Physycality as an Artistic Statement in the Works of Ekaterina Bakunina

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/Emigr.3034-3518-2025-3-295-312
  • УДК / UDC: 821.161.1.0
  • EDN:

    https://elibrary.ru/XDVXPH
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • For Citation:

    Klimova, T.M. “Physycality as an Artistic Statement in the Works of Ekaterina Bakunina.” Emigrantica. Issue 3, ed.-comp. E.R. Ponomarev, acad. ed. E.R. Ponomarev, ed. A.V. Protopopova, M.S. Shchavlinskii, D.V. Zaitsev. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2025, pp. 295–312. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.22455/Emigr.3034-3518-2025-3-295-312
  • Author 1: Tatyana M. Klimova
  • Information about the Author 1:

    Tatyana M. Klimova, Chief Bibliographer, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn Center for Russia Abroad, Nizhnyaya Radishchevskaya St., 2, 109240 Moscow, Russia.
    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5515-5695
  • Abstract: The article examines the phenomenon of corporeality in the works of Ekaterina Bakunina — her Poems (1931) and novel The Body (1933) — through the lens of “écriture feminine” concepts developed by H. Cixous, L. Irigaray and J. Kristeva. The author demonstrates how Bakunina, a representative of the “unnoticed generation” of Russian émigrés, anticipated feminist studies by creating a unique “feminine discourse”. This discourse is based on the desexualization of the female body, the search for identity beyond patriarchal norms, and a radical reinterpretation of the “human document” through intimate experience. Particular attention is paid to innovative depictions of motherhood, menstruation, abortion and aging — topics taboo in 1930s literature. The analysis reveals how corporeality in Bakunina’s works becomes not only an instrument of self-knowledge but also a form of resistance to gender stereotypes in émigré circles. The critical reaction of contemporaries (V. Khodasevich, Z. Gippius, G. Adamovich), who accused the writer of “pornography” and “shamelessness”, is examined as evidence of the disruptive potential of her texts for traditional notions of femininity. The article contributes to the study of gender aspects in Russian émigré literature, revealing the previously underestimated significance of Bakunina’s work for the history of feminist thought.
  • Keywords: Russian emigration, physicality, Ekaterina Bakunina, feminist studies
  • Страницы / Pages: 295–312

References

  1. Bakhtin, M. Estetika slovesnogo tvorchestva [The Aesthetics of Verbal Art], comp. by S. Bocharov. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1979. 424 p. (In Russian)
  2. Demidova, O.R. “Diskursy telesnosti v literature russkoi emigratsii” [“Discourses of Corporeality in Russian Émigré Literature”]. Bol’shie temy kul’tury v slavianskikh literaturakh [Large Themes of Culture in Slavic Literatures.], vol. 9. The Body. Izd-vo Vrotslavskogo un-ta Publ., 2011, pp. 47–54. (In Russian)
  3. Irigaray, L. “Pol, kotoryi ne edinichen” [“Sex Which Is Not One”]. Vvedenie v gendernye issledovaniia [Introduction to Gender Studies,], part II, ed. by S.V. Zherebkin. Kharkiv, KhTsGI Publ.; St. Petersburg, Aleteia Publ., 2001, pp. 127–135. (In Russian)
  4. Kristeva, J. Izbrannye trudy: Razrushenie poetiki [Selected Works: The Destruction of Poetics]. Moscow, ROSSPEN Publ., 2004. 656 p. (Series: “Kniga sveta”). (In Russian)
  5. Kristeva, J. “Izoliatsiia, identichnost’, opasnost’, kul’tura” [“Isolation, Identity, Danger, Culture”]. Vestnik Evropy, 2005, no. 15, pp. 227–241. (In Russian)
  6. Kristeva, J. Sily uzhasa: esse ob otvrashchenii [Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection]. St. Petersburg, Aleteia Publ., 2003. 256 p. (Series: “Gendernye issledovaniia”). (In Russian)
  7. Podoroga, V.A. Fenomenologiia tela. Vvedenie v filosofskuiu antropologiiu [Phenomenology of the Body: Introduction to Philosophical Anthropology]. Moscow, Ad Marginem Publ., 1995. 340 p. (In Russian)
  8. Cixous, H. “Khokhot Meduzy” [“The Laugh of the Medusa”]. Vvedenie v gendernye issledovaniia [Introduction to Gender Studies], part II, Anthology, ed. by S.V. Zherebkin. Kharkiv, KhTsGI Publ; St. Petersburg, Aleteia Publ., 2001, pp. 799–821. (In Russian)
  9. Timofeeva, O. “‘Eto bez slov poniatno iz menstrual’noi krovi...’” [“‘It Is Clear Without Words From Menstrual Blood…’”]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2005, no. 2, pp. 346–350. (In Russian)
  10. Martin, E. The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction: with a New Introduction. Boston, Beacon Press, 1992. 308 p. (In English)
  • Received: June 12, 2024
  • Approved after Reviewing: January 10, 2025
  • Publication Date: December 29, 2025

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