Writing Resistance: Revolutionary Memoirs of Shlissel'burg Prison, 1884-1906 (1st)

In 1884, the first of 68 prisoners convicted of terrorism andrevolutionary activity were transferred to a new maximum security prison atShlissel´burg Fortress near St Petersburg. The regime of indeterminatesentences in isolation caused severe mental and physical deterioration amongthe prisoners, over half of whom died. But the survivors fought back to reformthe prison and improve the inmates' living conditions. The memoirs manysurvivors wrote enshrined their story in revolutionary mythology, and acted asan indictment of the Tsarist autocracy's loss of moral authority.

Writing Resistance features three of these memoirs,all translated into English for the first time. They show the process oftransforming the regime as a collaborative endeavour that resulted inflourishing allotments, workshops and intellectual culture - and in the inmatesrunning many of the prison's everyday functions. Sarah J. Young's introductoryessay analyses the Shlissel´burg memoirs' construction of a collectivenarrative of resilience, resistance and renewal. It uses distant readingtechniques to explore the communal values they inscribe, their adoption of apowerful group identity, and emphasis on overcoming the physical and psychologicalbarriers of the prison.

The first extended study of Shlissel´burg'srevolutionary inmates in English, Writing Resistance uncovers an episodein the history of political imprisonment that bears comparison with the inmatesof Robben Island in South Africa's apartheid regime and the Maze Prison inBelfast during the Troubles. It will be of interest to scholars and students ofthe Russian revolution, carceral history, penal practice and behaviours, andprison and life writing.  

Praise for Writing Resistance

'Convey[s] a sense of squandered human potential.'
The Times Literary Supplement (TLS)