A New Perspective for Gulag Literature Studies: the Gulag Press

Abstract

This article focuses on a fruitful line of research that has so far been largely neglected, namely literary production within the Soviet prisons and camps. After a few considerations on the state of research onlagernaja literatura, the article delves deep into the history of the press in the Soviet places of detention, depicting the ideological and historical context that made such publications possible. A description of its features, followed by the presentation of a few poetical compositions found in certain Gulag publications, aims to show the academic community a number of samples of the literary texts that were published within the camps. The article is based on a few unpublished archival documents.