Female Individuality and Social Conventions of the Enlightenment in the Correspondence between Valentin Jamеrai-Duval and Anastasia Sokolova

Abstract

This article examines the interpretation of the theme of the manifestation of female individuality in mid-eighteenth-century Russia on the basis of the correspondence (1762–1774) between Valentin Jamerai-Duval, a French philosopher and autodidact in the Austrian service, and Anastasia Sokolova, a lady-in-waiting to Empress Catherine II, married to De Ribas. At the beginning of the correspondence, Jamerai-Duval’s interest in Russia, like that of many Europeans, is based on inaccurate book sources and common stereotypes. Their conceptual motifs are “barbarism”, ignorance and violence, both in the family and in society. The dialogue between the two correspondents gradually overcomes these stereotypes. They discuss a wide range of issues related to the expression of the female personality: choice of spouse and celibacy, love and sensual pleasure in marriage; criteria of attractiveness (physical and mental beauty), following fashion and individual style, etc. Special attention is paid in the correspondence to the questions of women’s education and intellectual development, in which reading plays an important role. The Russian-Turkish war of 1768–1774 reactivated the issue of violence against women, this time as a need to protect them from the despotism of the infidels in the Ottoman Empire. Ignorance and religious prejudice in the environment of the Old Believers are also seen by the correspondents as a manifestation of tyranny over women’s personality.