Survival of a Perverse Nation: Morality and Queer Possibility in Armenia

by Tamar R. Shirinian

In Survival of a Perverse Nation, Tamar R. Shirinian traces two widespread rhetorics of perversion—sexual and moral—in postsocialist Armenia, showing how they are tied to anxieties about the nation’s survival. In her fieldwork with Armenians, Shirinian found that right-wing nationalists’ focus on sexual perversion centers the figure of the homosexual, while questions of moral perversion surround oligarchs and other members of the political-economic elite. While the homosexual is seen as non- or improperly reproductive, the oligarch’s moral deviations from the caring and paternalistic expectations associated with national leadership also endanger Armenia’s survival. Shirinian shows how both figures threaten the nation’s proper social reproduction, a source of great anxiety for a nation whose primary point of identity is surviving genocide. In the existential threat posed by these forms of perversion Shirinian finds paths where nonsurvival might mean the creation of futures that are queerer and more just. Detailing how the language of perversion offers trenchant critiques of capitalism as a perversion of life, Shirinian presents a new queer theory of political economy.

Genres: Queer, Nonfiction

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2024

Reviews

[armi nellik · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must-read, if you are looking for a Marxist and psychoanalytic interpretation of how the fears and anxieties of political economic nature are moralized in neoliberal Armenia.

I was reading Shirinian’s book on a sunny Friday in the Lovers’ Park, not yet knowing that a later chapter would discuss what I came to experience then and there. A young man sat next to me on a separate bench and made sure I was physically aware of his opinion of my existence as “morally perverse.”

Shirinian writes in chapter 4, “The open spaces and gardened paths of Lovers' Park make possible the constant and consistent surveillance of gendered and sexual behavior. […] The green lawn and the carefully curated trees and flowers do not grow wild but, like their visitors, are kept in their place-proper and not perverse” (p. 138).

It is a euphoric feeling to be exposed to a queer theoretical reading of the Armenia you live in and to a (queer) theory that speaks—not just to, but—with you.

[Willi Mend · Rating 5 out of 5]

…just an amazing text with an quite interesting methodology to enter and render the field! The Book feels for me like figurative painting exhibition with several works in it trying to circulate around a complex situation in a complex and ambiguous society. The book brings light and clarity into this ambiguity of knowing. A must read

[Sarkis Antonyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

i got so angry, i cried, i laughed, i scratched my head, i felt queasy, i started shivering, i got chills. shirinian the validation and representation you bestow me makes me feel like a phoenix.

[Shant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly remarkable book.

Though it does examine Armenia’s LGBTQ+ community, it does so much more. Against the backdrop of post-socialist anxieties — employment, housing, and so — this book exposes nationalists’ focus on sexual perversion instead of the moral perversion of the political-economic elite.