| Uncensored: Samizdat Novels and the Quest for Autonomy in Soviet Dissidence Contributor(s): Komaromi, Ann (Author), Morson, Gary Saul (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0810131862 ISBN-13: 9780810131866 Publisher: Northwestern University Press OUR PRICE: $39.55 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2015 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Russian & Former Soviet Union |
| Dewey: 891.709 |
| LCCN: 2015004446 |
| Series: Studies in Russian Literature and Theory |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 5.9" W x 9" (0.80 lbs) 272 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Russia |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 2016 AATSEEL Prize for Best Book in Literary/Cultural Studies Vasilii Aksenov, Andrei Bitov, and Venedikt Erofeev were among the most acclaimed authors of samizdat, the literature that was self-published in the former Soviet Union in order to evade censorship and prosecution. In Uncensored, Ann Komaromi uses their work to argue for a far more sophisticated understanding of the phenomenon of samizdat, showing how the material circumstances of its creation and dissemination exercised a profound influence on the very idea of dissidence, reconfiguring the relationship between author and reader. Using archival research to fully illustrate samizdat's social and historical context, Komaromi arrives at a more nuanced theoretical position that breaks down the opposition between the autonomous work of art and direct political engagement. The similarities between samizdat and digital culture have particular relevance for contemporary discourses of dissident subjectivity. |