SUMMARY:

This essay is a contribution to the forum discussing Julia Vaingurt’s book Soft Matter: The Poetics of Weakness in Late Soviet Socialism (2025), which identifies “weakness” as a defining aesthetic and ethical strategy in late Soviet nonofficial culture. By analyzing authors who intentionally cultivated vulnerability and failure, the book illustrates how these artists rejected the state’s ideological obsession with heroism and power in favor of a shared, tentative humanity. The essay highlights the book’s dual temporality, linking the stagnation era to the present-day invasion of Ukraine, noting how its protagonists radically differ on the issue of Russian aggression. The author argues that choosing to be “weak” allows for a more honest, compassionate engagement with the world that rejects the dangerous allure of totalizing power.