Women And Historical Memory:An Analysis Of Women’s Times

Elena Chizhova, a renowned modern Russian writer, whose novels 《Laura》 and 《Woman Prisoner》 were nominated for Russian Booker Award2003and2005respectively, won the2009Russian Booker Award for the novel Women’s Times, set in a1960s’ communal apartment in Soviet Union. Antonina, the protagonist, seduced by a young Leningrad man, gives birth to a little girl Susana, incapable of speaking before seven, and dies of cancer later. Antonina’s roommates, three old ladies, decide to raise Susana. The novel is written with plain language but overflown with emotions. Sergei Gandlevsky, Chairman of the judging jury of2009Russian Book Award, recalls:《I seldom cry, but when I was reading the novel I had the impulse to cry for a kind of emotions that I have not felt for long.》Women’s Times achieves success artistically in various aspects. Elements, such as shift of the narrator, inserting of fairy tale and dream world and peculiar language, allow the novel to achieve highly in art.Taking into account the position and influence of the witer and the novel in Russian literature and the margin of its research in China, the author of this thesis approaches Women’s Times from three perspectives, theme, charaters and artistic features. The author aims to:1. Analyze the theme:wrtier’s representation of and reflection over history2. Probe the characters in Women’s Times3. Conclude the peculiar artistic features of Women’s TimesThe thesis consists of introduction,3chapters, conclusion and bibliography.The introduction indicates the significance, both theoretically and practically, creativity, aim and task of the research. Besides, it also briefs generally the writer’s writing experiences and the main content of Women’s Times. Chapter One 《Representation of and Reflection Over History》 aims to analyze the theme of the novel. Twentieth century is an era of changes and clamities for Soviet Union. Several significant historic events, such as First World War, The February Revolution, The October Revolution, Collectivization of Agriculture, The Great Repression, Second World War and The Disintegration of the Soviet Union, greatly affected the civic life in Soviet Union. The writer, through description of the protagonist’s daily life, represents the history of1960’s Soviet Union, which reminds the public of the history in oblivion. The author analyzes the representation of history with the New Historicism theory,《Subversion》 and 《Suppression》. The novel goes deeper in its content with its reflection over history.Chapter Two is 《Characters in Women’s Times》. The protagonists of the novel are five females:Antonina, three old ladies and Susana. Threee old ladies, Glyceria, Evdokia and Ariadne, are representatives of the old Russian culture. They are kind-hearted and different in their personalities. Antonina, representative of culture in Soviet Union, is sensitive and strong in her mind. However, confronted with cruel life, she can not hold her life in her own hands, only to die pathetically. Susana, inheritor of the old Russian culture, is not able to speak until seven. But, gifted in painting, she makes herself a great painter in the end.Chapter Three,《Artistic Features in Women’s Times》, aims to analyze the artistic features in the novel. It is amazing for a140-page novel to describe daily life covering over100years, which, together with the shift of narrators, inserting of fairy tale, dream world and religious stories and peculiar language, renders the novel highly artistic.Conclusion summarizes the whole thesis. The author probes the theme of the novel and analyzes with details artistic features and charaters. This thesis deepens readers’ understanding and knowledge over the novel and provides reference for other researchers of the novel.Interpretation of Women’s Times is an experience of purifying soul and reviewing history. The disasters that war and revelution bring to people in Soviet Union are shocking to the readers. As a representation of and reflection over history, Women’s Times deserves researh and analysis, which will greatly helps the remolding of Russians’ memory of history.