Rowan Dowling

My research interests lie in Russian literature, LGBTQ+ lives and representation, gender and sexuality studies, speculative fiction, and game studies.

My current work analyses queer world-building in Russian sci-fi and fantasy. How are LGBTQ+ societies envisioned in utopian speculative fiction authored by queer and feminist writers on the one hand, and in anti-utopias written by homophobic authors on the other? Which elements of queer life—or stereotypes of queerness—are woven into the fabric of these worlds? How do these visions of the future reflect contemporary geopolitics and legislation?

The new project builds on the expertise I gained during my DPhil research, where I charted three decades of bisexual sources and voices from Russia (1993-2023). My thesis provided a holistic view of how bisexual themes, people, and characters have been (self-)represented across different media in the period. This was supported by AHRC, the Clarendon Fund, and Wadham College.