Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago. “Our Muzzled Freedom” and “Why Did We Stand For It?”
This video contains Solzhenitsyn’s critique of the gulag (ideology) from the perspective of politics. It shows that the gulag affects public opinion (in Our Muzzled Freedom) and that public opinion affects the gulag (in Why Did We Stand For It?). Tyranny shapes the gulag and the society, in mutually reinforcing ways–none of which are foreign […]
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago. “Our Muzzled Freedom” and “Why Did We Stand For It?”
ANALYTICSEDIT VIDEOThis video contains Solzhenitsyn’s critique of the gulag (ideology) from the perspective of politics. It shows that the gulag affects public opinion (in Our Muzzled Freedom) and that public opinion affects the gulag (in Why Did We Stand For It?). Tyranny shapes the gulag and the society, in mutually reinforcing ways–none of which are […]
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago. “The Ascent” and “Or Corruption?” from Book 4
These first two chapters from the part “The Soul and the Barbed Wire” concern the question of whether human nature can be eliminated or not. The ideological view of the world is that human nature can be eliminated and a new “nature” created through acts of the will in line with ideological projects. Some inmate […]
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago. Introduction and “The Bluecaps”
After introducing Solzhenitsyn and the work as a whole, this video concerns Solzhenitsyn’s view of human nature and the ways in which modern ideology distorts that nature. This distortion itself is a new thing in human life, and it leads to the gulag itself. There is a tension in Solzhenitsyn’s treatment, however, because the normal […]