Yerevan Diaries: Banned book

My reputation follows me. Even presents I receive in Yerevan are pretty much X-rated. Not complaining :) It's Unzipped, after all.

This book has been reportedly banned from Armenian book stores for using not 'normative' language, that proved to be too shocking for book store owners.

Here it is. Unzipped.



Haven't read it yet, but will do upon my return to London.

Roman Balayan: "Birds of Paradise"

Opening film of the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival 2008

Remember?

Early 80s in the Soviet Union... Listening to foreign broadcasting is prohibited; expressing one’s opinion is dangerous. One can openly speak only in the kitchen behind the closed curtain and find truth in the Samizdat materials (self-print) that is passed on secretly from friend to friend. KGB is phone tapping, watching over unreliable persons and planning annihilation of the dissidence. Young writer Sergey Goloborodko wrote the novel “Station Knol” that describing the reverse of “Real Socialism”. KGB agents are ready for everything: blackmails, arrests, assassinations for the sake of novel would not be published abroad, that truth about totalitarian order would not get over the iron curtain. The main friend of Sergey is pushed by KGB to betray him, the famous writer - Sergey's spiritual teacher is arrested and died in prison and the beloved woman is vanishing from his life... The characters are trying to fly away from these obstacles but it is not so easy to fly from oneself…

*source of film info and photo

Yes, it is 'back in the USSR' - Samizdat in Armenia amid media blackout

Due to total media blackout and censorship of Internet in Armenia, just like in old good Soviet times, underground publications ("samizdat") started coming out to fill in the information vacuum.

http://samizdatam.blogspot.com/ (in Armenian)

http://armenaker.blogspot.com/ (selected articles in English)

1st edition of Samizdat - via Aramazd and Nazarian. "Fortunately, we have Internet now in addition to the traditional methods of samizdat to disseminate information." "The sources and authors are kept secret to protect them from the Armenian state."

Issues of Samizdat (in Armenian) will appear in the comments section of this post too.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Samizdat:

Samizdat (Russian: самиздат) was the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media in Soviet-bloc countries. Copies were made a few at a time, and those who received a copy would be expected to make more copies. This was often done by handwriting or typing.

This grassroots practice to evade officially imposed censorship was fraught with danger as harsh punishments were meted out to people caught possessing or copying censored materials.

Vladimir Bukovsky defined it as follows: "I myself create it, edit it, censor it, publish it, distribute it, and [may] get imprisoned for it."