Voices of the new Soviet woman : gender, emancipation and agency in letters to the Soviet State, 1924-1941
The focus of the thesis is the agency of women in communication with the Soviet authorities from 1924 until 1941. Its primary goal is to deduce from the language and content of their letters how women fashioned their public identities in dialogue with the utopian ideal of the 'New Soviet Woman' in the 1920s and 1930s. These 'public letters' are primarily drawn from the caches of letters sent from citizens to Soviet officials, organs and publications, which were read, catalogues, and archived, but never published at the time. In these letters, women often adopted and reproduced 'Bolshevik language', carefully crafting their roles as workers, peasants, revolutionaries, Soviet mothers and daughters in an ongoing process of negotiation with Soviet power. They crafted these narratives creatively, infusing them with their own perspectives and experiences. Although the October Revolution ostensibly 'emancipated' women from the oppression they suffered under tsarism, they remained objects of suspicion for Soviet policymakers and theorists, not least because of their reproductive capacities and traditional roles in the home. While older generations of women presented a 'risk' to the regime's success because of their
Parker, Hannah
Voices of the new Soviet woman : gender, emancipation and agency in letters to the Soviet State, 1924-1941. The focus of the thesis is the agency of women in communication with the Soviet authorities from 1924 until 1941. Its primary goal is to deduce from the language and content of their letters how women fashioned their public identities in dialogue with the utopian ideal of the 'New Soviet Woman' in the 1920s and 1930s. These 'public letters' are primarily drawn from the caches of letters sent from citizens to Soviet officials, organs and publications, which were read, catalogues, and archived, but never published at the time. In these letters, women often adopted and reproduced 'Bolshevik language', carefully crafting their roles as workers, peasants, revolutionaries, Soviet mothers and daughters in an ongoing process of negotiation with Soviet power. They crafted these narratives creatively, infusing them with their own perspectives and experiences. Although the October Revolution ostensibly 'emancipated' women from the oppression they suffered under tsarism, they remained objects of suspicion for Soviet policymakers and theorists, not least because of their reproductive capacities and traditional roles in the home. While older generations of women presented a 'risk' to the regime's success because of their
voices new soviet woman gender emancipation agency letter soviet state focus agency woman communication soviet authority primary_goal deduce language content letter woman fashion public identity dialogue utopian ideal new soviet woman public letter primarily draw letter send citizen soviet official organ publication read catalogue archive never publish time letter woman often adopt bolshevik language carefully craft role worker peasant revolutionary soviet mother daughter ongoing process negotiation soviet power craft narrative creatively infuse perspective experience although revolution ostensibly woman oppression suffer remain object suspicion soviet policymakers theorist least reproductive capacity traditional role home old generation woman present risk regime success