Gothic Nationalism: Iurii Kuznetsov’s Poetic Ideology

Abstract

The article examines a curious resurgence of the Gothic mode in late Soviet culture. As the author shows, in the 1970s and 1980s the Gothic served an important function in the fast-developing discourse of Russian nationalism. The article identifies this “nationalist Gothic” in the works of the understudied, yet influential late Soviet poet, Iurii Kuznetsov. Gothic discourse was unusual for mainstream Soviet literature and aesthetics, but this very exoticism also made it appealing for the articulation of a non-conformist historical consciousness. Close readings show how Kuznetsov deployed Gothic conceptions of the lingering presence of an irrational, primordial past as an alternative to the increasingly discredited Soviet ideology of modernity and futurity. In this, the poet articulated the crisis in Soviet society. Tracing Kuznetsov’s career and reputation forward into the post-Soviet years, the article demonstrates how, despite the fact that in a conservative context (such as late Soviet culture), the Gothic aesthetic can serve as a powerful form of cultural criticism, it nevertheless harbors dangerous potential for extreme nationalist and even fascist ideological formations.