Memoir
My Secret Life
My Secret Life is a memoir by Walter. In 1968 and in 1976 it was ruled indecent except in the hands of persons over 18 years of age whose professional or academic studies extend into the field covered by the book.
Description
About the work
My Secret Life is a memoir by Walter. In 1968 and in 1976 it was ruled indecent except in the hands of persons over 18 years of age whose professional or academic studies extend into the field covered by the book.
Its interest lies partly in the way literary or informational writing gets collapsed into a public-morality problem. As a memoir, it can be read not only for subject matter but for the way form, tone, and circulation make a text feel dangerous, intimate, or politically usable to anxious officials.
It also matters as part of a wider censorship history in New Zealand. The present page is a dossier starter built from source-tracked ban records; the surviving note currently says: In 1968 and in 1976 it was ruled indecent except in the hands of persons over 18 years of age whose professional or academic studies extend into the field covered by the book. More publication history, translations, and close reading can be added later.
Overview
Why it was banned
My Secret Life entered censorship debates as a memoir associated with morality, print scandal, and sexuality. In the current dossier, the main state objections cluster around obscenity and public morality.
The earliest event currently captured here is 20th century in New Zealand, where Indecent Publications Tribunal classified, prohibited, or restricted. In 1968 and in 1976 it was ruled indecent except in the hands of persons over 18 years of age whose professional or academic studies extend into the field covered by the book. In 1968 and in 1976 it was ruled indecent except in the hands of persons over 18 years of age whose professional or academic studies extend into the field covered by the book.
This entry is still incomplete: more jurisdictions, court orders, and translated justifications should be added over time.
This page is intentionally incomplete. The ban history is a starter dataset, not a final census of every jurisdiction or decree.
Counter and critical readings
Context, rebuttals, and criticism
- Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds Dawn B. Sova
Surveys the legal and moral language used to suppress books as obscene.
- Banned Books: 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. Anne Lyon Haight
Useful for seeing how obscenity law and censorship habits changed over time.
- 100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature Nicholas J. Karolides, Margaret Bald, and Dawn B. Sova
A compact reference on how censorship systems moved across states, churches, and courts.
Ban history
Known government actions
| Date | Jurisdiction | Action | Reason | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20th century | New Zealand | classified, prohibited, or restricted | In 1968 and in 1976 it was ruled indecent except in the hands of persons over 18 years of age whose professional or academic studies extend into the field covered by the book. | In 1968 and in 1976 it was ruled indecent except in the hands of persons over 18 years of age whose professional or academic studies extend into the field covered by the book. |
Sources
Harvested references for this page
- Wikipedia: List of books banned in New Zealand reference partial
- Wikipedia REST summary API database partial
- Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds book partial
- Banned Books: 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. book partial
- 100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature book partial