Prison writing in the twentieth century : a literary guide /
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 and poems...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Edinburgh :
Edinburgh University Press,
2024.
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| 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 and 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. |
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| Physical Description: | 222 pages ; 25 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [210]-219) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781399513968 1399513966 |