Soliloquies from Solitary, Bars behind Bars: Why was all the most influential literature written in prison?

Illustrations by Grace McKenna

Antonio Gramsci was an Italian Marxist who was imprisoned in 1926 for his critique of fascism and remained behind bars until just before he died in 1937. His prison notebooks, which defined the importance of cultural hegemony, are still widely referenced in politics today. When I studied Gramsci in one of my courses, my professor joked that it was ironic how many works of legitimate, published literature from the 30s have been deemed outdated and irrelevant, ultimately lost to the changing of time. But, somehow, one man’s prison musings are still pored over by students, academics, and politicians alike today. Gramsci spent roughly a decade in prison and died from its impacts on his health. However, his argument that ruling classes maintain power by infiltrating culture rather than politics has stood the test of time. His unique method of commentary also made me question whether the writings that actually influence politics come from the orthodox, mainstream political sphere (from academics, legislators, and politicians) or from elsewhere: a darker, dingier sector of society where institutional barriers to equality are significantly more visible.

This prison-writing phenomenon is far from unique to Gramsci. Many of the most influential political doctrines were written in prison, and have now gained mainstream acceptance. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” was penned while King was behind bars for participating in peaceful anti-segregation protests. In more than just its title, incarceration played a large role in the letter’s purpose. In his swooping script, King wrote about the importance of disobeying unjust laws and how one must do so with a “willingness” to accept the penalty of imprisonment. He reiterates a relevant point: just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right. King points out that at one time it was illegal to aid Jewish people in Hitler’s Germany, whereas his genocidal actions were legal. King aimed to “arouse the conscience” of the community over this injustice, but, in doing so, claimed that he was “expressing the highest respect for the law”; to have the utmost respect for the legal system is to declare openly when it is unjust. The nature of the American Civil Rights Movement meant that many of its influential writings were produced by people who were imprisoned for illegal acts of civil disobedience. In times of oppression, it makes sense that the most righteous material emerges from a place meant to house wrongdoers. 

During his 27 years of incarceration, Nelson Mandela wrote hundreds of letters in the fight against South African apartheid. He spoke of the solidarity and comradeship he found in prison, using his experience with imprisonment to outline the harsh realities of the apartheid regime. 

Mahatma Gandhi produced some of his most impactful works while imprisoned in India and South Africa. He spent approximately seven years behind bars, writing letters to newspapers to inform the public about the harsh treatment and conditions endured by the other prisoners. He also spent his time translating songs written by Indian freedom fighters who were imprisoned into English for a now-published anthology of works about independence, patriotism, and love. 

The pattern continues. The influence of prison writing during times of political strife rings true across the world and over time. 

During the fifty years marked by The Troubles in Northern Ireland, prison writing thrived, especially among female prisoners. Irish civil rights leaders Bernadette Devlin, Eileen Hickey, Martina Anderson, Mairéad Farrell, and many more used their incarceration to pen influential poems, books, and speeches that challenged the time’s male-dominated narratives of gender, religion and Irish nationhood.

I also came across Eugene V. Debs, an American socialist leader who was sentenced to ten years of federal punishment in 1919 for opposing World War I and violating the Sedition Act. His crime was a 1918 speech in Ohio, where Debs declared that American boys were “fit for something better than for cannon fodder”. While in prison, Debs not only wrote his only full-length book, Walls & Bars: Prison and Prison Life in the Land of the Free, but also ran for president and polled nearly a million votes without ever campaigning. In his book, which is largely a socialist critique of the American prison system, Debs makes a heartfelt attempt to humanize his fellow prisoners in a plea to reform the treatment of the poor under a capitalist system that systemically leads to their mass incarceration.  

Political imprisonment, in many of these cases, further invigorated these figures to pen some of their most influential writings. Was that simply because they had more time to think, or is there something about the harrowing environments of prisons almost everywhere in the world that makes injustice even more impossible to endure? Maybe the worst place for rebels, radicals, and civil rights pioneers to languish is somewhere where systemic abuse occurs in front of their eyes daily. Moreover, no other phenomenon may be more indicative of the influence of rebellious writing in times of powerlessness than prison writing. 

When thinking of the most optimal place to ideate about politics, universities, think tanks, or parliamentary chambers come to mind. Prisons, however, brazenly display the reality of society’s most unequal domain, creating the perfect environment to foster ideas about social justice and civil rights. 

Do we give enough weight to words written from behind bars? With the current global imprisoned population being the highest in history, will we finally begin to question if the law is actually a fair dictator of what is wrong and what is right?

Prison literature referenced in this article:

1. Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks (1929-1935)

2. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)

3. The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela (1962-1990)

4. Mahatma Gandhi’s Songs From Prison: Translations of Indian Lyrics Made in Jail (1934)

5. Irish Women’s Prison Writing: Mother Ireland’s Rebels, 1960s-2010s by Red Washburn (2022)

6. Eugene V. Debs’s Walls & Bars: Prison and Prison Life in the Land of the Free (1927)