“The process of four” in samizdat: Novosibirsk version

Abstract

One of the most significant and well-known samizdat publications – the collection "The Process of Four" – is considered in several aspects: as inheriting the traditions of the previous samizdat collection "The White Book", as revolutionary (an array of letters in defense of the accused) for the beginning of the human rights movement in the USSR and as a unique text , which has its own, special handwritten version. The personality of this original copy creator – the scientist from Novosibirsk Academgorodok A.I. Fet – is interpreted as playing an important role in terms of the manuscript “The Process of Four” existence, its study and interpretation. Particular attention is paid to the process of creating its copy in the late 60s, which took place not only against the background of the persecution of differently minded in Akademgorodok, where the copy of the collection was printed, but also in parallel with the work of A. I. Fet on studying, translating and printing works of famous biologists, psychologists, philosophers, also intended for samizdat. It is emphasized and substantiated that the creation of this copy of “The Process of Four” by A. I. Fet, but it is stipulated that this copy could have been partially printed by him, and the manuscript included ready-made parts (blocks) of the original text. The views of A. I. Fet on dissidence and human rights activities, characterized by unorthodoxity and originality are elucidated, numerous works from the collection of his scientific, philosophical and journalistic heritage are cited. This allows not only to take a different look at the context and circumstances of this collection typescript creation, but also to highlight some moments in the history of early samizdat in the USSR in the second half of the 1960s and its representatives’ activities.