LAVENDER LANGUAGES INSTITUT: Marsel Ganeyev “Queer language of Kazakh steppes and Tatar forests” , 25 November, 2022, 7:00 pm

For centuries, Kazakhstan and Tatarstan, being dominated by Russia, have experienced several transitions in terms of queer literature and vocabulary. These two Turkic languages possess no-gender discrimination, and often are considered to be more friendly for queer spaces; however, it is not always the case in the eyes of general public. Lecture looks at archaic precolonial examples in language and folklore, and explore the attempts of their transition into contemporary artistic space. After the discussion, we will perform a Central Asian tea drinking together with a screening of Tatar fashion short film “Yuha” (2021) by Tatiana Chernoguzova.

Marsel Ganeyev is a Tatar language queer activist from Kazakhstan, currently based in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is trying to consolidate both Queer and Kazakh/Tatar aspects of his activism in his projects by exploring queer narratives in the context of language.