Dr. Yulia Gradskova lecture
Date and time: Thursday, September 25, 17:00
Venue: Room 314A + 314B, Vilnius University (hybrid format: on-site & online)
Lecture title
"Using media resources for analysis of women’s representations: RF’s “traditional values” and resistances to them"
Abstract
This lecture critically examines the evolving portrayal of traditional family values and normative femininity in Russia. Drawing on her doctoral research, Dr. Gradskova will analyse the representation of women in Soviet propaganda as reflected in historical women’s journals. She will then turn to contemporary Russian media, focusing on the “Letters to the Priests” section of the Orthodox magazine Foma, to show how traditional family values are reasserted today.
The lecture will also highlight counter-narratives, particularly from the Feminist Anti-War Resistance movement, that challenge these dominant discourses. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how “traditional family” ideals are constructed and resisted, while also developing critical skills for analysing historical and contemporary media sources.
About the speaker
Dr. Yulia Gradskova is a Senior Researcher in the Department of Gender Studies at Södertörn University. Her academic interests include postsocialist gender history, the politics of motherhood, women’s internationalism during the Cold War, and decolonial perspectives on Soviet emancipation policies.
She currently leads the project Maternity in the Time of “Traditional Values” and Femonationalism, which explores motherhood within nationalist discourses across Lithuania, Russia, and Sweden. She is also co-editor of NORA: Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research and has published widely on women’s activism, transnational networks, and gendered politics in Eastern Europe.
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