Summary
Lorde begins this essay, not with a description of her trip to Russia, but with a description of the dreams she has about the country long afterward. The dreams are fractured and various: in one, Lorde is making love to a woman who becomes sick, and is shocked when she realizes that she can take the woman to a doctor without worrying about medical bills. In a footnote, Lorde explains the context of her trip to Russia. In 1976, she was invited to attend the Africa-Asian Writers Conference, sponsored by the Union of Soviet Writers. This essay, according to the footnote, is compiled from journal entries written on that trip. The essay, rather than progressing in a linear way through Lorde’s experiences in Russia, jumps back and forth between sketch-like observations and cool analysis. Much of this analysis dwells on similarities and differences between Russia and the United States. Rather than describing each individual interaction or experience Lorde records, here we’ll highlight some of the most important and striking. When Lorde boards her plane to Moscow, she makes eye contact with a tough-looking older Russian woman. The woman is wearing various medals, which Lorde will later find out are awards for being a “Hero of the “Republic.” Lorde is taken aback by the lack of animosity in the woman’s gaze, since, in America, she is accustomed to a certain tension in all eye contact between a Black and a white person. That very evening in Moscow, Lorde is keenly aware of the similar atmosphere and appearance the city bears to New York. While she notes differences—greater politeness among people in Moscow, frigid weather, cleaner metro stations, and, notably, no Black people—her overwhelming feeling is one of familiarity. The greatest difference for most people, Lorde reflects, is the low cost of necessities. Utilities, food, and housing are far cheaper and more readily available than in the United States.
After spending time in Moscow, Lorde travels to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. While she compares Moscow to New York, Tashkent reminds her of Accra, Ghana. She notes an intensity and warmth to people in Tashkent that differs from the cool politeness of Moscow’s residents. She also notices that people in Uzbekistan are visibly Asian, and is intrigued by the contrasting race relations she sees in Russia and the United States. While Russia has state-imposed systems for controlling inequality, it does not seem to be invested in changing racist attitudes. America, Lorde muses, has the opposite problem. Each nation is lacking in one way or another. However, Lorde wonders about the treatment of Russian Jews and homosexuals, and finds that her guides and translators are evasive regarding these questions. In fact, despite the activism-tinted quality of the events held at her conference, Lorde is dismayed by the total lack of conversation about the plight of African Americans. One day, in the beautiful Uzbek city of Samarkand, Lorde and her translator (an Ethiopian student in Moscow named Fikre) run into a man who is deeply curious about Lorde, primarily because she is Black. He asks Lorde to confirm rumors he has heard about the way African Americans are treated. The rumors he cites are generally half-true. For instance, he believes that Black people in America are forbidden from attending school and must pay for their own healthcare. Lorde corrects him, saying that they can go to school but generally find it harder to get jobs after, and that, in fact, all Americans have to pay for healthcare, and may die if they cannot. Finally, before she leaves, Lorde has a touching evening of translated conversation with an Indigenous Russian woman named Toni who is speaking at the conference. They kiss, hold hands, and exchange compliments. Lorde feels a kinship with Toni, whose people, the Chukwo, are on the verge of disappearing. In fact, Lorde writes, she often feels that her own people are at risk of extinction in spite of their greater numbers.
At the close of the essay, Lorde reflects that Russia is not so different from America. It has more even and affordable distribution of food and other basics, but does not appear to be classless or totally equal. She is also aware that it has oppressive carceral structures and censorship, though as she suggests, America does as well. However, she notices one major difference. Everyone in Russia seems to read often and widely. In Uzbekistan, African American author Ernest J. Gaines’ latest book is the biggest bestseller—whereas in America, people rarely seek out translated Russian books.
Analysis
Contemporary readers should take note, as they read this essay, that the “Russia” Lorde describes is actually the USSR. This means, for one thing, that the now-sovereign country of Uzbekistan was, at the time, part of the Soviet Union. It also means that Lorde is visiting a country often viewed at the time as the polar opposite of the United States. Every observation made about the USSR—its appearance, culture, people, and government—will inevitably be viewed as a comparison to American culture. Lorde acknowledges this and makes these comparisons explicit, even while she avoids simple binary evaluations. One way in which she manages to stay away from a straightforward comparison, which might appear harsh or judgmental (either towards Russia or the United States) is through a conversational, almost stream-of-consciousness tone. The very choice to preserve the essay as a compilation of journal entries, rather than to shape those entries into a more streamlined argument, is a conscious contribution to this tone. Rather than present herself as a cool critic of either culture, Lorde gives readers the impression that she is simply describing her raw experiences and emotions, occasionally offering a casual analysis, like a friend sharing thoughts off the top of her head. This is notable at the start of the essay, for instance, when Lorde takes note of the differences between Soviet and American healthcare systems. By noting these differences in a dream (and, later, as part of a very casual interaction with a stranger), Lorde presents them as uncurated and even uncontrolled musings rather than highly informed comparisons.
This general tonal choice gives readers, regardless of their impression of the USSR, an opportunity to approach the topic with more openness and less defensiveness than they otherwise might. Rather than feeling a need to argue with Lorde's opinions, as they might if she presented her observations through a more straightforward traditional essay, they empathize with Lorde as a friendly first-person narrator and observe alongside her. At the end of the essay, Lorde concludes that Russia and America are in many ways more similar than they are different. They have different mechanisms of inequality and repression, she says, but they differ mostly in specifics and degree. However, using her understated, inquiring tone, Lorde hints that readers should take evidence of Russia’s repressiveness as a cue to reexamine America's, rather than as a reassuring reminder that America is, at least, better than its nemesis. Her refrain of “So what’s new?” subtly asks American readers to wonder if their critiques of the USSR might be just as easily made of the US, and, if so, how these domestic problems might be corrected.
