Transformation of an autobiographical narrative in Russian gender-marked prose of the 1990s-2020s

Abstract

An autobiographical narrative has been an integral feature of women’s writing throughout the existence of women’s literature. At the present stage, within the framework of gender-marked prose, its functional field is expanding. The transformation of the autobiographical narrative in the works of the 1990s - 20s is due to the very process of the gender-marked literature formation. In this regard, we can talk about two main options for its functioning. On the one hand, the autobiographical narrative is presented as an expression of a certain femme agenda, starting from the ideology of sisterhood, which was significant for Russian fem literature of the 1990s and early 2000s, and ending with the ideas of intersectional feminism, which are relevant for the circle of authors of the late 2010s and early 2020s. On the other hand, the dynamics of the autobiographical narrative makes it possible to trace the process of the formation of a kind of “canon” in gender-marked prose, which allows not only differentiating it in relation to the literature of the grand canon, but also identifying its specificity in the context of all female prose.

In this regard, it is appropriate to talk about three variants of the autobiographical narrative transformation, coinciding with three fairly distinct periods in the formation of Russian gender-marked prose. At the first stage, the functioning of the autobiographical narrative marks the gender nature of the text, emphasizing not just the deliberate marginality and peripheralness of the narrative instance, but, mainly, its ability to convey a unique female experience. At the second stage, the autobiographical narrative participates in the formation of a gender-oriented reading model as the basis for the “crystallization” of the female narrative canon. At the third stage, the plot acting out of the narrative model takes place.