Feminism Narrative In Pushkin’s Medium-length Novels And Short Stories

As the famous Russian writer and poet, Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin(Александр Сергеевич Пушкин,1799-1837) is not only the founder of Russian literature but also establishes a model in such fields as poetry, fiction, drama and fairy tales. Moreover he is also the representative of the Russian romantic literature and the founder of realistic literature in nineteenth century. As for the female images recurring in Pushkin’s works, most research concentrated on the heroine Gongda Jiyana appearing in his verse novel “Evgeny Onegin”. In fact, just like his long novels, his novelettes also shape vivid Russian women images to express his concern, respect, appreciation and even worship for women. As the pioneer of women narrative in Russian literature, Pushkin is the first one to pay attention to women’s value and status. Therefore Pushkin’s women narrative has exerted a profound influence on Russian literary history.This thesis consists of the following five parts: the introduction states Pushkin’s status in literary history, and presents the literature review about the author and his works aiming at pointing out the value and significance of Pushkin’s feminist narrative. Chapter one makes a brief introduction about female worship existing in both traditional Russian culture and Pushkin’s female ideals, mainly focusing on such aspects as worship for Virgin Mary, adoration for Sophia and Pushkin’s virgin complex. In his works, what Pushkin emphasizes is that women should be respected and endowed with love rights and moreover women are worthy of being eulogized in literary works. Chapter two mainly discusses Pushkin’s feminist narrative appearing in his novelettes including the following two aspects: the feminist narrative under the women’s perspective and feminist narrative under men’s perspective. According to the first point, the female is the subject of self narration to show the power of women. And according to the second point, the narrator of the works is man. But in their eyes, women are not only the masters of their fate but also own individual spirit. Moreover, Pushkin speaks highly of women’s struggle spirit and breaks the traditional narrative structure focusing on men’s narration. Chapter three reveals the significance and influence of Pushkin’sfeminist writing on Russian literature. In concrete terms, it means the inheritance of traditional women worship in Russian culture, the breakthrough on male discourse, the influence on Russian literature resulting from the improvement of women’s literary status and the new narrative mode. In conclusion, the main idea is that Pushkin’s female characterization completely coincides with the traditional Russian women worship. With the aid of different gender perspectives, Pushkin clearly expresses his affirmation about the female awakening and striving for the independent personality. Therefore, it is obvious to make out the value of Pushkin’s feminist narrative.