Abstract

The subject of my novel is a romance between two women in 1930s Russia. Its focus is not around their coming to terms with being attracted to women, but of how they met and what navigating life under Stalin’s early rule was like. Many queer stories end tragically due to period-typical homophobia, and/or the viewpoint of the creators being that they “felt it was the right way to go,” or that they needed to kill off their queer characters to bring in audiences who felt isolated by any existence of queer characters at all. Instead of having these tropes, I am focusing the story on living under the repercussions of severe homophobic legislation while being queer. For thousands of years there have been queer people that, secretly or publicly, have lived fulfilling lives and died outside of the hand of systemic oppression, or public outcry. I’d like to have these two women be examples, if fictional ones, of that.

Advisor

Pozefsky, Peter

Department

History

Disciplines

History

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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