Unstuck in Time:
On the Post-Soviet Uncanny
About the Project
Unstuck in Time is the second volume the three-book series with he unofficial title Russia’s Alien Nations.
In this book, which I am serializing on the blog as I write it, I explore fictional and ideological reconfigurations of time in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse. Soviet nostalgia is a familiar part of the post-Soviet landscape, as is the tendency for contemporary Russian literary fiction to focus on the past rather than the present. Unstuck in Time argues that the way time is framed in contemporary Russian cultural productions is connected to a generalized dysphoria regrading the present day, which ends up feeling “off,” if not downright uncanny.
The first chapter is devoted to the immensely popular Russian science fictional subgenre of “popadantsy”—accidental travelers in time and space. In their trips to the past, they inevitably get caught up in important historical events (most often WWII), usually in the hope of achieving a better outcome.. What looks like simple nostalgia proves to be much more complicated; the accidental time traveller's relationship with both his home time period and the world in which he arrives is one of profound dysphoria. Both in the present and in the means by which he travels to the past, he exerts little agency over his own life. Only in the historical fantasyland that greets him does he get to play the hero.
The second chapter examines the construction of fictional alternate Soviet Unions that either exist in the present day (because the USSR never ended) or are recreated in the future. Subsequent chapters will be about fictional and real-life attempts to reconstruct the Soviet Union in our time (as theme park, overambitious film project, or literary experiment); the persistent representation of Russia’s future in decidedly medieval terms; and possibly the Russian postapocalpse and the themes of timelessness and amnesia.
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A Dream of a Thousand Cats
Like some underproduced Soviet commodity, the USSR’s collapse was unevenly distributed
Soviet Antiquity
Why not imagine a twenty-first century Soviet Union that made room for the Internet and smartphones?
Other Russias
Transformative fandom wants a “Different Russia,” while curatorial fandom wants to revive a “Russia that We Have Lost.”
The USSR Is Hiding in Plain Sight
The best novel Philip K. Dick never wrote would argue that the Soviet Union still existed all around us, if only we could just see it.
Flyover Country
The Aviator, unlike the Time Crasher stories, paints a picture of sudden, involuntary time travel as disruptive rather than restorative.
Sleep to the Future
These scenarios are less pessimistic than they might seem, since they are predicated on the idea that our present has something to offer the future.
The Hidden Hand
Even Soviet faux-sincerity is better than what the real world has to offer
Time Travel and the Rejection of Politics
Successful Time Crasher interventions have a built-in bias against political complexity
Millennials vs. Nazis: A Love Story
Time Crashing, like historical reenactments, requires a compromise between seriousness and gaming
When We Were Slaves in Egypt
Тhe films enact two parallel lifecycle rituals: one for the men, the other for the country itself
War and Remembrance
On the whole, Time Crashers who end up in World War II are there to wage war rather than prevent it,
I Enjoy Being A Girl
Gender dysphoria is a small price for Natasha to pay in exchange for a better world
Portrait of a Grandpa as a Young Girl
Тhe gender dysphoria in Arsenyev's work highlights the sociopoliltical dysphoria of the post-Soviet subject
A Hero of Someone Else's Time
Time Crasher heroes often resemble the fan fiction type known as the “Mary Sue”
Who Watches the Watchmen?
Solovyov's double-consciousness as Time Crasher creates as many problems as it solves
How I Met My Mother: The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is a remake, but the incestuous, dysfunctional family drama is entirely the invention of the Russian series' creators
The Ghost in the (Time) Machine
The personal is not just political; it is integral to the fate of the nation.
In Search of Lost Time Travelers
One might ask: exactly how does this work? The correct answer is crucial to appreciating the story: nobody cares.
