Samizdat: Primary Source Material in the Study of Current Soviet Affairs

Abstract

In April 1971 a group of scholars and journalists, all of whom had long experience in dealing with samizdat materials, met in London for a round table discussion on the meaning and significance of the samizdat which had come to their attention during the preceding decade and to survey the outlook for the future.1 Out of this discussion emerged the unanimous view that samizdat is an important source of information and insights into current Soviet affairs which is not sufficiently known and appreciated by many people in the West. Attention was given to ways and means by which the texts of the samizdat materials available abroad could be shared more broadly on some systematic basis with other interested Soviet-area specialists. A specific proposal made by the group in London was that Radio Liberty should undertake to reproduce the texts of all the samizdat materials in its possession and to make these available for the use of academic and research institutions. The basis for this proposal was the consideration that Radio Liberty already possessed one of the largest organized collections of samnizdat and that its staff includes people with the necessary linguistic and research skills to undertake the task. About this same time a number of requests were received by Radio