The Peninsula of Utopias: Reactions to the Annexation of Crimea in Contemporary Russophone Poetry

ABSTRACT In this article, I seek to trace two main agendas of contemporary Russophone poetry about Crimea: namely, to react to the re-annexation of 2014 by Russia, and, in so doing, to inscribe this event into the preceding poetic tradition of writing on Crimea in terms of continuity or juxtaposition. Analysis of the anthology Our Crimea (2014) reveals intense polyphony, from the problematization of the notion of historical belonging to attempts to anesthetize the painful present with texts of nostalgia for the Crimean idealized past. Following this, close readings of two poem cycles about Crimea, one authored by Aleksandr Kushner and the other by Boris Khersonsky, show that, despite their opposing political views, both poets express their ideas by means of recycling various tropes of Crimea’s representation in Russian Modernist poetry. In sum, Crimea remains not only the focus of geopolitical conflict, but also a highly contested literary site for Russophone poets.