The consequences of the mass displacement set in motion by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine for shifting language, culture, and identity of russophone writers has been widely discussed. This paper looks more closely at the role of poetry readings and performances in these processes. Located in time and space (whether real or virtual) and serving as sites of encounter with an audience, poetry readings and performances have not only served as important spaces for (re)connecting poetic communities but have also played a crucial role as critical “counter-sites” from which to reflect on and productively dislocate hegemonic identities. The paper will explore a variety of examples, focusing particularly on the multilingual performances held under the aegis of the Berlin-based project TEL:L Laboratory and Dinara Rasuleva’s #lostlingual project, which I read in spatial terms as a heterotopic reconfiguration of the lived spaces of russophonia.
