open access

https://doi.org/10.14943/jbr.9.17

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/83564

Construction and Transformation of Discourses on Same-Sex Love among Men in Russian Literature at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: From Mikhail Kuzmin’s Wings to Popular Novels for Women

英語

2019-03-29

Eurasia Unit for Border Reaseach (Japan)

JAPAN BORDER REVIEW

9

17-45

This article explores the theme of same-sex love among men in Russian literature of the Silver Age by analyzing Mikhail Kuzmin’s novel Wings (1906), which is a symbolist novel, and Evdokia Nagrodskaia’s popular novels for women.The Wrath of Dionysus (1910) and At the Bronze Door (1914). During the Silver Age, numerous writers and philosophers explored the issues of gender and sexuality regardless of the tides in literature. In addition to the image of the “new woman” and androgyny, same-sex love became one of the main themes of Russian literature. Consequently, these works attracted the interest of many people because they sensationally depicted sexual themes. In the first chapter, to marshal confusing discourses and understand the context of their works, I divide the discourse of same-sex love in Russia into two paradigms.the paradigm of sexology and the paradigm of Russian philosophy of Eros. In the paradigm of sexology, same-sex love was not regarded as an action but as a specific form of identity called “homosexual.” Meanwhile, in the paradigm of Russian philosophy, same-sex love was associated with the utopian vision of “new human,” including misogyny or the notion of “people of the moonlight” that was originally used by Vasilii Rozanov. Therefore, the perception about same-sex love among people is different. Further, the second chapter reviews prior research on Wings. Previously, Wings was read as a coming out novel of a homosexual boy. However, I challenge this view because the notion of “coming out” or “homosexuality” is created by sexological paradigm that is based on identity. Notwithstanding that, in Wings, I cannot find a scene of coming out, an instance of construction of homosexual identity, or a moment of body attachment between men. Therefore, it is inappropriate to interpret Wings from the perspective of sexology. The third chapter analyzes Kuzmin’s Wings; here, I point out that some scholars claim that Wings was the first homosexual novel. However, I read this text, revealing the vision of the “new human,” the role of the body, and the meaning of “wings,” which are motifs of this work. This analysis reveals that Wings is closely related with the Russian philosophy of Eros, especially Rozanov's interpretation of the philosophy in People of the Moon Light. Kuzmin creates an aesthetical utopia in Wings, thereby rejecting the notion of sexology. The fourth chapter examines the image of same-sex love in the popular novels for women from the beginning of the 20th century, focusing on Nagrodskaia’s The Wrath of Dionysus and At the Bronze Door. Nagrodskaia is one of the most famous writers of popular novels and was inspired by Kuzmin. Her novels contained the theme of the sexology of “homosexual” people. In The Wrath of Dionysus, the protagonist’s act of coming out and explaining himself by discourses of sexology depicts homosexuality. On the other hand, in At the Bronze Door, a homosexual character plays an important role in the plot. Additionally, compared to that in Wings, Nagrodskaia clearly points out the picture of homosexual relationships. This article concludes Wings merely suggests same-sex love between men and that this type of relationship is not homosexual but rather a vague relationship experienced by men, which is a combination of fraternity and eroticism. However, other popular novels for women have explicitly represented same-sex love and portray “homosexual” people. To sum up, Kuzmin constructed the discourse of same-sex love on the basis of the Russian philosophy of Eros, and this discourse was transformed to the notion of sexology in Ngrodskaia’s works. Through this research, I rethink the primary theme in Wings and find connection between symbolism and other popular novels that were influenced by the notion of same-sex love. My research leads us to launch other queer studies that I use to pursue non-normative sexuality in Russian culture.

紀要論文

Version of Record

2185-6117

AA12497681