Habsburg Censorship and Literature in the Slovenian Lands

Abstract

This article surveys the censorship in the Slovenian lands during the long period when they were part of the Habsburg Monarchy. In the early modern age, from the Reformation to the rule of Maria Theresa, censorship was primarily related to religion and was exerted by the Catholic Church (Index of Prohibited Books). However, in the second half of the eighteenth century, it was gradually secularized, coming to serve as a central tool of state control over the printed word in the course of the long nineteenth century. At the end of the article, possibilities for further synthetic studies are discussed.

Članek pregledno obravnava problematiko cenzure v slovenskih deželah v večstoletnem obdobju, ko so te spadale v habsburško monarhijo. V zgodnjem novem veku, od reformacije do vladavine Marije Terezije, je bila cenzura večinoma povezana z vero in v rokah Katoliške cerkve (Indeks prepovedanih knjig), v drugi polovici 18. stoletja pa je bila postopoma sekularizirana, tako da je v dolgem 19. stoletju delovala kot osrednje orodje državnega nadzora nad tiskom. V zaključku članka so obravnavane nekatere možnosti nadaljnjih sintetičnih raziskav.