The musician and performance artist drops a transparent hint at how American society may develop after the US 45th president takes office.
In a short video for Fusion, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova draws parallels between new American society and Putin’s Russia that risk to become as similar as never before after Trump enters the White House. The words chosen by Nadezhda for this situation describe the key trends that threaten to shape the life of Americans in the next four years.
The list includes the words “zhopa” (literally “ass”), which stands for a serious and uninhabitable situation, and “pizdets” (a derivative from Russian “pizda”, which means “c*nt”), which Americans will have to use to react to what their executive officials do. The word “korruptsiya” (corruption) is familiar to many Americans and can often be heard in political discourse, but the system of financing political campaigns under Trump can add connotations to the term that may seem new to Americans. Nadezhda uses the word “organy” to indicate the trend towards the executive branch consolidation, a strengthening role of police, secret services and law-enforcement bodies and their use for political purposes. Another word in the list describes the new US president’s sexist rhetoric that automatically legalises sexism in American society. This is the word “kozyol” (literally “goat”). Nadezhda says this word is used in Russia for men who disrespect women.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is a Russian conceptual artist, member of the feminist punk rock band Pussy Riot and political activist. In 2012-2013, she was in prison on politically motivated charges in connection with Pussy Riot’s performance against the rule of Vladimir Putin. She and another band member, Maria Alyokhina, were granted early release ahead of the Sochi Olympics. Nadezhda won the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought and the LennonOno Grant for Peace. She lives in the US.
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