Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century

Rebecca Knuth · Praeger / Greenwood (Westport, CT), 2003

tlte-cite:jaffna-1981-knuth-2003

Editorial gloss

Knuth's foundational academic monograph coins "libricide" as an analytical category — defined as the regime-sponsored, ideologically-driven, systemic destruction of books and libraries. Her theoretical framework (Chapter 3) applies Lemkin's original genocide concept, including its cultural dimension, to library burning. Case studies include Nazi Germany, Bosnia, Tibet, and China's Cultural Revolution. The Jaffna library is cited in the comparative framework. Essential for establishing the academic vocabulary applied to the 1981 event.

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case suppression
jaffna library 1981
cultural destruction

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