Gender subjectivity of the male characters in Russian women’s fantasy novels Cover Image

Genderowa podmiotowość bohatera‑mężczyzny w rosyjskiej kobiecej fantasy
Gender subjectivity of the male characters in Russian women’s fantasy novels

Author(s): Izabela Zawalska
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: gender; fantasy hero; female fantasy; patriarchal/matriarchal outlook

Summary/Abstract: The article in question is an attempt to read Russian fantasy genre by female authors Jelena Chajecka and Maria Siemionowa from the perspective of gender studies. What the author of the article discovers in the worldviews and subjectivities of the analysed novel’s main characters, is the features of matriarchal (in the novel by Siemionowa Волкодав) and patriarchal (in the series of novels by Chajecka entitled Мракобес) structures. In the male character’s reactions to the surrounding world, its events, and a woman, his subjectivity, being a reflection of the above-mentioned social relations, is effectuated. The author also shows the picture of woman dynamically changing under masculine the male character’s interpretation: form a goddess to a prostitute, from reverence to fear of her of her naturalness and corporeality.

  • Issue Year: 2011
  • Issue No: 21
  • Page Range: 88-101
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish