Mother Tongue by Yevgeniy Fiks was published as part of the larger project of the same name. It includes the linguistic analysis of the Tematicheskiy language (in Russian and English) and a collection of conceptual poetry written by Fiks in Tematicheskiy (with English translation). It is a project “about” and “in” the Soviet-era Russian gay argot/defense language, which is given a name – “Tematicheskiy” language (the language for those “in the know”) – and is treated as a complete, self-sufficient, and distinct language, separate from the standard Russian. In Mother Tongue, the Russian gay argot/defense language is conceptualized as a cultural treasure, a national language of the Russian-speaking LGBTQ community, and as a literary language fit for formal language instruction and high culture production, including written literature and publication.
Mother Tongue by Yevgeniy Fiks was published as part of the larger project of the same name. It includes the linguistic analysis of the Tematicheskiy language (in Russian and English) and a collection of conceptual poetry written by Fiks in Tematicheskiy (with English translation). It is a project “about” and “in” the Soviet-era Russian gay argot/defense language, which is given a name – “Tematicheskiy” language (the language for those “in the know”) – and is treated as a complete, self-sufficient, and distinct language, separate from the standard Russian. In Mother Tongue, the Russian gay argot/defense language is conceptualized as a cultural treasure, a national language of the Russian-speaking LGBTQ community, and as a literary language fit for formal language instruction and high culture production, including written literature and publication.
