UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Narrating the Self in the Mass Age : Olha Kobylianska in the European Fin-de-Siècle and Its Aftermath, 1886-1936 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3710d592 Author Ladygina, Yuliya Volodymyrivna Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Narrating the Self in the Mass Age: Olha Kobylianska in the European Fin-de- Siècle and Its Aftermath, 1886-1936 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Literature by Yuliya Volodymyrivna Ladygina Committee in charge: Professor Steven Cassedy, Co-Chair Professor Amelia Glaser, Co-Chair Professor Alain J.-J. Cohen Professor Deborah Hertz Professor Wm. Arctander O’Brien 2013 Copyright Yuliya Volodymyrivna Ladygina, 2013 All rights reserved The Dissertation of Yuliya Volodymyrivna Ladygina is approved, and is acceptable in quality and form for publication in microfilm and electronically: Co-Chair Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2013 iii Table of Contents Signature Page .................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements... .......................................................................................... vi Vita, Publications, and Fields of Study... .......................................................... vii Abstract of the Dissertation.............................................................................. viii Introduction: Olha Kobylianska – A Spectral-Syncretic Thinker Background and Context ............................................................................. 1 Statement and Definitions ............................................................................ 7 Overview of Dissertation ............................................................................ 13 Chapter 1: The Early Signs of Revolt, 1886-1894 1.1. Objectives ........................................................................................... 18 1.2. Early Years: Multi-Culturalism and Germanic Dominance ...................20 1.3. Sentimental Education by Marlitt: An Asset or a Liability? ...................24 1.4. Ukrainianness: Inheritance or Projection? .......................................... 27 1.5. Natalia Kobrynska: A Friend or a Rival? ..............................................32 1.6. Feminist despite Kobrynska ................................................................ 38 1.7. A Human Being: A Failure or an Alternative Feminism? ...................... 47 1.8. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 78 Chapter 2: The Mantle of the Myth Re-maker, 1895-1896 2.1. Objectives ........................................................................................... 80 2.2. Kobylianska's Reception of Nietzsche ................................................ 83 2.3. The Princess: Neither a Cinderella, nor a Feminist …. ....................... 91 2.4. Philosophical Complexity of The Princess… ..................................... 103 2.5. The Princess and Its Symbolism … .................................................. 113 2.6. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 129 Chapter 3: The Populist Trial, 1897-1902 3.1. Objectives ......................................................................................... 131 3.2. Peasant Themes in Kobylianska’s Early Fiction ................................134 iv 3.3. The Earth: Pro et Contra ................................................................... 153 3.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 175 Chapter 4: The Years of Revision, 1903-1913 4.1. Objectives ......................................................................................... 177 4.2. 1903 Autobiography: A Liferecord or a Strategic Projection? ............ 182 4.3. “The Thoughts of an Old Man” .......................................................... 187 4.4. Niobe ................................................................................................ 191 4.5. Over the Bridge ................................................................................. 215 4.6. After Situations: A Forecast or a Prophecy? ..................................... 233 4.7. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 247 Chapter 5: The Writer of Her Time, 1914-1936 5.1. Objectives ......................................................................................... 251 5.2. WWI Fiction: A Reality Check ........................................................... 253 5.3. Apostle of the Mob: Between the Right and the Left ......................... 277 5.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 300 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 303 Bibliography...................................................................................................... 311 v Acknowledgements This dissertation is a product of countless conversations with a great number of outstanding individuals. First of all, I would like to acknowledge my academic advisers Dr. Steven Cassedy and Dr. Amelia Glaser. It has been a great pleasure and honor to work with both of them. I am deeply grateful for their time, expertise, continuous guidance, and sincere enthusiasm about my work. Dr. Steven Cassedy and Dr. Amelia Glaser have made the writing of my dissertation a stimulating and rewarding journey. Next, I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation committee: Dr. Alain J.-J. Cohen initiated me into the world of psychoanalysis and led me to consider more carefully the importance of representations of unconscious in fiction; Dr. Wm. Arctander O’Brien introduced me to Nietzsche and guided me to explore Nietzsche’s influence on Ukrainian modernist writers; and Dr. Deborah Hertz set a wonderful example to follow and inspired me to probe ever deeper in my work. All three have generously offered advice and assistance as my dissertation project has taken shape. I am also grateful to the UCSD Russian Language Program instructor Rebecca Wells and the dedicated team at Revelle Humanities Program – Dr. Stephen Cox, Dr. Stanley Chodorow, Dr. John Lee, and Pamela Clark – who helped me grow as an educator. To everyone, thank you very much for being wonderful mentors, colleagues, and friends! vi Vita 2000 Bachelor of Arts, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine 2001 Master of Arts, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine 2006-2010 Teaching Assistant, Department of Literature University of California, San Diego 2011-2012 Research Assistant, Department of Literature University of California, San Diego Summer, 2012 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Literature University of California, San Diego 2012-2013 Teaching Assistant, Revelle College Humanities Program University of California, San Diego June, 2013 Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego 2013-2015 Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian, Department of German and Russian, Williams College Spring, 2014 Jaroslaw and Nadia Mihaychuk Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University Publications “Nikita Mikhalkov’s Cinematic Verdict on Contemporary Russia.” Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture, 11.4, December 2011 “The Early German Text of Olha Kobylianska’s First Novel The Princess: Transcription, Translation, Analysis.” Harvard Journal of Ukrainian Studies, forthcoming, 2014 Fields of Study Comparative Literature Slavic Studies Film Studies vii Abstract of the Dissertation Narrating the Self in the Mass Age: Olha Kobylianska in the European Fin-de- Siècle and Its Aftermath, 1886-1936 by Yuliya Volodymyrivna Ladygina Doctor of Philosophy in Literature University of California, San Diego, 2013 Professor Steven Cassedy, Chair Professor Amelia Glaser, Co-Chair This dissertation focuses on the literary oeuvre of Olha Kobylianska (1863-1942) – one of the most sophisticated Ukrainian prose writers in contemporary Ukrainian literature, and one of the most paradoxical intellectuals in the European fin-de-siècle, who started as a German writer, but eventually devoted her life’s work to modernizing Ukrainian literature. The study investigates the complex evolution and the dialogical nature of the multiplicity of socio-political discourses – particularly feminism, populism, socialism, Nietzscheanism, elitism, viii Marxism, Bolshevism, nationalism, and Fascism – in Kobylianska’s writings. Building upon contemporary literary and social theories – in particular, works by Freud, Bakhtin, Hroch, and Hermans – this dissertation argues that Kobylianska's complex dialogue with the diverse socio-cultural and political movements that sprang up in Europe at the turn of the twentieth century is representative of her socio-historical milieu. By placing Kobylianska’s writings within the matrix of the European fin-de-siècle and interwar period, the study thus not only re-defines Kobylianska’s engagement with the political,