Form and Transformation in Soviet Underground Writing

Form and Transformation in Soviet Underground Writing examines the rich literary and cultural innovation that thrived under Soviet censorship in the post-Stalin era. Moving beyond the idea of the underground as merely oppositional, this volume presents it as a vibrant field of artistic experimentation and social imagination.

Through close readings of writers such as Leonid Aronzon, Vsevolod Nekrasov, Olga Sedakova, and Elena Shvarts – alongside studies of Vasilisk Gnedov’s late poetry, the international circulation of Evgenia Ginzburg’s memoirs, and conversations about publishing Soviet underground writing in the post-Soviet era – the collection explores how underground works moved within samizdat (self-publishing in the USSR) and out to tamizdat (publishing abroad). As these texts crossed media, borders, and decades, they gained new meanings and reshaped ideas of authorship and community. Bringing together literary, historical, and sociological perspectives, the book centres the intermediaries – editors, readers, and translators – who sustained creative autonomy under censorship and fostered communication beyond state control.

By linking Soviet-era artistic innovation to today’s contexts of digital culture and renewed authoritarianism, the book reveals how the underground’s independence and inventive energy continue to inspire new forms of creativity, resistance, and cultural resilience.

Catherine Ciepiela is Howard M. and Martha P. Mitchell professor of Russian at Amherst College.

Ann Komaromi is a professor at the Centre for Comparative Literature and the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at the University of Toronto.

Ilja Kukuj is a lecturer for Russian language, literature, and regional and cultural Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University.