CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Kovalchuk, Nataliia |
|---|---|
| Title | Romantic partnership: Homonormativity in Ukrainian LGBT context |
| Summary | In this thesis, I use a Foucauldian discourse analysis to make a scientific investigation of knowledge production, regarding forms of social arrangements within Ukrainian LGBT community. I aim to find out to what ways and extent LGBT community can be perceived homonormative. Based on discourse analysis, which implies a production of power-knowledge through everyday practices and narratives, I conducted interviews, focusing on a core of LGBT activists. I complemented interviews with a participant observation method, conducted during two major LGBT events. I explored whether discourses and representations of three forms of relationships -- coupledom, multiple partner relationships, and singledom -- are similar or how are they different; what kind of power strategies are used for sustaining homonormativity within the community. My findings reveal different power strategies dealing with each form of social arrangements, used to fortify normativity. I distinguished most common and frequent associations in responses of my interviewees -- temporality and ethics. Thus, planned character or longevity, as well as the ecology of treatment or self-knowledge enable to explore discoursive differences for three examined forms. The most conservative form of partnering coupledom was established as a reference point. Multiple partner relationships are constructed through a comparison to coupledom and have clearly disadvantageous connotations in terms of temporality, ethics, and representation. Singledom appears as the most complicated practice and manifests a unique strategy -- a concealment of itself as a stand-alone practice. A discourse of singledom as a temporary state overshadows its subversive character. Representation of three formats of social arrangements, observed during two Queer Festival events and expressed by my informants, contributes into the discussion about the extent to which the Ukrainian LGBT group appear homonormative to a certain extent. Thus, my analysis allows concluding that Ukrainian LGBT community shows signs of homonormativity. Considering a context of a current political situation, it is possible to track some interrelations between the homonormative character of the community and a broader political situation in current debates on the association with the EU for Ukraine. |
| Supervisor | Sarah Smith |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/kovalchuk_nataliia.pdf |
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