Yevgeny Zamyatin

1884-1937
Russian Novelist,
Playwright, Satirist

We (written in
1920/21)

Biography

1884: Born in Lebedyan, Russia (near Moscow)

1902-1908: Educated in St. Petersburg
1905: (21) Participated in leftist rebellion
1st arrest: because he was a Bolshevik
student activist.
Was beaten in held in solitary confinement
for months.
1908: published Alone in which he reflects
on this experience.

Definition

Bolshevik: One of the Majority, member of

a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic
Workers' Party, which, led by Lenin, seized
control of the government in Russia (October
1917) and became the dominant political
power. (Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Biography (2)

Released because of police error

1908: graduated and became a naval engineer
1911: Police arrested him again=sentenced to
internal exile. Served 2 years
Wrote several short stories: District Tales
(satire of small-town Russian life)
Shortly after release, antagonized authorities
with a story about drunk, intolerant Russian
soldiers

Biography (3)

1916: went to England for long-term

engineering assignment: oversee construction
of Russian icebreaker
Wrote two books about English life, which he
disliked:
The Fisher of Men and The Islanders

1917: went back to Russia for Bolshevik

Revolution

We and Controversy

Publication of We is problematic = denied

publication in Russia until 1952!
Considered slander against socialism
1st published in English in 1924
Czech version in 1927 published by Russian
expats
Led to repressive campaign against many
writers in 1929.

We and its Legacy

Influenced many writers

(1932)

(1949)

Biography (4)

Wrote essay I am Afraid after failed

publication of We in Russia
About government censorship

Also wrote several plays in the 1920s

Faced constant attack in the governmentcontrolled press and censorship

Final years (5)

Withdrew from the Russian Association of

Proletarian Writers (RAPP) No longer
considered a Soviet author
Experienced censorship: works no longer
published
1931: appealed to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
to leave Russia for extended period.
Lived in Paris, France until he died in 1937

Russia and
Government

Tsardom of Russia: 1547-1721

Russian Empire: 1721-1917 (absolute monarchy)
Revolution in 1905 (constitutional monarchy)
Bolshevik Revolution of 1917: demise of empire
Russian Republic 1917
Soviet Union (1917-1991)
Russian Federation (1992-present)

1917 Russian
Revolution
Key
facts
Actually two revolutions:
1st in February: overthrew the imperial
government (Tsar Nicholas II)
2nd in October: placed the Bolsheviks in power.

By 1917 broken bond between thetsarand

most of the Russians due to governmental
corruption and inefficiency
Consequences of WW1: poorly-led Russian
army, catastrophic losses, disruption of
economy

Russian Revolution
(2)

Creation of Provisional government

But political, economic, and military chaos subsisted
Provisional Governments power waned, and that of
the soviets was increasing, as was the Bolsheviks
influence within them.
Bolshevik program: peace, land, and bread
supported by hungry urban workers and soldiers
the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist Revolutionaries
staged a nearly bloodless coup, occupying
government buildings, telegraph stations, and other
strategic points.

We and Dystopia

Dystopiadys- and -topiaare from the Ancient Greek

for bad and place, = the term to describe an
unfavorable society in which to live.
In a dystopian story, society itself is typically the
antagonist
This oppression frequently is enacted by a totalitarian
or authoritarian government, resulting in the loss of civil
liberties and untenable living conditions, caused by any
number of circumstances, such as world overpopulation,
laws controlling a persons sexual or reproductive
freedom, and living under constant surveillance. (as
defined by John Joseph Adams)