Gendered Perspectives of Repression: Identity and Survival in Gulags

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

While scholarly attention has extensively examined various aspects of life within the Gulag labor camps, the specific experiences of women, who constituted a significant portion of political prisoners, remain largely understudied. Memoirs and oral histories of Gulag survivors offer unique insights into gender identities, survival strategies, and the attitudes of inmates towards parenthood. Investigative files of victims of political repression can shed some light on the roles of gender and motherhood in decisions related to arrest, re-arrest, and punishment. Focusing primarily on prisoners of the Soviet Gulag during Stalinism, this panel also delves into the history of Polish inmates in both Soviet and Nazi camps. Through these diverse perspectives, the panel aims to illuminate the complexities of identity and resilience in the face of oppression.

Sub Unit

• History: 1900-1945

Chair

• Mara Lazda, CUNY Bronx Community College

Papers

• 'To Be Women Again...': Polish Prisoners of Soviet and Nazi Camps on Femininity - Maria Buko, U of Konstanz (Germany)

• A Gendered Gulag: Exploring Parenthood in the Stalinist-era Gulag through Comparative Analysis of Motherhood and Fatherhood as Factors of Memory, Experience, and Survival in Prisoner Narratives - Elaine Marie McClarnand MacKinnon, U of West Georgia

• Interlude between Gulags: Gendered Experiences of Re-Convicted Victims of Stalinism - Liudmila Lyagushkina, U of Nottingham (UK)

Discussant

• Wilson Tharpa Bell, Thompson Rivers U (Canada)