Salomé (1861-1937) and Alina Bronsky (1978-)
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: CULTURAL AND SOCIAL BORDER CROSSINGS: GERMANY AND RUSSIA IN THE WRITINGS OF LOU ANDREAS- SALOMÉ (1861-1937) AND ALINA BRONSKY (1978-). Regina Ianozi, Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Directed By: Professor Elke P. Frederiksen, Department of Germanic Studies This study explores sociocultural discourses on Russia and Germany and examines the intercultural and gendered hybrid identity formation among Russian-German women in the texts of Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937) Fenitschka (1898), Russland mit Rainer (1900), and Rodinka (1923) and in Alina Bronsky’s novels (1978-) Scherbenpark (2008) and Die schärfsten Gerichte der tatarischen Küche (2010). The project employs an interdisciplinary approach in the analyses of texts by combining the methodologies of cultural and intercultural studies, German cultural studies, as well as feminist and gender studies. It further incorporates a historical overview of the major political events and economic relationships between Russia and Germany at the end of the nineteenth through the twentieth, and the beginning of the twenty first century. The study analyzes the influence that these events had on societal mainstream perceptions of the ‘Other’ during these periods. The discourse on Soviet/Russian and German cultural encounters as well as the concept of ‘Otherness’ particularly from a Russian-German perspective were investigated. The texts reveal the rich German cultural presence in Russia throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the social position of minorities in Soviet Russia in late twentieth century and in post-reunification Germany. It also looks at the ‘Woman Question’ and gender issues in both nations and the deviation from societal gender norms among Russian-German women. CULTURAL AND SOCIAL BORDER CROSSINGS: GERMANY AND RUSSIA IN THE WRITINGS OF LOU ANDREAS-SALOMÉ (1861-1937) AND ALINA BRONSKY (1978-). By Regina Ianozi Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Professor Elke P. Frederiksen, Chair Professor Gabriele Strauch Professor Julie Koser Professor Rose-Marie Oster Professor Marsha Rozenblit © Copyright by Regina Ianozi 2015 Dedication To my Parents ii Acknowledgements Over the past 7 years of my Graduate Studies at UMD I have received support and encouragement from my committee members, my friends, colleagues and my family to whom I am extremely grateful. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Elke Frederiksen, for her excellent guidance, caring, patience, and inspiration both academically and personally. I am grateful for the academic support I received from the faculty members in the Department of Germanic Studies, especially from the Department Chair, Dr. Peter Beicken, and my committee members Dr. Gabriele Strauch, Dr. Julie Koser, and Dr. Rose-Marie Oster—each of them have provided excellent advice and continuously encouragement—and to Dr. Marsha Rozenblit, who was willing to serve on my defense committee on short notice. I would not have been able to pursue my Ph.D. studies without the financial support of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at UMD—the SLLC community has been an inviting, supportive and inspiring place to work and study. I would like to express my deepest gratitude especially to Anthony Ianozi for his continuous support throughout the last 15 years and to Inna Cassery for her friendship and support. Finally, I thank all my nine siblings and above all my parents, Alexander and Maria Haag, for directly inspiring me to write about the subject in this dissertation and encouraging me throughout my life to pursue my dreams. iii Table of Contents Dedication ..................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... iv Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 I. Purpose and Significance of the Study .................................................................. 7 II. German-Russian/Soviet Political and Cultural Relationships: A Sociocultural and Politically Historical Overview ........................................................................ 14 III. Wilhelmine Germany and the Tsarist Russian Relationship around 1900 ....... 21 IV. Russian-German Cultural Encounters before, during and after World War I .. 24 V. Nazi Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union and the End of any Hope for Peace ....... 26 VI. German-Soviet Relations after 1945 ................................................................ 31 VII. Russian and German Cultural Encounters after 1990 ..................................... 33 VIII. Literature Review of Russian-German Literary Studies ................................ 34 Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework ............................................................................. 38 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 38 I. Introduction to Cultural Studies and German Cultural Studies ........................... 40 II. Intercultural Studies ........................................................................................... 47 1. Encountering the ‘Other’ Culture ............................................................... 47 2. Cultural and Intercultural Identity Development ........................................ 50 3. Intercultural Identification through Language ............................................ 52 III. Interculturalism and ‘German Literature’ ......................................................... 56 1. The Intercultural Text ................................................................................. 59 IV. Feminist and Gender Studies Perspective......................................................... 62 1. The Development of Feminist Culture within Germany ............................ 62 2. Gender Studies ............................................................................................ 63 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 66 Chapter 2: Interculturality, the Woman’s Position, and the Persistence of Social and Cultural Dichotomies in Lou Andreas-Salomé ’s Fenitschka .................................... 67 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 67 1. The Intercultural Lou Andreas-Salomé : Biographical Overview ...................... 75 II. Salomé ’s own Emancipation ............................................................................. 91 III. German, Russian, and German-Russian Socio-Cultural Norms: Interculturality and Gender Discourses across Nations ................................................................. 100 IV. Lou Andreas-Salomé Questions the ‘Woman Question’ in Fenitscha: Women’s Stagnant Position on Social Issues ........................................................................ 130 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 155 Chapter 3: Salomé’s Russland mit Rainer and Rodinka ........................................... 157 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 157 1. Salomé ’s Loss of ‘Heimat’ and Rediscovery of ‘Rodina’ ............................... 159 II. Encountering Russia ......................................................................................... 177 III. Russian and German and Russian-German Cultures in Salomé s’ Rodinka .. 190 IV. ‘Rodina’ and ‘Heimat’ of the Germans in Russia .......................................... 194 iv V. The Intercultural ‘Woman Question’ within Russian Society in Rodinka ...... 210 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 215 Chapter 4: Alina Bronsky’s Intercultural and Social Border Crossings in Scherbenpark and Die schärfsten Gerichte der tatarischen Küche .......................... 217 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 217 I. Transnational and Intercultural Discourse and the Encounter with the Soviet Culture................................................................................................................... 225 II. Anti-Semitism in the ‘Classless’, ‘Marxist’ Nation ......................................... 228 II. Cultural and Ethnic Minorities in the Soviet Union: An Intercultural Encounter with a ‘Tatarka’ ..................................................................................................... 233 IV. Soviet Every-day Life ..................................................................................... 237 V. Germany as the ‘Other’ .................................................................................... 246 VI. Transnationalism through Music and Interculturality through Cuisine: ‘The Melting Pot’, ‘The Tossed Salad’ or the Central-Asian ‘Plov