Prison Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Literary Guide

This book provides a comprehensive survey of twentieth-century prison writing from around the world, analyzing texts from the UK, USA, Australia, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Ireland, Germany, and the USSR. It explores how prison writing has evolved from confessional and self-scrutinizing modes to espouse political sentiments and solidarities, focusing on 12 important texts by male and female writers. 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 human resilience in the face of state power.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 31 December 2023
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Spanning the twentieth century, this comprehensive survey delves into prison writing from diverse corners of the world. Analyzing texts from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Ireland, Germany, and the Soviet Union, the book explores the narratives crafted by both male and female writers, emphasizing a structural balance. By tracing the chronological progression of texts within an historical context of social and institutional transformations, the study offers a unique literary perspective on a genre often approached from a sociological and criminological lens.

Tracking the evolutionary arc of prison writing across international boundaries, the book proposes an integrated account of the significant shifts and movements within this relatively neglected genre of autobiography. Diving into memoirs, novellas, and poems penned by actual detainees, the book offers a meticulous stylistic analysis of 12 pivotal texts, shedding light on how prison writing evolved from the confessional and self-scrutinizing modes of its earlier tradition. Examining works by renowned figures such as Oscar Wilde, Rosa Luxemburg, Ezra Pound, Primo Levi, Bobby Sands, Angela Davis, Ng?g? wa Thiong o, and Behrouz Boochani (among others), the book uncovers how themes of annihilation of experience, dehumanization, sensory deprivation, brutality, and numbing routine are intricately woven into distinctive textual artifacts, attesting to the enduring human resilience in the face of raw state power.

This comprehensive study provides a valuable contribution to the field of literary studies, shedding light on the experiences of individuals confined within the walls of prisons and offering a deeper understanding of the complexities of power dynamics and human resilience.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399513968