Although millions of Russians lived as serfs until the middle of
the nineteenth century, little is known about their lives.
Identifying and documenting the conditions of Russian serfs has
proven difficult because the Russian state discouraged literacy
among the serfs and censored public expressions of dissent. To date
scholars have identified only twenty known Russian serf
narratives.
"Four Russian Serf Narratives" contains four of these accounts and
is the first translated collection of autobiographies by serfs.
Scholar and translator John MacKay brings to light for an
English-language audience a diverse sampling of Russian serf
narratives, ranging from an autobiographical poem to stories of
adventure and escape. "Autobiography" (1785) recounts a highly
educated serf's attempt to escape to Europe, where he hoped to
study architecture. The long testimonial poem "News About Russia"
(ca. 1849) laments the conditions under which the author and his
fellow serfs lived. In "The Story of My Life and Wanderings" (1881)
a serf tradesman tells of his attempt to simultaneously escape
serfdom and captivity from Chechen mountaineers. The fragmentary
"Notes of a Serf Woman" (1911) testifies to the harshness of
peasant life with extraordinary acuity and descriptive power.
These accounts offer readers a glimpse, from the point of view of
the serfs themselves, into the realities of one of the largest
systems of unfree labor in history. The volume also allows
comparison with slave narratives produced in the United States and
elsewhere, adding an important dimension to knowledge of the
institution of slavery and the experience of enslavement in modern
times.
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