Uncensored: Samizdat Novels and the Quest for Autonomy in Soviet Dissidence

267 Pages·2015·1.148 MB·English

by  Ann Komaromi

Uncensored
Northwestern University Press
Studies in Russian Literature and Theory
Series Editors
Robert Belknap
Caryl Emerson
Gary Saul Morson
William Mills Todd III
Andrew Wachtel
Uncensored
Samizdat Novels and the Quest for
Autonomy in Soviet Dissidence
Ann Komaromi
northwestern university press / evanston, illinois
Northwestern University Press
www.nupress.northwestern.edu
Copyright © 2015 by Northwestern University Press. Published 2015. All rights
reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Komaromi, Ann, author.
Uncensored : Samizdat novels and the quest for autonomy in Soviet
dissidence / Ann Komaromi.
pages cm. — (Northwestern University Press studies in Russian literature
and theory)
ISBN 978- 0- 8101- 3123- 1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978- 0- 8101- 3124- 8
(ebook) — ISBN 978- 0- 8101- 3186- 6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Underground literature— Soviet Union— History and criticism. 2.
Underground press publications— Soviet Union. 3. Russian fiction— 20th
century— History and criticism. 4. Russian fiction— 20th century— Political
aspects. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in Russian literature and theory.
PG3026.U5.K65 2015
891.709’0044— dc23
2015004446
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Imre Joseph Komaromi.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction Writing the Free Self: Cultural Autonomy and the
Dissident Subject in the Late Soviet Era 1
Chapter One Literature and the Field of Dissidence 25
Chapter Two Aksenov’s The Burn: Searing the Hearts of Men 46
Chapter Three Bitov’s Pushkin House: Deconstructing the Late
Soviet Subject 73
Chapter Four On the Knife’s Edge: Venichka’s Performance in
Moscow Stations 102
Chapter Five Samizdat and the Extra- Gutenberg Condition 129
Conclusion Soviet Dissidence and Critical Subjectivity in an
Extra-Gutenberg Age 153
Notes 163
Bibliography 227
Index 247

Acknowledgments
This work has long been in gestation and I have benefited from the feed-
back, advice, and example of many generous colleagues and teachers. My dis-
sertation advisor Yuri Shcheglov sparked my interest in the language of late
Soviet culture and the strategies of Soviet parody. Gary Saul Morson taught
me to think about subjectivity and moral responsibility in the context of Rus-
sian literature and thought. David Bethea and Alexander Dolinin helped
me appreciate the author and reinforced the message not to succumb to
ready- made terms or fashionable critical discourses without a fight. Halina
Filipowicz taught me to find my own voice. Judith Kornblatt modeled for me
a sociological approach to late Soviet culture built on respect for the voices
of participants in it.
Among historian colleagues Benjamin Nathan’s work on dissidents
has been particularly inspiring to me. In Moscow, scholars at the Memorial
Society, including Arsenii Roginskii, Aleksandr Daniel, Tatiana Bakhmina-
Khromova, and Boris Belenkin, provided invaluable materials and insights.
Gennadii Kuzovkin has been a constant source of support and dialogue for
my study of Soviet dissidence. I am grateful to all of them for access to mate-
rials, and for their collegial support and willingness to share their firsthand
knowledge of dissidence and samizdat. The opportunity to collaborate with
the History of Dissidence project at the Memorial Society has been one of
the most exciting and fruitful aspects of my work for over a decade.
Similarly, I owe an enormous debt to Gabriel Superfin for his expert
advice and help guiding me through the outstanding collection of samizdat
and dissident materials at the Forschunggstelle Osteuropa at the University
of Bremen. The support of Wolfgang Eichwede and Susanne Schattenberg
of the Forschunggstelle Osteuropa has been crucial to my research and the
shape of my projects.
I am grateful to Olga Zaslavskaia and the IS[R]A initiative she initiated
to facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers of samiz-
dat. The Radio Liberty samizdat collection she curates at the Open Society
ix