Reticence as a strategy of women’s autobiographies in soviet times: a case study of Ivanenko’s “Always in life”(1986)

Жигун, Сніжана Віталіївна (2021) Reticence as a strategy of women’s autobiographies in soviet times: a case study of Ivanenko’s “Always in life”(1986) Літературний процес: методологія, імена, тенденції (17). pp. 32-39. ISSN 2311–2433

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Abstract

The subject of the study is the system of reticence techniques in the women’s autobiography of Oksana Ivanenko, the  Ukrainian writer of  the  20th century. Western theorists of  women’s autobiography (Mary Mason, Estelle Jelinek) considered relativity, fragmentation, nonlinearity to  be its  defining qualities. However, the concept of Leigh Gilmore, who considered autobiography as a writing strategy that constructs its  object, allows us  to  raise the  question of  the  potential functions of  constructive techniques in this text. These and other studies analyse the autobiographies of women in the Western world, leaving aside the writings of Eastern Europeans, however, the works of those who had to live under Soviet conditions are of particular interest for various reasons. The aim of the proposed study is to show the peculiarities of the creation and functioning of the women’s autobiographics (Gilmore’s self-representation) in  ideological societies on  the  example of  Ivanenko’s memoirs “Always in  Life”. The research methodology is based on women’s studies and discursive analysis. As a  result of  the  study, it  has been found that in  Ivanenko’s memoirs the  theme of  creative self-realization and literature in general pushes aside the narrative that Western theorists consider to be the main one for women’s biography: comprehending their own female experience (first of all, love, marriage, motherhood). The relativity, embodied in the genre of the essay, allowed the author to talk about oneself, when she wanted it, and at the right moment to return to the pseudo-object. The non-linearity of  the  narrative helps emphasize e advantageous moments and avoid coerced chronology. However, fragmentation and heterogeneity allow the woman writer not to build a holistic narrative about oneself, but to offer “flickering” content to readers. Thus, feeling ideological pressure, the author escaped memories not only of the difficult period in Ukrainian history, but also of important events in her life, ignoring her true experience. This means that an autobiographical work may be called upon not to record a true experience but to create a socially acceptable version of the writer.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Key words: woman’s biography, relativity, fragmentation, nonlinearity, reticence techniques.
Subjects: Це архівна тематика Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Статті у журналах > Фахові (входять до переліку фахових, затверджений МОН)
Divisions: Це архівні підрозділи Київського університету імені Бориса Грінченка > Факультет української філології, культури і мистецтва > Кафедра української літератури, компаративістики і грінченкознавства
Depositing User: Сніжана Віталіївна Жигун
Date Deposited: 16 Sep 2021 08:07
Last Modified: 16 Sep 2021 08:07
URI: https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/37124

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