The Newspaper “Literature and Art of Bamlag” as a Literary Precedent of the GULAG

Abstract

The article is devoted to artistic and publicistic material that was published on the pages of the newspaper “Literature and Art of the BAMLAG.” It belonged to one of the largest divisions of the Gulag — BAMLAG prison camp, located from 1932 to 1938 on the territory of the modern Amur region. BAMLAG was responsible for the construction of Baikal-Amur railway or “the second rails”. The article introduces the newspaper “Literature and Art of the BAMLAG” as a unique phenomenon. Firstly, it is the only literary newspaper of the Gulag and, therefore, illustrates how the artistic language functioned within the system of the Soviet closed prison camps. Secondly, the newspaper’s imaginative and motif structure clarifies numerous themes that were touched on the pages of Gulag periodicals targeted at the mass audience. Publication covers the key themes and images that were popular among the environment of the Baikal-Amur prison camp. The newspaper aimed at elaborating on Stakhanovites theme, putting attention on the objects of Amur railway construction, glorifying the “second rails” and the exemplary labor. The newspaper focused on the key idea of the entire Gulag literature: the “remolding” of the prisoners and the national idea of Soviet Republics’ brotherhood. The article presents previously unstudied artistic and publicistic sources.