Between linguistic resistance and collapse: Russophone anti-war poetry and the question of linguistic legitimacy

In this article, I examine Russophone anti-war poetry published since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and identify a tendency in this material to question the very foundations of cultural (literary) resistance. More specifically, the ability, possibility, and moral conditions of language (and script) to express war resistance are addressed. Russophone writers, whether within the Russian Federation or in exile, face profound dilemmas tied to the moral implications of expressing resistance in a language steeped in war, violence, and terror. I explore how these challenges are addressed in a two- pronged analysis. First, I look at some of the main lines of argumentation linked to these issues when discussed by writers and critics on a meta-level (in prefaces, commentaries, launch events, etc.). I then proceed to examine a couple of strategies that manifest themselves in a selection of poems. These strategies range from subtle linguistic innovations to more radical practices, with extreme examples revealing a language teetering on the edge of collapse. I offer a brief prehistory of linguistic resistance in Russian/Soviet culture before concluding by summarizing the chief functions of Russophone anti-war poetry, as conceived by the writers and critics.