Samizdat, Tamizdat, and Beyond

Do-it-yourself underground publishing (samizdat) and publishing abroad (tamizdat) were fundamental to expression and cultural transmission between East and West during the Cold War. Expanding the concepts to include a broad swath of cultural communication, e.g. broadcast media, art, and music, this collection of essays builds around the two activities to examine current issues of censorship and free expression as well as future directions. Organization of 14 contributions is in sections on producing and circulating samizdat/tamizdat before 1989; diffusing noncomformist ideas before 1989; transforming modes and practices of alternative culture; and laternative media today. The afterword is titled "The Legacies of Dissent: Charter 77, the Helsinki Effect, and the Emergence of a European Public Space." Contributors are scholars based in the US and Europe representing a mix of disciplines including history, anthropology, sinology, German studies, Slavic and East European languages and literatures, linguistics, political science, and comparative literature. The editors are affiliated as follows: Kind-Kovacs (Southeast and East European History, Regensburg U., Germany) and Labov (Slavic and East European languages and literatures, The Ohio State U.). Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jessie Labov is Assistant Professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures at The Ohio State University.