Cenzura, tabu i wstyd. Cenzura obyczajowa w PRL–u (1948–1958)

The article analyses the relationship between the concepts: “censorship”, “taboo” and “shame” on the material taken from the reading of censorship reports from the years 1948–1958. It can be assumed that: 1. censorship is an external control established by governmental or religious institutions; 2. taboo is a prohibition imposed by external bodies (mostly religious), but externalised by the subject; 3. shame is an emotion preventing from something considered inappropriate — the level of internalisation seems very deep here, the subject may not even be aware of the imposition of this condition by external institutions. Both quite subtle differences between the concepts (especially between “taboo” and “shame”) and common places — realisations during which the “launch” of censorship, taboo, and shame is simultaneously activated — appear interestingly. An example might be here taken from the moral censorship, where imposed by culture, imbued and accepted sense of what indecent is, has an influence on the legal regulations and the state control practice.