Open-access edition of "Tamizdat: Contraband Russian Literature in the Cold War Era" by Yasha Klots

FAIN: DR-292402-23

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY 14850-2820)
Mahinder Singh Kingra (Project Director: November 2022 to April 2025)

Tamizdat tells the old story of the Cold War from a new perspective: through the history of the contraband manuscripts sent from the former USSR to the West. A word that means publishing "over there," tamizdat manuscripts were rejected, censored, or never submitted for publication in the Soviet Union and were smuggled through various channels and printed outside the country, with or without their authors' knowledge. Yasha Klots demonstrates how tamizdat contributed to the formation of the twentieth-century Russian literary canon: the majority of contemporary Russian classics first appeared abroad long before they saw publication in Russia.

Media Coverage

Review (Review)
Author(s): Balázs Apor
Publication: H-Soz-Kult
Date: 1/10/2024
Abstract: In this book, Yasha Klots provides a fascinating account of the origins of Russian tamizdat as a cultural practice during the Cold War. The book follows the story of four (plus one) authors and explores how non-conformist Russian literature that made its way through the Iron Curtain was produced by their authors in the Soviet Union, how the manuscripts were published in the West and how they were received by the Russian émigré communities abroad.
URL: https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-140189

Associated Products

Single Publication (Open Access eBook or Collection)
Publication Type: Single Publication
Title: Tamizdat: Contraband Russian Literature in the Cold War Era
Year: 2023
ISBN: 9781501768972
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Author: Yasha Klots
Abstract: Tamizdat offers a new perspective on the history of the Cold War by exploring the story of the contraband manuscripts sent from the USSR to the West. A word that means publishing "over there," tamizdat manuscripts were rejected, censored, or never submitted for publication in the Soviet Union and were smuggled through various channels and printed outside the country, with or without their authors' knowledge. Yasha Klots demonstrates how tamizdat contributed to the formation of the twentieth-century Russian literary canon: the majority of contemporary Russian classics first appeared abroad long before they saw publication in Russia.
Primary URL: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501768972/tamizdat/
Primary URL Description: This URL links to the book's webpage on the Cornell University Press website, which allows users to download the Open Access ebooks as either ePub or PDF files for free.
Secondary URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/255/oa_monograph/book/102946
Secondary URL Description: This URL links to the book's record on the Project MUSE site, indicating its status as an Open Access title. NB: Although updated files with changes to the copyright page indicating that Open Access publication has been supported by the NEH have been disseminated to our ebook partners like Project MUSE and JSTOR, these platforms may not have replaced the existing file with the revised file.
URL 3: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv2t8b769
URL 3 Description: This URL links to the book's record on the JSTOR site, indicating its status as an Open Access title. NB: Although updated files with changes to the copyright page indicating that Open Access publication has been supported by the NEH have been disseminated to our ebook partners like Project MUSE and JSTOR, these platforms may not have replaced the existing file with the revised file.
Type: Single author monograph

Prizes

AATSEEL Best First Book (Shortlist)
Date: 11/1/2024
Organization: American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL)

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