Literature of Confinement (From Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society, P 427-455, 1995, Norval Morris and David J Rothman, eds. -- See NCJ-167509)

• NCJ Number: 167523
• Author(s): W B Carnochan
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 29 pages
• Sale Source: Oxford University Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The content of literature produced by individuals during imprisonment is reviewed and evaluated.

Abstract

Literature written in prisons includes fictions about prison experiences and expressions of inmate feelings. This literature includes poetry, drama, opera, and prose. Prison narratives raise the questions of whether the writer is trustworthy and whether his or her actions are justified. Because literature written in prison evokes at some level of consciousness the theme of art and artistic expression as liberation, it sometimes blurs the distinction between personal narratives of prisoners and authorial fictions about prison experiences. Whether fictional or autobiographical, prison literature concerns the interplay of constraint and freedom and therefore also concerns its own creation. Prisoners often use different literature forms to express their desire to be free. References and photographs