Scan barcode
A review by jamrock
Comradely Greetings: The Prison Letters of Nadya and Slavoj by Slavoj Žižek, Nadya Tolokonnikova
5.0
Ten years since members of the Pussy Riot collective staged a guerrilla performance of their anti-Putin song Punk Prayer: Mother of God Drive Putin Away inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. This was a protest against the Orthodox church support for Putin as much as it was against Putin himself. Good luck trying to find video footage of this event because Russia has ruthlessly pursued a policy of taking down any of the videos shared. Pussy Riot was formed to protest and highlight the increasing Stalinization of global Capitalism as well as against oppressive internal suppression of dissent. For highlights of the protest and their wider work I would refer people to their film Act & Punishment
Ten years since two members of the collective Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova were convicted of a crime that didn't even exist on Russian statue books and jailed. Nadya was sent to a former gulag, Camp PC-14 in Mordovia. The conditions she (and her fellow inmates) experienced in that camp is almost beyond comprehension.
Ten years since Slavoj Žižek was made aware of Nadya's plight and interest in his essay on (revolutionary) Violence. This eventually led to an idea for the two to exchange letters while Nadya was incarcerated. These letters were then collated for the creation of this publication in 2014. The fact it has taken my until 2022 to discover this book (and really engage with Zizek) is a source of current embarrassment but the more we learn, the more we realise how much we don't know.
What is most fascinating about this book is the dynamic as Zizek initially addresses Nadya with sympathy for her plight and what might be construed as some mansplaining of theory applicable to her plight relative to global capitalism. It quickly becomes apparent that Nadya is extremely well versed in theory and constructing her own world view which repeatedly puts Zizek on the backfoot as he increasingly realises he needs to engage with Nadya as a peer academic, not a star-struck prisoner receiving pen letters from a mentor.
This is a worthy and moving dialogue that covers much ground politically and philosophically. Nadya's internal critique of Putin's Russia and her acknowledgement that her own (and Zizek's) critique of Capitalism is is hindered through an overly Westernised perspective.
I was curious to know what Nadya was up to now and there is a recent interview with her from March '22 in The Guardian.
Ten years since two members of the collective Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova were convicted of a crime that didn't even exist on Russian statue books and jailed. Nadya was sent to a former gulag, Camp PC-14 in Mordovia. The conditions she (and her fellow inmates) experienced in that camp is almost beyond comprehension.
Ten years since Slavoj Žižek was made aware of Nadya's plight and interest in his essay on (revolutionary) Violence. This eventually led to an idea for the two to exchange letters while Nadya was incarcerated. These letters were then collated for the creation of this publication in 2014. The fact it has taken my until 2022 to discover this book (and really engage with Zizek) is a source of current embarrassment but the more we learn, the more we realise how much we don't know.
What is most fascinating about this book is the dynamic as Zizek initially addresses Nadya with sympathy for her plight and what might be construed as some mansplaining of theory applicable to her plight relative to global capitalism. It quickly becomes apparent that Nadya is extremely well versed in theory and constructing her own world view which repeatedly puts Zizek on the backfoot as he increasingly realises he needs to engage with Nadya as a peer academic, not a star-struck prisoner receiving pen letters from a mentor.
This is a worthy and moving dialogue that covers much ground politically and philosophically. Nadya's internal critique of Putin's Russia and her acknowledgement that her own (and Zizek's) critique of Capitalism is is hindered through an overly Westernised perspective.
I was curious to know what Nadya was up to now and there is a recent interview with her from March '22 in The Guardian.