Naisfiloloogi naeruväärsus ja ebamugavus hilisnõukogude Eesti kultuuris
Ridiculous and uncomfortable

Women philologists in late Soviet Estonian culture

Summary/Abstract: The article looks at the figure of the woman philologist in the 1970s–1980s Soviet Estonia. Although philology (defined as the study of language, literature, and folklore) was itself a reputable discipline, the character of the woman philologist stands out as ridiculous in the literary fiction of the era. She is depicted as an embittered, aging single woman who has failed to create a nuclear family and is disappointed in her career. The analysis underlines the motif of sexual coldness: male authors (Oskar Kruus, Mihkel Mutt, Juhan Viiding) ridicule women philologists as frigid, whereas texts by women authors (Ene Mihkelson, Ann Must, Aino Pervik) subtly convey a sense of being bound by “forced open-mindedness.”Patterns identified in literary prose are compared with interviews conducted with seven women who studied philology at the University of Tartu during the period in question. The interviewees mostly had families and enjoyed their job, so did not identify with the literary characters in this respect; rather, they pointed out difficulties with reconciling work and family life. In general, they denied being ridiculed or ill-treated due to their gender. However, their accounts expose notable gender disparities, such as the fact that most professors and other socially recognized philologists were men.It is concluded that in literary works by male authors, the woman philologist became a metonym for several demographic problems also discussed in contemporary print media: changing gender roles, gender gaps in education, divorces, falling birth rates. The motif of “forced open-mindedness” in works by female authors is interpreted as expressing discomfort with women’s role as a friend and muse. Although gender roles and women’s emancipation were a hot topic in late Soviet print media, the flesh and blood women philologists that were interviewed perceived this as something irrelevant to their personal lives. This, as well as the „forced open-mindedness,” seems to indicate that the language used to address these topics proved insufficient for many women.

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