Prison Poetry: The Indestructible Voice of True Literature

Abstract

The history of Ukrainian literature remains incomplete. Significant events, genres, and stylistic formations have been excluded from it for various (often unjustified) reasons. One such omission is prison poetry, initiated by Taras Shevchenko and continued by political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in the second half of the twentieth century. This overview article seeks to fill a glaring gap. Writers behind the barbed wire of communist concentration camps were not only the most steadfast opponents of the “socialist realists” but also creators of honest, authentic literature who, despite being relegated to the margins, produced works of high artistic value. Alongside prominent figures such as M. Rudenko, I. Svitlychnyi, M. Osadchyi, O. Riznykiv, T. Melnychuk, V. Stus, I. Kalynets, Iryna Kalynets, M. Horbal, S. Sapeliak and others, a substantial corpus of prison poetry was created by lesser-known authors. Under the repressive conditions of the ruling regime, these poets consciously embraced the existential stance of the unbroken individual, embodied in the composite image of the lyrical hero as a bearer of human dignity, national values, and humanistic ideals. Their work challenged the communist system, which judged poetry according to political and criminal criteria rather than artistic merit. The clandestinely written “bootleg” poems, published after the collapse of the USSR, are now regarded as invaluable documents of heroic action and indomitable spirit, read as a significant page in Ukrainian literature, and reflecting the strong-willed national character of the Ukrainian people. Restoring them to the literary canon allows Ukrainian literature to be seen as a complete and integral phenomenon of national history.