Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a writer, has expressed concern that there is an “epidemic of self-censorship” in society. The author said that in a BBC lecture on free speech, young people were becoming “afraid to raise questions for fear of asking the wrong ones.”
The acclaimed Nigerian author cautioned that such conditions might cause “the death of curiosity, the death of learning, and the death of creativity.”
No human endeavor necessitates freedom more than creation, she continued.
Adichie, whose books include Half Of A Yellow Sun and Americanah, gave the first of four Reith Lectures for Radio 4 this year, all of which focused on issues of freedom.
She asserted that The Satanic Verses, a contentious book by Sir Salman Rushdie, would “probably not” be published today, contrary to what he had stated in 2012.
Sir Salman was assaulted on stage at a literary event earlier this year. He sustained liver damage, had nerves in one arm severed, and lost vision in one eye.
In the 1980s, Iran threatened Sir Salman’s life because of his fourth book, The Satanic Verses. The book is viewed as blasphemous by some Muslims.
“Today, would Rushdie’s book be released? most likely not “Added Adichie. “Even so, would it be written? Perhaps not.”
She claimed that more and more people were viewing literature “through ideological rather than artistic lenses.”
She went on: “The recent emergence of “sensitivity readers” in the publishing industry, people whose duty it is to remove potentially objectionable language from unpublished manuscripts, is the best example of this.
“In my opinion, this disproves the fundamental notion of literature.”
She claimed that if any of the works that had “shaped, inspired, and comforted” she had been suppressed, “I could today be lost.”
The 45-year-old also voiced worry about some people holding down their opinions out of fear of being attacked harshly or becoming the latest victim of cancel culture.
We have all heard tales of people who have expressed their opinions in writing or verbally and then experienced a severe blowback online, the speaker remarked.
“There is a distinction to be made between legitimate criticism, which belongs in the category of free speech, and this type of retaliation, which includes ugly personal jabs, posting addresses of houses and children’s schools online, and attempting to force individuals out of their employment.
“No, to anyone who believes that some individuals deserve it because they have spoken awful things. No one is deserving. It represents despicable cruelty. It is a virtual act of vigilantism with the intention of not only silencing the speaker but also of fostering an atmosphere of vengeance that discourages others from speaking.”
Half Of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie, published in 2006, was chosen as the finest Women’s Prize for Fiction winner in the award’s 25-year history in 2020.
The other Reith Lectures feature former Canterbury Archbishop Lord Rowan Williams discussing freedom of religion, former White House advisor on Russia Dr. Fiona Hill discussing freedom from fear, and novelist and musician Darren McGarvey speaking about freedom from want.
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