The Cambridge History of Gay and Lbian Lerature - November 2014
Contents:
23 - RSIAN GAY AND LBIAN LERATURE
* gay russian literature *
Most of the current rearch on the topic is still rried out by foreign scholars, and most of the the historil Rsian texts on homosexualy, even when wrten by proment scholars and wrers, are disregard. Historian Dan Healey, whose 2001 book Homosexual Dire Revolutnary Rsia was translated to Rsian 2008, argu that spe several prohibive laws sexualy was nsirably ls regulated pre-revolutnary Rsia than elsewhere Europe at that time.
Several rearchers claim that historil acunts show that before the 18th century, Rsian society held rather lenient views toward homosexualy, and that homophobia was at least part “imported” om Europe by Peter the Great — along wh European tradns food, archecture and fashn. Some argue that was Peter’s father, Tsar Alexis, who first started persecutg gay people, but the first law that ma homosexualy illegal (ially only for men the army and navy) was signed by Peter 1716.
In a 1913 say on the relatnship between relign and sexualy entled Moonlight People, the proment wrer and philosopher Vasily Rozanov argu that homosexualy has been a historil part of not jt Rsian but Orthodox life, and pots out that several works of relig medieval Rsian lerature, like the Liv of Boris and Gleb, nta strong hts that certa characters (ually sats and martyrs) were gay. In the 19th century the most well-studied members of the ci’ LGBTQ muni were the nobily — cludg members of the royal fay — but their liv are still shroud wh mystery today, sce hont, unprejudiced discsns of homosexualy (and sexualy general) rema relatively taboo Rsia.
OUT OF THE BLUE: RSIA'S HIDN GAY LERATURE
One of the most proment exampl was Grand De Konstant, grandson of emperor Nicholas I and uncle of Nicholas II, whose homosexualy was revealed 1994, nearly 80 years after his ath 1915, when his ndid diari were published. Another source of rmatn for rearchers are the anonymo nunciatns ma to the police — some of which tail the everyday liv and entertament of the gay muny greater tail than n be found history books.
In fact, Nabokov was the first Rsian polician who publicly supported gay rights, wrg rearch papers on the legal stat of the LGBTQ muny imperial Rsia and advotg for the aboln of an outdated law. After the 1905 Revolutn, however, me a crackdown on the gay muny — as is so often the se, polil reactn and homophobia were closely lked — and the laws agast homosexualy were employed to charge people more than ever before.
RSIAN GAYS/WTERN GAZE
Some Bolsheviks, like Alexandra Kollontai, also worked the World League for Sexual Reform that, among other aims, mpaigned for a reform of laws on homosexualy and promoted tolerance around sexualy and genr.
The steps towards a more acceptg society were cut short 1933 as Stalist reprsn overtook over the untry and male homosexualy was aga crimalised, wh gay people on ocsn proclaimed spi, unterrevolutnari and class enemi. The visibily of gay-themed wrgs has been so great that, if asked where to look for gay them Rsian lerature, most non-specialists today would probably exhst their knowledge by potg to Mikhail Kuzm, the openly gay poet of the early 20th century (such as his marvelo gay poem "Anto") and thor of the first gay novel Rsian, Wgs. Eded by Profsor Kev Moss of Middlebury College, Vermont, Out of the Blue, is a pneerg llectn of lerature on gay them by 30 wrers--om the early 19th century to the post-glasnost "New Rsia" superbly renred to English by 17 translators.
SJ Sdu, thor of Marriage of a Thoand Li, lled , "One of the first Anglophone works to challenge the trope of the sad/suicidal gays who die at the end, this book gave a blueprt of what queer fictn uld look like. Forster (A Passage to India, A Room Wh a View, Howards End) wrote the benchmark gay novel Mrice cir 1913, was published posthumoly a lh tale of manners, posn, and sire, the tular character meets and falls for his classmate Clive while at Oxford. The pair embark on a two-year affair until Clive leav Mrice to marry a woman and live out his proscribed life as part of the land gentry, leavg Mrice shambl and seekg to cure his Forster's novel do not end gay tragedy.