The fairytale metaphor is a recurring feature a large number of Gulag narratives, both fictional and non-fictional, and it stands out because most of these texts are otherwise determinedly unmetaphoric. Amid the stark language habitually used to narrate the experience of the Gulag, aimed at depicting the harshness of reality, there are recurring images of […]
All posts in category Gulag
Fairytale and reality in Gulag narratives
Posted by Sarah Young on December 21, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/12/21/fairytale-and-reality-in-gulag-narratives/
Varlam Shalamov on Literary Encyclopedia
Just a quick note to say that my article on Shalamov is now available on the Literary Encyclopedia, a rather good and steadily growing on-line resource. It’s subscription only, which is a real pity, because I think there are plenty of people outside universities who would find the site useful and interesting. Academics, particularly in […]
Posted by Sarah Young on November 28, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/11/28/varlam-shalamov-on-literary-encyclopedia/
Not thrilled
Although I’m probably an intellectual snob in some ways, I’m quite happy to admit I enjoy a good thriller, particularly during term time when I get so exhausted that my bedtime reading has to be fairly undemanding. And given my fascination with all things Russian, I like reading about Russia in my spare time as […]
Posted by Sarah Young on November 12, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/11/12/not-thrilled/
My work (3)
The articles and papers section (see list on the right), has a new addition, Shalamov’s symbolism, which I presented at a conference a couple of years ago. This is an on-going piece of work and ultimately it will form the basis of one of the chapters of my book on Shalamov’s Kolyma Tales. Anyway, it […]
Posted by Sarah Young on November 1, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/11/01/my-work-3/
Gulag art
While I am usually pleased by events which raise the public profile of the Gulag, I am distinctly less comfortable with its use for anti-Russian/anti-Soviet propaganda by neoconservative American think-tanks who have failed to notice that the Cold War ended twenty years ago, as in the case of the Heritage Foundation’s current exhibition of Nikolai […]
Posted by Sarah Young on October 3, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/10/03/gulag-art/
Gulag Museums
Although my own work focuses on textual and genre analysis and of Russian narratives of imprisonment and exile, that field obviously doesn’t exist in a vacuum. From the point of view of understanding both the workings of the system and some of the experiences of those caught up in it, in addition to all the […]
Posted by Sarah Young on September 22, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/09/22/gulag-museums/
Gulag: Note to writers and editors (2)
The incorrect use of ‘Gulag’ pales into insignificance when compared to the remarkable inappropriateness with which it is employed at times. When I recently received a Google News Alert directing me to an article titled What you need to know to survive the airlines’ gulag, I innocently imagined I had reached the nadir of Gulag […]
Posted by Sarah Young on September 9, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/09/09/gulag-note-to-writers-and-editors-2/
Gulag: Note to writers and editors (1)
The other main focus of my current research is Gulag literature, particularly the short stories of Varlam Shalamov. I’ll write more about him soon, and post some of my work, but first I have a couple of observations to make on the use of the term ‘Gulag’ itself. The assimilation of foreign words into a language […]
Posted by Sarah Young on September 7, 2009
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2009/09/07/gulag-note-to-writers-and-editors-1/