Visual Biopolitics: Outlining a Research (Sub)field

Abstract

The article introduces the concept of visual biopolitics as a new research approach to studying politics. The analysis starts with a discussion of how visualization might be helpful for political analysis and continues with academic engagement with semiotic studies, along with the theories of aesthetic and mimetic representation and performativity. Then the author explains how visuals can trigger political debates, particularly in the sphere of biopolitics and biopower, as well as in the adjacent domains of sovereignty, governmentality, and border politics. The concluding section projects the visual biopolitics frame onto the field of illiberal studies.

Understanding Russophone Estonian Identity Through Popular Culture: An Analysis of Hip-Hop Hit “für Oksana”

“…Oksana first appears dressed in all white, with a long, blond wig, body suit, and high heels, riding a white horse (figures 16–18). This fantastical vision of Oksana contrasts with subsequent scenes, revealing her multi-faceted persona and demonstrating the complexity of reality in comparison to exoticized and orientalized understandings of Narvians in Estonian popular imagination (Makarychev 2021, 68; Mõttus 2019). Thus, Oksana adopts several “characters” during the video, including dancer and a female gopnik, who is almost indistinguishable from her male counterparts.…”

“…Removing the narrative details of a song’s lyrics leaves only the basic structure, or discourse schema, which also reveals the underlying cultural values presented (Machin 2010, 80). On a basic level, the discourse schema of ‘für Oksana”s lyrics is “A young Estonian man visits the Russophone city of Narva in search of a local girl named Oksana” (Makarychev 2021, 68). This immediately reveals the presence of two opposing identities personified by the song’s lead characters.…”

“…One example is Narva-born rapper Yevgeniy Lyapin’s (also known as “Stuf”) song “Olen Venelane” (“ I am Russian” ), containing lyrics critical of those “blaming everyone, including the Riigikogu” (Estonian Parliament) for low salaries and high taxes,” and who “dream of a distant kingdom” (Lyapin 2018), ostensibly Russia. Lyapin claims the lyrics do not address anyone in particular (Tooman 2017), however, these sentiments, and the line “I am Russian but love Estonia,” suggest feelings of frustration toward Russophone Estonians who, despite choosing to live in Estonia, continually complain about it (Tooman 2017; Makarychev 2021, 68). The video accompanying “Olen Venelane,” filmed in Narva, features Stuf wearing blue, black, and white clothing, apparently signifying the Estonian flag, and concludes with the rapper facing across the Narva River toward the Russian town Ivangorod.…”

“…Finally, while Narva is commonly understood as a purely Russophone city, “für Oksana” demonstrates degrees of hybridity in its articulation and performance of local identity. Codeswitching between Russian and Estonian languages as well as linguistic and visual references to cultural tropes from both Russia and Estonia, alongside mentions of uniquely local spaces and issues, suggests potential for more nuanced understandings of the fluid – rather than binary – features of “Narvian” and, by extension, “Russophone Estonian” identity (Makarychev 2021, 68). However, as Makarychev (2021, 68) highlights, unlike “Olen Venelane” by “Stuf,” Nublu and Gameboy Tetris play with both insider and outsider understandings and perceptions of Russophone Estonian identities, exoticizing and possibly further contributing to the orientalization of Narvians in the eyes of ethnic Estonians.…”