And another in an unintended series of remarks on censorship…
In 2006, following the Danish cartoon controversy, Stanley Fish critiqued the liberal view of free speech and had scarcely a negative word to say about fanatics who were calling for the blood — literally — not just of cartoonists but also editors, writers and anyone else who offended them. I discussed Fish’s troubling argument here. Roughly two months later, Fish wrote in disapproval of Southeastern Nova University’s decision to invite Salman Rushdie to give a commencement address, on the grounds that it would “offend” Muslim students. As I noted at the time, Fish seemed to credit the maliciously false charge that Rushdie is a blasphemer, a charge that resulted in a government offering cash for the murder of an artist. Fish also seemed to argue that a university ought not challenge — indeed should cave into — the ill-informed or malign preconceptions of its students. On account of a small band of misguided protesters, Fish held, the university should deny the rest of the student body an opportunity to hear from one of the leading novelists and public intellectuals of our time.
Now, in this NYT blog post, Fish chooses to heap scorn on Rushdie. The subject is Rushdie’s intervention on behalf of Sherry Jones, whose debut novel has been scrapped by Random House, on account that it might — might — offend some Muslims. Describing Rushdie as a “self-appointed poster boy for the First Amendment,” Fish makes clear once again that it’s free-speech proponents, not book burners and angry mobs, who really get his goat.
Yes, Fish is right: Random House’s decision does not violate the First Amendment, since Random House is not a government. But hairsplitting definitions aside, the move represents a chilling of artistic expression that cannot go unchallenged. From Fish we’ve come to expect a lack of regard for, even outright dismissal of, such concerns. Thankfully, the comments on his post seem to be running heavily against him.
My take on Rushdie’s recent speaking engagement in Philadelphia is here. Money quote:
[A]s Rushdie pointed out during his Q&A, hundreds of Muslim writers leapt to his defense when it counted. Muslims regularly attend his readings and ask him to sign their books. “Why is their opinion less important?”
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