Abstract

No one wrote as much as dissidents, said historian Alexander Daniel. We have most often treated Soviet dissidents in terms of their texts, and dissident texts have been classified as such based primarily on their content. A critical look at dissident textuality, however, reveals qualities that allow us to rethink the history of resistance in the late Soviet period. An examination of the qualities of the dissident text can also offer insights for an analysis of resistance today. I will use my research of Soviet dissidence as a starting point for critical consideration of examples of American and Russian resistance today. What is the impact of the greater repeatability and malleability of texts from samizdat to the digital age?

Professor Ann Komaromi (University of Toronto) will deliver the seventh lecture as part of the ‘Resistance in Russia and Eastern Europe’ public lecture series, organised by the Department of Slavonic Studies and the Cambridge Committee for Russian and East European Studies.