Prison Narratives from Boethius to Zana

Prison Narratives from Boethius to Zana critically examines selected works of writers, from the sixth century to the twenty-first century, who were imprisoned for their beliefs. The collection argues that figures such as Boethius, Sir Thomas Malory, John Lilburne, John Bunyan, Henry David Thoreau, Louise Michel, Alice Paul and members of the National Woman's Party, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Huddie William Ledbetter ('Lead Belly'), Malcolm X, and Mehdi Zana, epitomize the tradition of speaking truth to power and sacrificing physical freedom - even life itself - in the service of that truth. Chapters explore figures' lives, provide close analyses of their works, and offer contextualization of their prison writings.

Philip Edward Phillips is Professor of English and Associate Dean of the University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University, USA. His recent publications include A Companion to Boethius in the Middle Ages (2012), The Consolation of Queen Elizabeth I (2009), and New Directions in Boethian Studies (2007).

Introduction; Philip Edward Phillips and John R. Vile
1. Boethius, the Prisoner, and The Consolation of Philosophy; Philip Edward Phillips
2. 'For This was Drawyn by a Knyght Presoner': Sir Thomas Malory and Le Morte Darthur; Amy S. Kaufman
3. The Self-Incriminator: John Lilburne, the Star Chamber, and the English Origins of American Liberty; Robb McDaniel
4. John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, and Nonconformist Prison Literature; Brett Hudson
5. Henry David Thoreau and the Principle of Passive Resistance; Tom Strawman
6. The Radicalization of Louise Michel; Nancy Sloan Goldberg
7. 'From Prison to People': How Women Jailed for Suffrage Inscribed Their Prison Experience upon the American Public; Jane Marcellus
8. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Exemplar of Costly Discipleship in Action; John R. Vile
9. 'The Jail House is Full of Blues': Lead Belly's Prison Pleas; Mark Allan Jackson
10. The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the African American Quest for Freedom and Literacy; Laura Dubek
11. Mehdi Zana and the Struggle for Kurdish Ethnic Identity; Kari Neely