Writing Repression: Letters and Memoirs from Stalin’s Gulag

• In Event: Gulag Studies 1: New Sources and Approaches

Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of history and memory through the examination of letters and memoirs written by inmates of the Gulag during the Stalinist 1930s. Addressing issues related to bias, censorship, and the connection between collective and individual memory, this investigation adds a critical lens through which the vast corpus of existing memoir literature related to the Gulag can be viewed, assessed, and analyzed.

Author

• Sean Kinnear, McMaster U (Canada)