Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies

Publishing Matters: The Latin American "Boom" and the Rules of Censorship Alejandro Herrero-OL·izoL· is Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is the author of Narrativas hÃ-bridas: parodia y posmodernismo en la ficci ón contemporánea de las Americas (Verbum, 2000), and editor of Fragmented Identities: Postmodernism in Spain and Latin America (JILS, 1995). His most recent publications have appeared in Mosaic, Salina: Revista de Lletres, and MLN. His book The Censorship Files: Latin American Writers and Their Deals with Franco's Spain (forthcoming SUNY Press) examines censorship and the politics ofpubltshing in 1960s and 1970s Spain and Latin America. Shortly after the approval ofthe printing and publishing law of 1966, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Spain's Minister of Information, reportedly commented: "He dado orden de que los lápices rojos los dejen en el fondo del cajón" (Cisquella 19).1 Fragas pronouncement echoed not only the letter of the law—articles 1 and 50 allowed for freedom of publishing and article 3 eliminated official censorship—but also the government's claim that censorship no longer existed. Unfortunately, the red pencils continued to be placed at the very top ofthe desk drawers of many Spanish censors. These then anonymous "readers" (as they were officially called at the Ministry of Information) saw their censorial duties regulated but in no way eliminated by the new law's claim to recognize "el derecho a la libertad de expresión de ideas" {Prensa e Imprenta 79). Some subtle changes, however, began to appear in the censorship practices ofthe regime. If before the apertura, the political opening-up period of the 1960s, these "readers" worked for the coercive "Book Inspection Services," the new modernizing efforts of the regime "transferred them" to the apparently inoffensive "Department for Editorial Orientation," also known as the "Department for Bibliographical Orientation." In contrast with these ingenious euphemisms, Fraga's openly censorious remarks before a group of editors revealed that more red pencils would soon be needed at the Ministry: "Ya tienen Ley de Prensa. Yo la he elaborado y yo voy a gobernar su cumplimiento. A mÃ-, y no a ustedes, toca administrarla " (Cisquella 27). More precisely, Fraga administered the law to alter, but not to end, the censorship practices of the Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Volume 9, 2005 194 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies regime, which the controversial article 2 of the law maintained. In the article, freedom of expression was circumscribed to include, among other things, respect for truth and morals, allegiance to the Principles of the National Movement, due respect for the Institutions ofthe State, and the preservation of privacy and personal and family honor {Prensa e Imprenta 8O).2 Indeed, this list of limitations was a carte blanche for the government to continue its censorship practices. The regime obviously did not see it this way, or at least did not argue it that way. Francisco Abella Martin, chair of the commission in charge of examining the law before parliament, defended it for its comprehensive understanding of what die U.N. Declaration of Human Rights and the European Council saw as "valid limitations of expression," such as respect for the freedom of others, respect for moral order and for a society's welfare. Furthermore, Abella Martin hinted that the government pursued a self-imposed censorship on the part of editors and publishers : "El proyecto de Ley, ante el dilema censura o responsabilidad, opta por la Segunda" {Prensa e Imprenta 26-27). What this really meant is still a matter of debate among critics, editors and writers. While for Carlos Barrai rhe new law broughr the "rationalization of censorship" and "easier ways" to exchange ideas with the censorship authorities {Almanaque 12), for Manuel Abellán the law was "un montaje jurÃ-dico" (119), and for Neuschäffer the law was designed to "influence the very process of creation" (49). In my view, the new rules of censorship paved the way for the regime's strategical expansion of the book industry, which culminated with the approval of a significant piece of legislation in 1975, the Book Law.3 It is no coincidence that the debate leading to the...