Stories of our Grandmothers: How Modern Ukrainian Women's Literature Deconstructs the Soviet Myth about the Great Patriotic War

Abstract

The article analyses how contemporary women’s literature deconstructs the Soviet myth of the Great Patriotic War under the influence of contemporary Russian aggression. This myth defined the narrative of World War II as a heroic sacrifice of the Soviet people. As a result, the diversity of experiences was suppressed and the memory of them was not formed. Since independence, Ukrainian culture has been restoring the gaps in history and memory, which has become especially important in the context of the ongoing war. Women’s literature participates in this process by focusing on women’s experiences, which are usually marginalized in the national-focused narrative. This study aims to identify the contribution of women’s literature to the process of decolonization. The object of the study is such women’s novels as The Museum of Abandoned Secrets by Oksana Zabuzhko (as a precursor to the modern treatment of the topic), Amadoka by Sofia Andruhovych, Because it Hurts by Yevgenia Senik, Eva’s Apples by Khrystyna Kotsira and Faride by Iren Rozdobudko. The study found that women’s literature most often addresses the topics of women combatants, deportations, and the Holocaust. In this way, the authors contribute to the process of returning to national history. At the same time, the study demonstrates the complex interaction of nationality and gender in contemporary women’s literature. As women’s literature also contradicts the traditional nationally oriented discourse, emphasizing female agency and appealing to multinational experience (except Ukrainian, Jewish, and Crimean Tatar). This understanding of the theme of the Second World War by contemporary Ukrainian women’s literature creates a context for the perception of the specifically female experience of the current war and resists attempts at ideological manipulation around women’s roles.