Comparative Masculinities: Russian and US 'White' Manhood in Contemporary Literature and Pop Culture

• In Event: Russian Masculinities III: Post-Soviet Masculinities

Abstract

In this talk I will compare representations of masculinities in today's US and Russian literary works, films, and pop music ranging from Q. Tarantino's Deathproof and Hateful Eight to Season 5 of TV series Fargo in the US and Viktor Pelevin's novel S.N.U.F.F. and band Leningrad's songs to Kirill Sokolov's film Why Don't You Just Die. While the focus will be primarily on "white" subculture in both countries. it will be argued that in both cultures masculinity is pathologized and trivialized as it is blamed for society's patriarchy or disbalance between dyadic and institutional power of women and men. However, several male Russian authors have been trying to depathologize and detrivialize it by giving a voice to women in their works and creating more responsible and daring male characters. US culture, on the contrary, persistently generates rather schematic, predictable parodies of masculinity.

Author

• Alexei Lalo, North Carolina State U