21-268

Alexandar Mihailovic

Mihailovic has written about a range of subjects, including theology and literary theory, nineteenth- and twentieth century Russian and Ukrainian literature, the criminal subculture in Russia, cultural relations during the Cold War, popular music, African-American studies, art history, music, and cinema studies.

Митьки / The Mitki and Art of Postmodern Protest in Russia

During the late Soviet period, the art collective known as the Mitki emerged in Leningrad. Producing satirical poetry and prose, pop music, cinema, and conceptual performance art, this group fashioned a playful, emphatically countercultural identity with affinities to European avant-garde and American hippie movements. More broadly, as Alexandar Mihailovic shows, the Mitki pioneered a form of political protest art that has since become a centerpiece of activism in post-Soviet Russia, most visible today in groups such as Pussy Riot. He draws on extensive interviews with members of the collective and illuminates their critique of the authoritarian state, militarism, and social strictures from the Brezhnev years to the present.

Publisher New Literary Review («Новое литературное обозрение»), 2021

University of Wisconsin Press, 2018 (ENG)