The Mask of Sanity

The Mask of Sanity is a novel by Jacob M. Appel. Banned pre-emptively in Malaysia for blasphemy.

What makes it interesting is that interpretation, devotion, satire, or doctrinal conflict becomes a matter of state administration. As a novel, 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 Malaysia. The present page is a dossier starter built from source-tracked ban records; the surviving note currently says: Banned pre-emptively in Malaysia for blasphemy. More publication history, translations, and close reading can be added later.

The Mask of Sanity entered censorship debates as a novel associated with doctrine, public controversy, and religion. In the current dossier, the main state objections cluster around religious control and religious offense.

The earliest event currently captured here is Date not yet pinned down in Malaysia, where Malaysia authorities banned publication or circulation. Banned pre-emptively in Malaysia for blasphemy. Banned pre-emptively in Malaysia for blasphemy.

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.

• Assassins of the Mind Christopher Hitchens

  Frames the Rushdie affair as a test of free speech against violent religious intimidation.

• From Fatwa to Jihad Kenan Malik

  Tracks how conflicts over blasphemy, race, and offense evolved after the Rushdie controversy.

• 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.

• Banned Books: 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. Anne Lyon Haight

  Useful for comparing older obscenity, heresy, and political bans with modern free-speech disputes.

• Wikipedia: List of books banned by governments reference partial
• Wikipedia REST summary API database partial
• Christopher Hitchens: Assassins of the Mind article partial
• From Fatwa to Jihad book not started
• 100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature book partial
• Banned Books: 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D. book partial