Zapraszamy we wtorek 18 lutego o godz. 15 na wykład prof. Yany Meerzon (Uniwerstytet w Ottawie) pt. Performing Censorship: The Russian Case.
The 1993 Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and prohibits censorship, but in practice, censorship has long been a tool of state control. Historically, censorship has been a key mechanism of state power, dating back to the Tsarist era and continuing through the Soviet period.
In the post-Soviet period, censorship began to take shape under Boris Yeltsin, whose second term (1996-1999) marked the rise of conservative ideologies. Since Vladimir Putin’s ascent to power in 2000, the Russian government has implemented numerous laws and constitutional amendments to regulate cultural production.
These censorship laws cover areas such as language use, blasphemy, depictions of historical events, and representations of sexuality and gender identity. Particularly, these regulations are impactful in the area of the performing arts and are widely enforced not only through legal measures but also through grassroots actions, such as protests by nationalist and religious groups, public disruptions, and personal denunciations. Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, censorship in Russia has become even more repressive, with harsh penalties for dissent, including fines, imprisonment, and exile.
Prof. Meerzon’s book – Performing Censorship: The Russian Case – traces the evolution of state censorship under Putin, and it illustrates how his regime has fostered a culture of intimidation, conformity, and violence, continuing Russia’s historical legacy of oppression and conformation between the artists and the state. In this talk, she will outline the book’s major arguments and observations, and present several case studies – notorious examples of these practices.
Yana Meerzon is professor of theatre studies at the University of Ottawa. She is the author of three books, most recently Performance, Subjectivity, Cosmopolitanism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). She co-edited nine collections of articles, including Handbook on Theatre and Migration (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023; with Steve Wilmer). Her current research project is entitled ‘Between Migration and Neo-Nationalism(s): Performing the European Nation — Playing a Foreigner,’ which has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).