What Does It Mean to Be Post-Soviet?

Madina Tlostanova is Professor of Postcolonial Feminisms at LinkÖping University, Sweden, and the author of several books, most recently, Postcolonialism and Postsocialism in Fiction and Art: Resistance and Re-existence.

"Well researched and insightful. . . . Thought-provoking and compelling. . . . A valuable addition to any academic library that supports research in contemporary art, as well as institutions that support research in Slavic studies." - Melanie E. Emerson (ARLIS/NA Reviews) "Madina Tlostanova's search for decolonial art in the unlikeliest of places, vividly illustrated and peppered with live and virtual interviews with the artists themselves, makes the theoretical claims of the first  three chapters come to life in the best possible way. Any reader curious about why art matters in what is indeed stereotypically thought as 'the ruins of the Soviet empire,' even those for whom this is a first primer into the debates of 'post-' and 'de-,' would understand the point of keeping those debates alive." - Anindita Banerjee (Russian Review) "The author’s theorizing on decoloniality and art hits the mark as an invigorated way to interpret the achievements of recent 'activist art' in and around the Russian Federation and important multi-media work from the former Soviet empire’s periphery … The results are diverse and illuminating. What will eventually emerge from 'the Soviet empire’s ruins'? Tlostanova does not prognosticate, rather she sets the stage for asking such questions in cogent, original, and revealing terms.” - Matthew Jesse Jackson (Slavic Review) "More than anything else, What Does it Mean to be Post-Soviet? ultimately reads as an invitation to artists and thinkers from the post-socialist space to use their voice and inspire a more inclusive public sphere. In showing that regained critical awareness of heritage and affirming individual agency by giving a voice to imagination and affect are necessary conditions for countering narratives of oppression, Madina Tlostanova weaves what may become a model for critical theory of the 21st century." - Toma Peiu (Anthropology of Eastern Europe Review)

• Acknowledgments  viiIntroduction. A Futureless Ontology?  11. The Decolonial Sublime   252. Decolonial Aesthesis and Post-Soviet Art  333. A Woman Who Has Many Selves and Takes Over Many Spaces: A Conversation with Liina Siib   654. Beyond Dependencies: A Talk with Vyacheslav Akhunov, the Lonely Ranger of Uzbeck Contemporary Art  845. Reflecting on Time, Space, and Memory with Afanassy Mamedov  106Conclusion. People Are Silent . . .  119Notes  129References  135Index  141