Vol. 3 No. 2 (2024)
Biopolitics

Articles

Methods of discursive production of the «normal subject» and practices of destigmatization using the example of samizdat press of gender dissidents in 1989–1999

Published 2024-12-27 — Updated on 2024-12-28

  • Anna Golovina

Anna Golovina
The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration image/svg+xml

Abstract

In historiography, the nineties are often viewed as the so-called «transitional» or transit period, during which not only the political and economic sphere, but also the discursive space underwent a radical transformation. Within it, norms, through the power-knowledge of the hegemonic discourse, had to be replaced by a greater pluralism of positions, including in the sphere of gender relations, for example, due to a more liberal attitude to the topic of sexuality and corporality. One of the resources for the formation of a new discourse related to gender issues was the samizdat press, which became widespread in the 1990s. For representatives of previously marginalized communities, for example, sexual and gender dissidents, such a press became a space for the discursive formation of a new, non-marginalized identity and a place for the development of an alternative discourse. The article presents the results of the analysis of 115 copies of samizdat press of sexual and gender dissidents using the discourse analysis of Laclauand Mouffe, as well as the critical discourse analysis of N. Fairclough. As a result of the source analysis, the nodal points of the discourse of such press were determined, among which the following points can be distinguished: «homosexuality», «community», «West», «criminal prosecution». For each of the points, key signs were identified, as well as concepts related to the formation of identity and social group. The article presents the results for the nodal point «homosexuality», since it became the main discursive space for the formation of an alternative discourse. The main conclusion is that destigmatization was implemented according to the type of normalization in the stigma management model, while a similar community in the United States built its own self-advocacy in accordance with the differentiation strategy.


Acknowledgments: Elena Miskova and Maryana Arkhipova for their help and support in working with the topic of practices of marginalization of sexual and gender dissidents in the late Soviet period and in the 1990s. And also to the owner of a private Archive who provided sources for analysis.

Keywords

discourse, discursive practices, normalization, the nineties, gender regime, sexual and gender dissidents

PDF (Russian)

Author Biography

Anna Golovina

Research Intern, Center for Applied History, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).

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