Satire and Protest in Putin’s Russia

Description

This book studies satirical protest in today’s Russia, addressing the complex questions of the limits of allowed humor, the oppressive mechanisms deployed by the State and pro-State agents as well as counterstrategies of cultural resistance. What forms of satirical protest are there? Is there State-sanctioned satire? Can satire be associated with propaganda? How is satire related to myth? Is satirical protest at all effective?―these are some of the questions the authors tackle in this book. The first part presents an overview of the evolution of satire on stage, on the Internet and on television on the background of the changing post-Soviet media landscape in the Putin era. Part Two consists of five studies of satirical protest in music, poetry and public protests. Acknowledgements Notes on Transliteration and Translation Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Introduction Satire: Russian Perspective Cynics, kynics and stiob Satire and Myth Censorship that isn’t there Satire on a Leash Satire as Protest Concluding remarks Part I: Satire on a Leash Chapter 1: Stand-Up, Jokers and Dual Reality The Soviet Context: Estrada and Satiric Writers Author-Performer New Stand-Up Comedy: Danila Poperechnyi The Joker Function and Dual Reality References Chapter 2: Is Putin Afraid of Memes? Satire on the Runet The Internet Samizdat Memes as Digital Anekdots “Time for a Meme” Concluding Remarks References Chapter 3: Satire on Post-Soviet TV: From Puppets to Puppets The 1990s: Puppets The 2000s: Nostalgic Entertainment After 2012: The Era of Agitainment Dmitrii Kiselev Vladimir Solov’ev Prozhektorperiskhilton References Chapter 4: KVN: A TV Show Larger Than Television The Context: The Thaw, Samodeiatel’nost’, and Student Theater From the Thaw to Perestroika to the 1990s Becoming a State Project The Main Patron of the Show Between Censorship and Propaganda Concluding Remarks References Part II: Satire as Protest Chapter 5: Rapping the Protest: New Russian Music Semen Slepakov Vasia Oblomov Kasta “Terrorizing Rappers” Concluding Remarks References Chapter 6: Transgressing the Mainstream: Camp, Queer and Populism in Russian Visual Culture Russian Neo-camp Sergei Shnurov and Leningrad: Celebrating the (Russian) Abject Little Big: Camp Aesthetics of the Subaltern Empire Aleksandr Gudkov: Queering the Mainstream Conclusions References Chapter 7: The “Poetic” Protest in Putin’s Russia: “Grazhdanin poet” Creating an alternative space: virtuality and participation Creating a sense of belonging: community and intertextuality Creating a broad reach for criticism: censorship and non-seriousness References Chapter 8: Political Games of Chance: Monstrations and Their Ludic Tactics Monstrations and “Shimmering” Games with Chance Conclusion References Chapter 9: Hybrid Political Humor: The New Dissent Art in Putin’s Russia From the Soviet Era to the Present From Provocation to Participation: Aesthetical Micropractices The Climate of Hybrid Humor Concluding Remarks References Index