Production of Notes from Underground by Serbian Prisoners

Kornelija Ičin

doi:10.2298/FID250909010I

Authors

Kornelija Ičin Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2298/FID250909010I

Keywords:

Notes from Underground , Dostoevsky, convicts’ theatre, Serbian prisoners, amateur performance, “Notes from Cell No. 12.”, Evreinov, Foucault

Abstract

This article examines the influence of Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground on the lives of prisoners in prison. The idea of director Marina Kovačević to stage a play based on Notes from Underground with prisoners was to show how the awakening of creativity in a group of criminals returns to them the will to constructively comprehend their own lives. The prisoners had the opportunity to show their talent, to express themselves not from a violent, but from a creative side, thereby they realized the possibilities of their new future, the possibility of overcoming the imposed boundaries and framework of existence, the possibility of freedom as a chance to become better. A real triumph was the performance of the play on the stage of the Youth Cultural Center in Belgrade, which changed the attitude of prisoners towards themselves.

References

Chubarov, Igor. 2004. “Ot sostavitelia” [“From the Editor”]. In: Evreinov, Nikolai, ed. Tainye pruzhiny iskusstva. Stat’I po filosofii iskusstva, etike I kul’turologii 1920-1950. [Secret springs of art. Articles on the philosophy of art, ethics and cultural studies. 1920–1950]. Moskva: Ecce Homo – Logos-Altera.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. 1973. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v tridtsati tomakh [The Complete Collected Works in 30 vol.]. Vol. 8. Idiot [The Idiot]. Leningrad: Nauka.

______. 1982. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v tridtsati tomakh [The Complete Collected Works in 30 vol.]. Vol. 24. Publitsistika I pis’ma [Journalistic texts and letters]. Leningrad: Nauka.

______. 1985. The Brothers Karamazov. Trans. David Magarshack. GB: Penguin Books.

______. 2021. Notes from the Underground. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Penguin Random House UK.

Esslin, Martin. 1961. The Theatre of the Absurd. New York: Anchor Books.

Foucault, Michel. 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Tran. Alan Sheridan. London: Penguin Books.

Jakšić, Predrag. 2015. “Izvedba kao metakomentar izvedbe. Predstava – Zapisi iz ćelije br. 12 i izvedba oko nje (Dom omladine Beograd, 12. 09. 2015.)”. [Performance as a Metacommentary of a Performance. Zapisi iz ćelije br. 12 and the performance around it (Belgrade Youth Center, 12. 09. 2015.)]. Zbornik radova Fakulteta dramskih umetnosti 28: 94–111.

Janković, Zoran, and Marina Kovačević. 2017. “Divan je osećaj kada u ljudima probudite kreativni potencijal za koji nisu bili svesni da postoji”. [“It is a wonderful feeling when you arouse the creative. potential in people who were not aware of the existence of the same”]. Filmski centar Srbije. Feburary 7. URL:https://www.fcs.rs/marina-kovacevic-divan-je-osecaj-kada-u-ljudima-probudite-kreativni-potencijal-za-koji-nisu-bili-svesni-da-postoji/ (last accessed: October 23, 2025)

Kovačević, Marina. 2016. “Zapisi iz ćelije br. 12”. [“Notes from Cell No. 12”]. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fK2DJuC8T0 (last accessed: October 23, 2025).

______. 2017. “ProFemina2017: Marina Kovačević – Kad zatvorenici postanu glumci dogodi se čudo” [“ProFemina2017: Marina Kovačević – When prisoners become actors, a miracle takes place”]. Lepota i zdravlje. March 29. URL: https://www.lepotaizdravlje.rs/lz-magazin/profemina/profemina2017-marina-kovacevic-kad-zatvorenici-postanu-glumci-dogodi-se-cudo (last accessed: October 23, 2025) .

Milovanović, Uroš. 2015. “Zapisi iz podzemlja u Zabeli”. [“Notes from the Underground in Zabela Prison”]. Politika, May 13.

Pocheptsov, Georgii. 1998. Istoriia russkoi semiotiki do i posle 1917 goda. [History of Russian semiotics before and after 1917]. Moskva: Labirint.

Tešić, Mihailo. 2019. “Sa autorkom filma o zatvorenicima u Srbiji koji se resocijalizuju uz pse i pisanje” [“With the Author of the Film about Prisoners in Serbia who are socialized with the help of dogs and writing”]. VICE, March 13. URL: https://www.vice.com/sr/article/sa-autorkom-filma-o-zatvorenicima-u-srbiji-koji-se-resocijalizuju-uz-pse-i-pisanje/ (last accessed: October 23, 2025).