Родной Язык / Mother Tongue

The book titled, “Родная речь/Mother Tongue,” by Yevgeniy Fiks is published as part of the larger project of the same name, and includes the linguistic analysis of the Tematicheskiy language (in Russian and English) and a collection of conceptual poetry written by Fiks in Tematicheskiy (with English translation).

Родной Язык/Mother Tongue is a project “about” and “in” the Soviet-era Russian gay argot/defense language. In this project, the Soviet-era, Russian gay argot/defense language is given a name – “Tematicheskiy” language (the language for those “in the know”) – and is treated as a complete, self-sufficient, and distinct language, separate from the standard Russian. In Родная речь/Mother Tongue, the Russian gay argot/defense language is conceptualized as a cultural treasure, a national language of the Russian-speaking LGBTQ community, and as a literary language fit for formal language instruction and high culture production, including written literature and publication.