Prison writing in the twentieth century : a literary guide / Julian Murphet.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murphet, Julian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prisoners' writings--20th century--History and criticism.

Prisoners' writings.

Political prisoners' writings--20th century--History and criticism.

Political prisoners' writings.

Prisoners as authors.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (222 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2024.

Summary:

Tracking the evolutionary arc of prison writing across the twentieth century in an international and comparative framework, this study proposes an integrated account of the major shifts and movements in this relatively neglected genre of autobiography. Dwelling on works - memoirs, novellas, poems - by actual detainees, the book offers a close stylistic analysis of twelve important texts to show how prison writing moved away from the confessional and self-scrutinizing modes of an earlier tradition, to espouse openly political sentiments and solidarities. Looking at works by Oscar Wilde, Rosa Luxemburg, Ezra Pound, Primo Levi, Bobby Sands, Angela Davis, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and Behrouz Boochani (among others), the book shows how themes such as the annihilation of experience, dehumanization, sensory deprivation, brutality, and numbing routine are woven into distinctive textual artefacts that give evidence of an abiding human resilience in the face of raw state power.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. The Symphony of Sorrow: Oscar Wilde's De Profundis

2. Defamiliarising the Dungeon: Alexander Berkman's Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist

3. An Immense World of Delight: Rosa Luxemburg's Prison Writing

4. Uncle Ez Do the Polis in Different Voices: The Pisan Cantos as Prison Writing

5. Seeing the Gorgon: Primo Levi's If This Is a Man

6. The Gulag Work Ethic: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

7. Decorous Perceptions at the Cracking Point: Ruth First's 117 Days

8. House Style: Black Prison Writing of the 1970s

9. Living Hell: Bobby Sands' Prison Writing

10. 'Free Thoughts on Toilet Paper!': Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o at Kamĩtĩ

11. Antigone Evolved: Nawal el-Saadawi's Memoirs of the Women's Prison

12. So Much Malice: Behrouz Boochani's No Friend but the Mountains

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 07 Mar 2025).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-3995-1399-0

1-3995-1398-2