Dissident Memoirs: Geography, Genre, Language, Format

• In Event: Legacies of Resistance: Memory and Dissent from the Soviet Era to Today

Abstract

This paper discusses the memory of Soviet dissidence as represented in published book-length autobiographical memoirs by people involved in rights activism in the USSR under Stalin. Based on information about authors and editions collected for the Dissident Legacy project and additional research on the narrative features and publication histories of selected cases, this paper will explore the premise that the heroic opposition of a few celebrated figures has dominated the historical record. Questions about gender and the national/ethnic identities of authors have been at the heart of this critical evaluation of our knowledge of Soviet dissidence: this paper will address those topics and further suggest that geography, genre, language and format matter for whose voices are heard and which stories are known.

Author

• Ann Komaromi, U of Toronto (Canada)