happy sodomy day, from J Stalin

[Michael Pugliese]

Stan Persky, a Canadian gay socialist has a good travelogue of his trip to 
the fSU. Simon Karlinsky @ UCB has published widely on Gays in Russia and 
the fSU, see his book on Pushkin, for example. Gay Sunshine Press has a 
racy anthology. Lenin sculpture + soft core gif. <URL: 
http://community.middlebury.edu/~moss/Outback.JPG <URL: 
http://community.middlebury.edu/~moss/OOB.html OUT OF THE BLUE: RUSSIA'S 
HIDDEN GAY LITERATURE-AN ANTHOLOGY Gay Sunshine Press) shatters the 
invisibility barrier. Edited by Professor Kevin Moss of Middlebury College, 
Vermont, OUT OF THE BLU Eis a pioneering collection of literature on gay 
themes by 30 writers-from the early 19th century to the post-glasnost "New 
Russia"- superbly rendered into English by 17 translators. The 
introduction, by Professor Simon Karlinsky, gives historical background 
from the 10th century on, as well as an in-depth discussion of 19th and 
20th century gay writing. This essay helps the reader understand just why 
gay writers and themes became so widely accepted during the last pre- 
Revolution decade and why they were so quickly rejected again after the 
Revolution of 1917. OUT OF THE BLUE is divided chronologically into four 
sections. The divisions correspond roughly to traditional literary periods, 
but more importantly, they also parallel political changes that affected 
gay life as well as changes in the ways gay Russians conceived of 
themselves. Part One: Gay Themes in Golden Age Literature(19th century) 
includes several of its most famous authors (Pushkin, Tolstoy, etc.). Not 
surprisingly, many of the materials in this section have been marginalized 
in various ways, or the selections themselves marginalize homosexuality by 
setting it in another culture or restricting it to a childhood phase. Part 
Two: The First Flowering of Gay Culture, demonstrates the explosion of gay 
literature in the Silver Age--early 20th century (Kuzmin, Esenin, Klyuev, 
etc.). The flowering of gay culture at the beginning of the 20th century 
was to be short-lived, however. In 1933, homosexuality was criminalized 
anew under Stalin. Given the strict censorship, it is not surprising that 
no gay-themed works were published in Russia until glasnost relaxed the 
controls. Instead, homosexuality became one of the many themes banished to 
under- ground writing. Part Three: Hidden from View, offers a glimpse into 
the lives and writings of six authors who, from the 1920's to the 1980's, 
found themselves relegated to underground or emigre writing (Kharitonov, 
Pereleshin, etc.). Part Four: Gay Life Reborn, shows the post-Soviet 
proliferation of gay-themed materials, and is the most eclectic. In this 
section is a wealth of material from the first gay journals: stories, 
poems, letters, as well as gay-themed work by such prominent writers as 
Makanin and Aksyonov. OUT OF THE BLUEprovides a provocative look at the 
hidden side of Russian society. Perhaps what is most striking is that the 
emotional landscape covered in these writings is so familiar, running the 
full gamut from self-hatred to righteous anger, from passionate love to 
unrequited lust, from sentimental self-pity to camp wit. These selections 
show the range and richness of the gay experience for Russians over the 
past two centuries. For the past 25 years, Gay Sunshine Presshas been 
dedicated to bringing readers quality collections of gay writing in 
translation from other cultures and societies. OUT OF THE BLUE: RUSSIA'S 
HIDDEN GAY LITERATURE-AN ANTHOLOGY joins two Latin American gay anthologies 
(Now the Volcano, My Deep Dark Pain is Love), a medieval Arab anthology 
(The Delight of Hearts) and a recently released Japanese gay anthology 
(Partings at Dawn). An Israeli gay anthology and a collection of gay 
Buddhist writings are currently in progress.

Tuller, David. Cracks in the iron closet: travels in gay and lesbian 
Russia. Boston : Faber and Faber, 1996. Chicago : University of Chicago 
Press, 1997.

-- Michael Pugliese