The walls behind the curtain : East European prison literature, 1945-1990 / Harold B. Segel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Segel, Harold B., 1930-2016, author.

Series:

Series in Russian and East European studies.

Pitt series in Russian and East European studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prisoners' writings, East European--Translations into English.

Prisoners' writings, East European.

Europe, Eastern--Literary collections--Translations into English.

Europe, Eastern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (449 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2012]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Because of their visibility in society and ability to shape public opinion, prominent literary figures were among the first targets of Communist repression, torture, and incarceration. Authors such as Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn famously documented the experience of internment in Soviet gulags. Little, however, has been published in the English language on the work of writers imprisoned by other countries of the Soviet bloc. For the first time, The Walls Behind the Curtain presents a collection of works from East European novelists, poets, playwrights, and essayists who wrote during or after their captivity under communism. Harold B. Segel paints a backdrop of the political culture and prison and labor camp systems of each country, detailing the onerous conditions that writers faced. Segel then offers biographical information on each writer and presents excerpts of their writing. Notable literary figures included are Vaclav Havel, Eva Kanturkova, Milan SimeCka, Adam Michnik, Milovan Djilas, Paul Goma, Tibor Dery, and Visar Zhiti, as well as many other writers. This anthology recovers many of the most important yet overlooked literary voices from the era of Communist occupation. Although translated from numerous languages, and across varied cultures, there is a distinct commonality in the experiences documented by these works. The Walls Behind the Curtain serves as a testament to the perseverance of the human spirit and a quest for individual liberty that many writers forfeited their lives for. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

About the Artist, Maks Velo

Introduction

Albania

Jusuf Vrioni (1916-2001)

Arshi Pipa (1920-2002)

Kasëm Trebeshina (b. 1926)

Maks Velo (b. 1935 )

Fatos T. Lubonja (b. 1951)

Visar Zhiti (b. 1952)

Besnik Mustafaj (b. 1958)

Bulgaria / Macedonia

Venko Markovski (1915-1988)

Czechoslovakia

Jiří Hejda (1895-1985)

Jan Zahradníček (1905-1960)

František Daniel Merth (1915-1995)

Jiří Mucha (1915-1991)

Lenka Reinerová (1916-2008)

Karel Pecka (1928-1997)

Eva Kantůrková (b. 1930)

Milan Šimečka (1930-1990)

Rudolf Dobiáš (b. 1934)

Poets from Dobiáš's Básnici za mrežami: Antológia poézie napísanej vo väzení

Vojtech Belák (1928-2008)

Pavol Brodnaňský (1930-2004)

Vojtech Jenčík (1920-1976)

Alexander Rodan (pseudonym of Ján Pospišel, 1919-1990)

Štefan Sandtner (1916-2006)

Marián Skala(pseudonym of Ján Krajňák, n.d.)

Ladislav Záborský (b. 1921)

Václav Havel (1936-2011)

Hungary

Tibor Déry (1894-1977)

György Faludy (1910-2006)

Árpád Göncz (b. 1922)

Ádám Bodor(b. 1936)

Poland

Marek Nowakowski (b. 1935)

Adam Michnik (b. 1946)

Tomasz Jastrun(b. 1950)

Romania

Nichifor Crainic (1889-1972)

Radu Gyr (pseudonym of Radu Demetrescu

1905-1975)

Nicolae (Nicu) Steinhard (1912-1989)

Ion Caraion (pseudonym of Stelian Diaconescu

1923-1985)

Marcel Petrişor (b. 1930)

Paul Goma (b. 1935)

Yugoslavia

Milovan Djilas (1911-1995)

Igor Torkar (pseudonym of Boris Fakin

1913-2004)

Vitomil Zupan (1914-1987)

Eligio (Ligio) Zanini (1927-1993)

Branko Hofman (1929-1991)

Borislav Pekić (1930-1992)

Dragoslav Mihailović (b. 1930)

Vlado Gotovac (1930-2000)

Afterword

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780822978022

0822978024

OCLC:

859672262