Samizdat (Down with Big Tech)

Topics: literature history

Keywords: tech

Freedom of speech is decreasing everywhere, though the reasons vary by region. Meanwhile, Big Tech’s power is growing, along with its interference. In this new era, a nearly forgotten Soviet answer is reemerging: samizdat, the underground DIY press and distribution network.

Self/DIY

The word самиздат roughly translates to self- or DIY publishing. Сам (sam) means self, издатель means publisher. If you search for the term, you’ll often come across services offering self-publishing and self-funded book publishing. Вас могут читать уже сегодня! – You can be read today. Стать автором, become an author. Sometimes, it’s almost too easy.

The samizdat referred to here was described by Vladimir Bukovsky as: I write myself, I edit myself, I censor myself, I publish myself, I distribute myself, and I serve the sentence myself (quote from Wikipedia). This included music, religion, and ideas banned or disapproved by censors, all spread through samizdat.

Samizdat (самиздат): We Publish Ourselves
(Josh, 2021, 9 m)

Samizdat: How Soviet Rebels Read Banned Books
(Byron Lewis, 2020, 6 m)

‘Samizdat’: The Secret Printing Press
(Candles Behind the Wall, 2020, 3 m)

Сделано в Москве: Самиздат уникальный способ издания запрещенной литературы
(Москва 24, 2016, 20 m)

Rock-samizdat

Подпольный рок-самиздат 80-х. Лекция Александра Кушнира
( Новая газета, 2021, 11 m)

More about Александр Кушнир on Wikipedia (RU).

Кое что о Рок-Самиздате
( Прогулки с Медведьевичем!, 2021, 10 m)

Самиздат (Заокская Церковь, 2020, 29 m)
Чем опасен самиздат. Из курса «Диссиденты в СССР» (Arzamas, 2016, 8 m)
Самиздат (10-летию журнала посвящается) (PashCo1966, 2013, 57 m)
Natalya Gorbanevskaya about samizdat (2013, 2 m)

See/read

[EN]

Alexei Navalny protests show the power of digital ‘samizdat’ (Telegraf.id, 2021)
The story behind the 70s samizdat that launched late Soviet feminism (The Calvert Journal, 2020)
Samizdat: Reproduction of Censored Literature (Sean Ryan, Macalester.edu 2009)
The Terrifying Mimicry of Samizdat (Serguei Oushakine, Research Gate 2001)
Samizdat Is Russia’s Underground Press (Albert Parry, The New York Times 1970)
Uitgeven in samizdat (Masterandmargarita.eu)
Will memes become digital Samizdat? (PublicPressure.org)
Wkipedia

[RU]

1968 год в истории самиздата (Colta.ru, 2018)
Самиздат: неподцензурная журналистика в СССР (История, 2003)
Самиздат. Попытки осмысления (Svoboda.org, 2000)
Академик
Кругосвет
Википедия

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