat sich in seinem <a href=\"http:\/\/fish.blogs.nytimes.com\/2008\/08\/24\/crying-censorship\/index.html\">Blog<\/a> der Aff\u00e4re um &#8222;The Jewel of Medina&#8220; angenommen. (Mein Bericht <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/21\/mohammed-als-frauenfreund_1295\">hier<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>\tFish widerspricht Salman Rushdie, der seinen eigenen Verlag Random House \u00f6ffentlich bezichtigt hatte, durch den R\u00fcckzug des Romans \u00fcber Mohammeds Lieblingsfrau Aischa &#8222;Zensur aus Angst&#8220; ge\u00fcbt zu haben und einen &#8222;sehr schlechten Pr\u00e4zedenzfall geschaffen&#8220; zu haben.<\/p>\n<p>\tFish weist nach, es habe sich nicht um Zensur gehandelt:<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8222;It is also true, however, that Random House is free to publish or decline to publish whatever it likes, and its decision to do either has nothing whatsoever to do with the Western tradition of free speech or any other high-sounding abstraction.<\/p>\n<p>\tRushdie and the pious pundits think otherwise because they don\u2019t quite understand what censorship is. Or, rather, they conflate the colloquial sense of the word with the sense it has in philosophical and legal contexts. In the colloquial sense, censorship occurs whenever we don\u2019t say or write something because we fear adverse consequences, or because we feel that what we would like to say is inappropriate in the circumstances, or because we don\u2019t want to hurt someone\u2019s feelings. (This is often called self-censorship. I call it civilized behavior.)<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/files\/2008\/08\/fish_stanley.jpg\" title=\"fish_stanley.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/files\/2008\/08\/fish_stanley.jpg\" alt=\"fish_stanley.jpg\" height=\"356\" width=\"244\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\tStanley Fish<\/p>\n<p>\tFrom the other direction, many think it censorship when an employee is disciplined or not promoted because of something he or she has said, when people are ejected from a public event because they are judged to be disrupting the proceedings, or when a newspaper declines to accept an advertisement, rejects an op-ed or a letter, or fails to report on something others think important. But if censorship is the proper name for all these actions, then censorship is what is being practiced most of the time and is in fact the norm rather than the (always suspect) exception.<\/p>\n<p>\tBut censorship is not the proper name; a better one would be judgment. We go through life adjusting our behavior to the protocols and imperatives of different situations, and often the adjustments involve deciding to refrain from saying something. &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\tBut if none of these actions fit the definition of censorship, what does?<\/p>\n<p>\tIt is censorship when Germany and other countries criminalize the professing or publication of Holocaust denial. (I am not saying whether this is a good or a bad idea.) It is censorship when in some countries those who criticize the government are prosecuted and jailed. It was censorship when the United States Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1798, stipulating that anyone who writes with the intent to bring the president or Congress or the government \u201cinto contempt or disrepute\u201d shall be \u201cpunished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.\u201d Key to these instances is the fact that (1) it is the government that is criminalizing expression and (2) that the restrictions are blanket ones. That is, they are not the time, manner, place restrictions that First Amendment doctrine traditionally allows; they apply across the board. You shall not speak or write about this, ever. That\u2019s censorship.&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>\tKurz gesagt: Zensur im strengen Sinn liegt nur dann vor, wenn eine Regierung jedweden Ausdruck eines Sachverhalts per se verbietet.<\/p>\n<p>\tRandom House habe also sehr wohl das Recht zu ver\u00f6ffentlichen, was auch immer dem Verlag beliebt &#8211; und genauso, von einer Ver\u00f6ffentlichung Abstand zu nehmen, wenn etwa neue Gesichtspunkte den Verlag zum Umdenken \u00fcber ein Projekt bewegen.<\/p>\n<p>\tMag sein.<\/p>\n<p>\tAber ist es vielleicht nicht beunruhigend, wenn ein Verlag das Buch bestellt, produziert und druckt &#8211; und erst zur\u00fcckzieht, wenn &#8222;Berater warnen, seine Ver\u00f6ffentlichung k\u00f6nne Rassenkonflikte heraufbeschw\u00f6ren&#8220; (consultants warned that its publication &#8218;could incite racial conflict&#8216;)?<\/p>\n<p>\tVielleicht ist das nicht Zensur im strikten Sinn, aber es wie Fish einfach nur als &#8222;zivilisiertes Verhalten&#8220; zu bezeichnen, scheint mir arge Sch\u00f6nf\u00e4rberei.<\/p>\n<p>\tWom\u00f6glich hat Fish Recht, vor dem Aufblasen dieser Episode zu einem &#8222;Showdown&#8220; zu warnen. Aber leider ist es nicht die erste solche Episode.\u00a0 Ein gro\u00dfer Verlag f\u00e4llt eine solche Entscheidung aus einem Klima der Angst &#8211; das ist das Thema.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stanley Fish, der ber\u00fchmte Literaturwissenschaftler, hat sich in seinem Blog der Aff\u00e4re um &#8222;The Jewel of Medina&#8220; angenommen. (Mein Bericht hier.) Fish widerspricht Salman Rushdie, der seinen eigenen Verlag Random House \u00f6ffentlich bezichtigt hatte, durch den R\u00fcckzug des Romans \u00fcber Mohammeds Lieblingsfrau Aischa &#8222;Zensur aus Angst&#8220; ge\u00fcbt zu haben und einen &#8222;sehr schlechten Pr\u00e4zedenzfall geschaffen&#8220; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,169,170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-die-freunde-und-die-feinde-des-islams","category-medienkritik","category-menschenrechte"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Neues vom &quot;Juwel von Medina&quot; - J\u00f6rg Lau<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neues vom &quot;Juwel von Medina&quot; - J\u00f6rg Lau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stanley Fish, der ber\u00fchmte Literaturwissenschaftler, hat sich in seinem Blog der Aff\u00e4re um &#8222;The Jewel of Medina&#8220; angenommen. 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Fish widerspricht Salman Rushdie, der seinen eigenen Verlag Random House \u00f6ffentlich bezichtigt hatte, durch den R\u00fcckzug des Romans \u00fcber Mohammeds Lieblingsfrau Aischa &#8222;Zensur aus Angst&#8220; ge\u00fcbt zu haben und einen &#8222;sehr schlechten Pr\u00e4zedenzfall geschaffen&#8220; [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"J\u00f6rg Lau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-25T15:52:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/files\/2008\/08\/fish_stanley.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"J\u00f6rg Lau\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Geschrieben von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"J\u00f6rg Lau\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3\u00a0Minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301\",\"name\":\"Neues vom \\\"Juwel von Medina\\\" - J\u00f6rg Lau\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-25T15:52:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-08-25T15:52:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/#\/schema\/person\/55f0be9bfac24815791fbc852b042f57\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Neues vom &#8222;Juwel von Medina&#8220;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/\",\"name\":\"J\u00f6rg Lau\",\"description\":\"Ein Blog \u00fcber Religion und Politik\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"de\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/#\/schema\/person\/55f0be9bfac24815791fbc852b042f57\",\"name\":\"J\u00f6rg Lau\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5fe39bf4f5335b8bac36eefa0b41467221b1598bfea5f05159a0199e391eed0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5fe39bf4f5335b8bac36eefa0b41467221b1598bfea5f05159a0199e391eed0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"J\u00f6rg Lau\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/author\/joerg-lau\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Neues vom \"Juwel von Medina\" - J\u00f6rg Lau","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.zeit.de\/joerglau\/2008\/08\/25\/neues-vom-juwel-von-medina_1301","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Neues vom \"Juwel von Medina\" - J\u00f6rg Lau","og_description":"Stanley Fish, der ber\u00fchmte Literaturwissenschaftler, hat sich in seinem Blog der Aff\u00e4re um &#8222;The Jewel of Medina&#8220; angenommen. 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