Russian Style

Performing Gender, Power, and Putinism

By: Julie A. Cassiday

Write A Review

Hardcover | 19 December 2023

At a Glance

Hardcover
270 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.6

Hardcover

$205.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $51.44 with

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

In the two decades after the turn of the millennium, Vladimir Putin's control over Russian politics and society grew at a steady pace. As the West liberalized its stance on sexuality and gender, Putin's Russia moved in the opposite direction, remolding the performance of Russian citizenship according to a neoconservative agenda characterized by increasingly exaggerated gender roles. By connecting gendered and sexualized citizenship to developments in Russian popular culture, Julie A. Cassiday argues that heteronormativity and homophobia became a kind of politicized style under Putin's leadership.

However, while the multiple modes of gender performativity generated in Russian popular culture between 2000 and 2010 supported Putin's neoconservative agenda, they also helped citizens resist and protest the state's mandate of heteronormativity. Examining everything from memes to the Eurovision Song Contest and self-help literature, Cassiday untangles the discourse of gender to argue that drag, or travesti, became the performative trope par excellence in Putin's Russia. Provocatively, Cassiday further argues that the exaggerated expressions of gender demanded by Putin's regime are best understood as a form of cisgender drag. This smart and lively study provides critical, nuanced analysis of the relationship between popular culture and politics in Russia during Putin's first two decades in power.

Industry Reviews

"A brilliant, entertaining work of scholarship that sheds light on some of the most important phenomena in contemporary Russian politics and mass culture. Using style as her central concept, Cassiday brings together many seemingly disparate examples from mass media, pop culture, and politics in a way that is truly enlightening."-Eliot Borenstein, New York University "Well conceived, researched, and executed, Russian Style makes an invaluable contribution to the field and to broader discussions of gender, sexuality, and the body in contemporary popular culture. Bringing to the forefront questions of citizenship and national identity, Cassiday thinks through the changes (political, ideological, sexual) that have taken place over the past two decades in Putin's Russia. "-Lilya Kaganovsky, UCLA

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $0.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.