TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘I love my country even if it does not love me back'
T2 - Queer (inner) emigration narratives in Kazakhstan and Russia
AU - Levitanus, Mariya
AU - Kislitsyna, Polina
PY - 2024/9/18
Y1 - 2024/9/18
N2 - This article aims to understand how the (im)possibility of emigration impacts queer post-Soviet identities, narratives, and everyday life. It is based on two studies: one biographical interview study conducted in Russia, and one conducted in Kazakhstan using in-depth narrative interviews. As a result of the high rate of homophobia, queer people from both countries contemplate emigrating to the West. According to our findings, the West is imagined as an “ideal place.” For some queer people, it is the only place where they can imagine a future, while for others emigration is hypothetical. The findings reveal the effects of this potentiality of emigration on the life and relationships of queer participants. For those who want to leave but are unable to do so due to practical obstacles or a lack of resources, inner emigration appears to serve as a survival strategy for managing a reality that is difficult to tolerate. The article applies postcolonial optics to explore the complex relationship between Kazakhstan, Russia, and the West, and the intersections of national, gender, and sexual identities.
AB - This article aims to understand how the (im)possibility of emigration impacts queer post-Soviet identities, narratives, and everyday life. It is based on two studies: one biographical interview study conducted in Russia, and one conducted in Kazakhstan using in-depth narrative interviews. As a result of the high rate of homophobia, queer people from both countries contemplate emigrating to the West. According to our findings, the West is imagined as an “ideal place.” For some queer people, it is the only place where they can imagine a future, while for others emigration is hypothetical. The findings reveal the effects of this potentiality of emigration on the life and relationships of queer participants. For those who want to leave but are unable to do so due to practical obstacles or a lack of resources, inner emigration appears to serve as a survival strategy for managing a reality that is difficult to tolerate. The article applies postcolonial optics to explore the complex relationship between Kazakhstan, Russia, and the West, and the intersections of national, gender, and sexual identities.
KW - post-Soviet gender and sexuality
KW - emigration narratives
KW - LGBTQI
KW - precarity
KW - the idealised West
U2 - 10.34041/ln.v29.952
DO - 10.34041/ln.v29.952
M3 - Article
SN - 1100-2573
VL - 29
SP - 40
EP - 66
JO - Lambda Nordica
JF - Lambda Nordica
IS - 2-3
ER -