![]() ![]() As political prisoners, they were important symbols of the struggle for liberation, and were also producers of powerful critiques of the colonial regime through their writings. Political prisoners are important historical subjects in the telling of the struggle for liberation in Zimbabwe – prisoners’ life stories and writings demonstrate the ways in which political prisoners confronted the colonial regime. I also argue that, by transforming the prison into an arena of struggle for political and social rights, African political offenders undermined the disciplinary, rehabilitative, and punitive intent of imprisonment. Yet, as this essay demonstrates, these testimonies also disclose the ways in which prisoners were not simply victims of state-sponsored penal terror: prisoners told stories of how they struggled, coped and creatively adapted to the harsh prison regimes. They capture vividly some of the gruesome experiences in the state corridors of silence. ![]() Indeed, prisoners’ testimonies and their written accounts reveal the depravity and brutality of prison life. Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned on an island fortress. He is best remembered for his exciting romantic sagas, including The Three Musketeers and The Count. ![]() This article is based on Zimbabwean ex-political prisoners’ testimonies and writings, and argues that, although Rhodesian prisons were spaces of racialised abuse, curtailed freedoms, and heightened repression, they were also spaces of struggle, subversion and negotiation. One of the most exciting and best-loved novels of all time, The Count of Monte Cristo is a timeless tale of endurance, courage, and revenge. Alexandre Dumas (18021870) was a famous French writer. ![]()
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