The emancipation of women and tragic motherhood as strategies of female subjectivity in the poetry of the Silver age (based on the lyrics of A. Akhmatova, M. Tsvetaeva, Z. Gippius and M. Lokhvitskaya)
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2026-3-90-99
The article is devoted to the study of the problem of the formation of female subjectivity in the poetry of the Silver Age. The turn of the 19th–20th centuries is characterized by a rethinking of cultural and literary norms, an increase in the number of female authors, and increased attention to issues of gender, female psychology, and sexuality. The research examines models of femininity, including the concepts of the «new woman», «superwoman» and Divine Sophia, as well as analyzes the historical reception of women’s creativity, often associated with patriarchal stereotypes and criticism of women’s creativity from the perspective of the conservative literary community. The material is based on the works of poets, whose work is of key importance for understanding the evolution of women’s identity in the literature of the Silver Age. The purpose of this article is to explore the themes of female emancipation and tragic motherhood as the main strategies for expressing female subjectivity in the poetry of the Silver Age, as well as to determine their role in the transformation of gender representations of the era. The research applied such scientific methods as cultural-historical, hermeneutic and gender, allowing to consider motherhood and female emancipation as interrelated elements of identity and artistic experience. As a result of the research, it becomes clear that women’s poetry at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries demonstrates a significant shift towards understanding female subjectivity, inner world and social status of women in Russian culture. A significant result of the conducted research is the identification of the internal intertwining of the theme of tragic motherhood and female emancipation, due to their common correlation with the social role of women. The artistic interpretation of the female poets of the period under review focuses on a consistent criticism of patriarchal ideas about the social and spiritual role of women, as well as the desire to assert her creative self-sufficiency. The rejection of the gender labeling of creativity by the poets under study is important: they oppose the fixation of literature on the “feminine” or “masculine” principle. The lyrics of the authors under study proclaim the concept of a “new woman” – a personality with inner strength and resilience.
Keywords: Poetry of the Silver Age, female emancipation, gender aspect, self-reflection, the motive of motherhood
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Issue: 3, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND LITERATURE OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD
Pages: 90 — 99
Downloads: 129