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samizdat

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Also known as samzdat, samvydav

Samizdat (, , ), also Samvydav () was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual reproduction was widespread, because printed texts could be traced back to the source. This was a grassroots practice used to evade official Soviet censorship.

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Sachsen.digital präsentiert Ihnen digitalisiertes Kulturgut aus wissenschaftlichen und öffentlichen Bibliotheken sowie aus weiteren Kultur- und Wissenschaftseinrichtungen des Freistaats Sachsen.

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Wikidata facts

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Commons category
Samizdat
native label
самви́дав
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Article

19 sections
Contents
  • Name origin and variations
  • Techniques
  • Physical form
  • Readership
  • History
  • Samizdat books and editions
  • Samizdat periodicals
  • Genres
  • Literary
  • Political
  • Religious
  • National
  • Contraband audio
  • Further influence
  • Notable samizdat periodicals
  • See also
  • Citations
  • General sources
  • External links

Samizdat (, , ), also Samvydav () was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual reproduction was widespread, because printed texts could be traced back to the source. This was a grassroots practice used to evade official Soviet censorship.

==Name origin and variations== Etymologically, the word samizdat derives from sam ( 'self, by oneself') and izdat (, an abbreviation of , 'publishing house'), and thus means 'self-published'. Ukrainian has a similar term: samvydav (, ), from sam 'self' and vydavnytstvo 'publishing house'.

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