Political Subjectivities in Russia and Ukraine through the Lens of Post-Soviet Literature BY TETYANA DZYADEVYCH B.A., State Pedagogical University, Kyiv,1997 M.A., National University of “Kyiv Mohyla Academy”, Kyiv, 1999 THESIS Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Studies in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago, 2019 Chicago, Illinois Defense Committee: Colleen McQuillen, Chair and Advisor Julia Vaingurt Marina Mogilner, History Department Małgorzata Fidelis, History Department Vitaly Chernetsky, University of Kansas To my parents ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who have helped me to realize this research project. Special thanks to my mentor Prof. Colleen McQuillen who thoughtfully read and commented, directed and helped me to improve my writing in uncountable ways. I am thankful to Prof. Vitaly Chernetsky, who made this research possible and supported it from its early stages. I am thankful to Prof. Marina Mogilner for helping me to contextualize my research and find the right direction. I would not be able to finish it without the encouragement and inspiration of Prof. Julia Vaingurt. I’d also like to thank Prof. Malgorzata Fidelis for supporting me in the early stages of my graduate program, and for her wise counsel. I am thankful for support and guidance of the UIC Department of Slavic and Baltic Studies and School of Literatures, Cultural Studies and Linguistics. I am very thankful to all professors I took classes with. Thanks also to Professors Lynn Viola, Ewa Thompson, Mark Lipovetsky for advising me about the writing my dissertation proposal. I am thankful to my cohort fellows from the graduate program, especially to Anton Svynarenko. His help with language issues and professional translation from Russian and Ukrainian is priceless. Thanks to Volha Seliazniova, Agnieszka Jezyk, Polina Popova, Alison Orton for women’s graduate students’ solidarity and listening to me. Thanks to my friends from “the past life” Iryna Pihovska, Chrystyna Chushak, Olha Klymenko for moral and intellectual support. I should express thanks to my new colleagues at the New College of Florida for offering me a job and motivating me to finish the dissertation sooner. I wish to thank my friends, Valeria Sobol and David Cooper, for aiding my transition from Ukraine to the USA. Visiting with you was precious and I always felt there like with family. iii I wish to express gratitude for all the help and support I have received from my fiancé, Aaron Tucker Richardson. I appreciate your many efforts to make my research and writing better, and your supporting me during the darker moments I have experienced on my way. I cannot find the right words to express my thankfulness to my dear parents who never tried to limit my longing to explore the world and knowledge. I acknowledge the assistance of others in any success here; while, naturally, I own any remaining faults in the work. iv SUMMARY This dissertation examines the relationship between political subjectivity and cultural production in post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine. Chapter One, “The Promise of an Early Post- Time: The Moscoviad (1992) by Yuri Andrukhovych and Generation P (1999) by Victor Pelevin,” explores the early post-Soviet period through a discussion of creative anti-realism (or nominalism) in the works of Yuri Andrukhovych and Victor Pelevin. Similarly, Chapter Three, “Answers Are Rooted in the Past: Oksana Zabuzhko’s The Museum of Abandoned Secrets (2009) and Lyudmila Ulitskaya's Jacob’s Ladder (2015),” looks at the significance of realism in the novels; it shows how both authors (writing in the later, second post-Soviet decade) blur the line between models of literary realism and epistemological realism. Chapter Two, “Does Wounded Dignity Drive Anarchy? Zhadan’s Anarchy in the UKR (2005) and Prilepin’s Sankya (2006),” offers an account of post-Soviet resentment and nostalgia. It proposes that the experience of wounded dignity is the basic, affective cause of resentment and nostalgia. The dissertation articulates the significance of these emotions and explains their relevance to understanding political subjectivity. Chapter Four, “Language and Space as Tools for Shaping Political Community: Contemporary Ukrainian and Russian Cases,” shows how Ukrainian sloganeering influenced analogous protest language in Russia. This chapter explains how experimental forms can irritate and annoy not only the objects of the criticism (established Putin’s power), but also ordinary people (as in the actionism of Petr Pavlensky or Pussy Riot). It shows how popular political protest art can express the vox populi and how it can be an effective tool for awakening political consciousness and mobilizing the People to action. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER I THE PROMISE OF AN EARLY POST-TIME ...................................................... 15 CHAPTER II DOES WOUNDED DIGNITY DRIVE ANARCHY? .......................................... 61 CHAPTER III ANSWERS ARE ROOTED IN THE PAST ........................................................ 98 CHAPTER IV LANGUAGE AND SPACE AS TOOLS FOR SHAPING POLITICAL COMMUNITY ......................................................................................................................... 1387 INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION................................................................................................. 1810 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………183 VITA…………………………………………………………………………………………....203 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Euromaidan graffiti, Icons of Revolution, depicting the pantheon of Ukrainian poetry (Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Ivan Franko) as revolutionaries. ..................................... 172 Figure 2 This leaflet with a silhouette of Georgy Gongadze’s head asks the direct question: Who will be next? ................................................................................................................................ 173 Figure 3 This ubiquitous silhouette became the visual embodiment of Ukraine without Kuchma ..................................................................................................................................................... 173 Figure 4 Another simple and direct question about Georgy Gongadze: Ukraine, are you not ashamed? ..................................................................................................................................... 174 Figure 5 Orange Revolution: Yushchenko, Yes! ........................................................................ 174 Figure 6 Orange Revolution: Regions support Yushchenko! Together we are many! ............... 174 Figure 7 A pun in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow: We are not mute! It also can be interpreted as: We are not not-us! Furthermore, it alludes to the famous phrase “Мы не рабы!” (We are not slaves!) ........................................................................................................................................ 175 Figure 8 An articulation of protest against the usurpation of power .......................................... 175 Figure 9 Russian writers Lyudmila Ulitskaya and Boris Akunin at Occupy Abai ..................... 176 Figure 10 Writer Dmitri Bykov with a slogan: Don’t rock the boat, our rat gets seasick .......... 176 Figure 11 Zakhar Prilepin as a member of the National Bolshevik party participates in the action on Bolotnaya Street ..................................................................................................................... 177 Figure 12 A girl dressed in white, the symbolic color of transparency, in Russian 2011-12 protests, known as the (failed) Snow Revolution ....................................................................... 177 Figure 13 Petr Pavlensky’s talk in Kyiv after his release from custody, June 20, 2016 ............. 178 Figure 14 A photo of Voina’s performance at the Natural Science Museum (March 30, 2008)178 Figure 15 Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayer ........................................................................................... 179 Figure 16 Ukrainian writer Serhii Zhadan protests on Euromaidan in Kharkiv ......................... 179 Figure 17 Ukrainian writer Yuri Andrukhovych at the Maidan Library .................................... 180 Figure 18 Oksana Zabuzko agitating people to stand up for Ukraine ........................................ 180 vii 1 INTRODUCTION It is not unusual to hear popular opinion expressed that Russians and Ukrainians share a common bond of brotherhood. Likewise, until recently at least, it has also not been unusual to hear chatter about the essential, even inviolable fellowship of two "fraternal peoples."1 Surely, we should realize how closely intertwined are these two nations whose history, culture, and political affairs have overlapped for centuries. In this common view both nations shared the cradle of the Soviet Union, and both eventually passed together into the late-Soviet period of perestroika and glasnost. However, despite popular opinion, significant differences should not be overlooked. It is important not to over-simplify. The differences become especially visible when we consider the different paths chosen after the collapse of the Soviet Union. How should we explain the clearly divergent paths for two nations with such a common heritage?