CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Sumina, Ekaterina Leonidovna |
|---|---|
| Title | Producing white and black: the Caucasian male Other and boundaries of the nation in contemporary Russia |
| Summary | This research seeks to contribute into the discussion on intersections of nationalism and gender order in contemporary Russia through the focus on the imagery of the othered men from the North Caucasus. The work is based on three case studies, that is, ban on Dagestani men conscription, public lezghinka dancing and male-to-male rape happened in Rozhdestvenskaya village in Russia. Through the analysis of media reports, internet-commentary threads and political speeches I examine how the Russian nation, being in a transitional period, makes use of ideas about its own and other’s masculinity and sexuality to reinforce nationalism and imagine “white us” as clearly distinguished from racialized Caucasian “them”. The research focuses on both state and non-state practices and representations. I argue that the imagery of the Caucasian Other is based upon ambivalence; his masculinity is simultaneously imagined as “good” and “bad”, his body is sexually desired and yet his sexuality is despised as perverted and dangerous. The Caucasian subject embodies the threat of domination and penetration of national spaces, bodies and institutions. The fear of loss of control over the Caucasian Other transfers itself into anxiety over nation’s own masculinity. Representations of both Caucasian Other and Russian Self are employed and instrumentalized in the discourse and in the set of corporeal practices directed against “black” bodies. They are intended to produce the difference between Russian and Caucasian and reaffirm clear boundary between them. Production and fixation of Russian and Caucasian subjects and spaces heavily rely upon the practice of repetition. Through this reiteration, happening on all levels from that of representations in commentary threads and journalistic accounts to the corporeal practices of expelling of the dancing Caucasian bodies from the “white” streets, the system is able to constantly produce and sustain itself. The Caucasian subject is trapped into the space of ambivalence and repeatability, which makes it hard for him to escape. |
| Supervisor | Renkin, Hadley Zaun |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/sumina_ekaterina.pdf |
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