Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de Dieu
Date: 1948
Region: Europe
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Radio
Artist: Antonin Artaud
Confronting Bodies: Wladimir Porche, director of "Radiodiffusion Francaise"
Dates of Action: February 1948
Location: France
Description of Artwork: Artaud's radio-production, "Pour en finir avec le jugement de dieu," consisted of four parts to be read over the radio to introduce a program called "Voices of the Poets." One part attacked American ambitions in the Marshall Plan, another evoked pagan gods from a Mexican cult to which Artaud belonged, another referred to feces and the last to the "anatomy of flatulance."
The Incident: French press alerted the director of "Radiodiffusion Francaise", Wladimir Porche, of the controversial contents of Artaud's work. Porche allowed a private listening of the piece before it aired. Those who attended, including a Dominican priest, approved the segment; however, Porche did not permit the piece to air.
Results of Incident: Artaud's piece was published in print and a public audition was held in February 1948. Artaud died of cancer one month later.
Source: Censorship, A World Encyclopedia, ed. D. Jones
