HERETICAL IDENTITIES: GENDER, SELFHOOD, AND POWER IN ZAMIATIN'S WE.

In Evgenii Zamiatin's 1924 novel We, gender is one of the main vehicles for challenging the dystopian One State. The characters O-90, I-330, and eventually D-503 defy what I identify as the One State's hegemonic masculinity, which legitimizes one form of masculinity based on the denigration of feminine and non-traditional masculine identities. D-503 voices the State's misogynistic beliefs, but Zamiatin presents such scenes in ways that encourage readers to interpret his comments critically. Misogyny works as a device to distinguish between propaganda and reality. For example, D-503's idea of femininity proves to be an arbitrary substitute for qualities the State wishes to suppress. The One State's gender ideology thus operates as a system of power meant to force its citizens to conform with its values. Characters' play with gender supports a spectrum of personal expression that facilitates creative exploration and political action. In this paper, I reinterpret O-90's desire for a baby as a radical act of resistance against the State that tries to control her body. I demonstrate how I-330 utilizes gender as a performance meant to provide an alternative to the One State's gender ideology. Finally, I examine how D-503 discovers his individuality and political agency through his evolving experience of gender, expressed through his sexual relationship with I-330 and becoming a metaphorical mother to his text-a journey which parallels O-90's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]