Motyw choroby w powieści Jeleny Czyżowej "Czas kobiet"
The Motif of Disease in the Novel "The Time of Women" by Elena Chizhova

Author(s): Monika Zielińska-Dziubińska
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Ukrainian Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: feminine prose; Leningrad; foster grandmothers; Soviet Union; virus; communism; cancer
Summary/Abstract: In this article, an analysis is conducted of the concept of disease as one of the motifs addressed by Elena Chizhova in her novel "The Time of Women". This motif was presented by the author in two dimensions: metaphorical and physical. The protagonist Antonina Bespalova, working in health-detrimental conditions and a single mother of a girl suffering from inborn mutism, is “infected” with the virus of communism. However, the virus of propaganda, destroying an individual’s autonomy, does not affect her love towards her daughter. Driven by the imperative of love, the woman aims to protect her daughter from the destructive influence of the communist system at any price. Exploitation, difficult living conditions in the Soviet Union of the 1960s as well as the factory authorities’ interference in the protagonist’s private life lead to her physical and psychological exhaustion, resulting in cancer-induced premature death.

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