This comment was written by Emma Larson on 16 Apr 2024.

remediating protest: blog

Comment Blog Post #4

Thank you, Violetta, for the extremely well-written blog post! I liked how you took the theories of gender performance and vulnerability that we have been discussing over the past couple of weeks and applied them to a variety of texts, comparing and contrasting how different authors use them in their works. I especially appreciated your discussion of vulnerability in Yusupova's text. Clearly, the documentary aesthetics she employs are used to push forward a narrative that takes into consideration the vulnerability that women experience at the hands of the Russian legal system.

One suggestion I have for you if you are interested in further developing this topic is to explicitly consider the intersection between Butler’s theory of gender performance and Utkin’s definition of vulnerability (which is also, interestingly, rooted in Butler’s work). For example, what are the performative aspects of vulnerability as described by the three authors? And how is the vulnerability that is described gendered? Including a discussion of Utkin’s framework of queering might be a productive way to blend the two theories into a singular and coherent analysis.

Another alley of analysis you could explore is to what extent the vulnerability described by Utkin and put into practice by Vasyakina, Petrushevskaia, and Yusupova relies on a biological, physical body. Can vulnerability also be used in regard to more ephemeral violence such as that rendered via microaggressions, social exclusion, and mental abuse?

Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post and am grateful for the thoughts it spurred.

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