Die diskursive Konstruktion von Samizdat. Erfahrungen und Erzählungen polnischer Zivilgesellschaftsaktivistinnen und -aktivisten
The Discursive Construction of Samizdat. Experiences and Stories of Polish Civil Society Activists

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses samizdat as a social phenomenon which is constructed discursively in an ongoing process of different actors experiencing, remembering and telling. This sociological perspective on samizdat triangulates discourse and biography analysis to reconstruct the development of interpretation and action patterns. The case of Polish civil society activists’ experiences and memories of samizdat is discussed empirically. The thesis is that their political socialization is shaped by their alternative experiences as observers, readers/listeners or distributors of samizdat. The memory is of an alternative public and communication, of colourful possibilities in a grey community, but of also the danger associated with contact with the samizdat. Alongside other factors, these memories contributed to the development of the later commitment to human rights in a pluralistic, democratic Poland. Biographical significance frames memories of and narratives about samizdat. With reference to this, today’s activists and their researchers both participate in the discursive construction of the phenomenon that is samizdat.

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