S. V. KOVALEVSKAYA: «THE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES» AND IDENTITY CRISIS
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2017-7-144-149
The article deals with the study of the background of a unique female character formation, based on Sofia Kovalevskaya’s autobiographical story and A.-Sh. Leffler and Sofia Kovalevskaya’s (the younger) memories. The gender approach reveals a consistent inversion of traditional female roles in the fate of Kovalevskaya: unloved daughter, fictitious wife and nontypical mother, female scientist. For the analysis were taken the following works: the literary autobiography of Sofia Kovalevskaya «The Childhood Memories», the book «Sofia Kovalevskaya» by Anne Charlotte Leffler and the work «The Memories of Mother» by S. Kovalevskaya (the younger). S.V. Kovalevskaya’s «The Childhood Memories» reflects the first thirteen years of her life. The article deals with the role of family atmosphere in little Sonya’s personality development: the attitude of her mother, father, sister, governess, male relatives to her. Through childhood events both awareness of herself as an «unloved» daughter and at the same time a desire to prove that she is worth being loved and respected can be traced. Analyzes the key moments of Kovalevskaya’s complex nature formation: on the one hand - very motivated and hard-working, on the other hand - emotionally immature, vulnerable and childish.
Keywords: Sofia Kovalevskaya, memories, childhood, Anne Charlotte Leffler, education, gender studies
References:
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Issue: 7, 2017
Series of issue: Issue 7
Rubric: PROBLEMS AND POETICS OF THE RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF XIX-XX CENTURIES
Pages: 144 — 149
Downloads: 915