Women and Gender in 18th-Century Russia by Wendy Rosslyn (review)

Abstract

MLR, 99.4, 2004 1125 at the time of Catherine the Great. Alluding to the idea that the Russian Empire was an 'undergoverned' one, Hartley observes that this 'is less true' (p. 108) for its capital, although the plethora of structures often resulted in inefficiencies,notably the 'overlapping of functions' (p. 111). The last three essays are weighted more towards the early nineteenth century, though not exclusively. Wendy Rosslyn provides a fascinating discussion of the city's actresses, highlighting the covert prostitution that characterized many of their rela? tionships with members of the audience and officialsof the theatrical administration. Rosslyn also argues that lewd male behaviour around actresses was one ofthe principal ways in which young men subverted prevailing morality. Lindsey Hughes discusses the presentation of the city in the writings of Pavel Svin'in, particularly his fivevolume guide, The Sights of St Petersburg and its Environs, published between 1816 and 1828 and designed to inspire patriotism and reverence for Russia. Hughes concentrates on the sights associated with Peter the Great, such as the Cathedral of Peter and Paul and Peter's cabin. In the final contribution, Patrick O'Meara provides an intriguing glimpse into the experiences of the Decembrists who were incarcerated in the Peter and Paul fortress between the abortive revolt in December 1825 and July 1826, when fiveof the conspirators were hanged. As a volume of conference proceedings, the nine essays inevitably reflect the rich diversity of approaches to the history of the city,but collectively they offera fascinat? ing and scholarly tour of a complex place. It is a book that will be of interest not only to aficionados of St Petersburg itself, but also to those interested in modern Russia and the eighteenth century. University of Dundee Murray Frame Women and Gender in i8th-Century Russia. Ed. by Wendy Rosslyn. Aldershot and Burlington, VT: Ashgate. 2003. X+ 283PP. ?45. ISBN 0-7546-0505-1. Gender-based research has transformed Russian and Slavonic studies over the last two decades. However, as Wendy Rosslyn points out in her introduction to this edited col? lection ofessays on women and gender issues in the eighteenth century,it is the subse? quent two centuries that have been the focus of much gender-based work in the field as a whole, largely for reasons of accessibility of source material. Rosslyn's introductory bibliographical essay on existing research in the eighteenth century provides a clear overview of both the achievements and the inevitable limits of so 'young' a field: while approximately two hundred discrete items are listed in the footnotes to the discussion of various areas in which research has been concentrated (bibliographies, individual women, and aspects ofcultural lifesuch as education, the literarysphere, the law, ete), Rosslyn also remarks on the absence to date of comprehensive social and literary his? tories of Russian women in this period (pp. 5, 13). Although Women and Gender in i8th-Century Russia makes no claims to fillthis gap, it nevertheless makes an impor? tant contribution as one of very few existing collections (the others are in the Frauenliteraturgeschichte series), and as the only work in English on gender and women in the social and cultural history ofthe 'long' eighteenth century in Russia (1700-1825). This collection's value derives not just from its singular status in the field,but, even more importantly, from the wealth of historical information it reveals, drawn from a diversity of unpublished and rare sources. These include private materials such as correspondences and memoirs, as well as a range of materials in differingdegrees of public circulation, such as official court and legislative records, journals, texts, and even some visual images. The main subjects of the thirteen essays fall into the follow? ing broad categories: definitions of femininity; the social lives of upper-class women; ii 26 Reviews cultural practice and upper-class women; and the experiences of women outside the upper classes. In the firstgroup, Lindsey Hughes argues that the idea of Petrine-era 'emancipation' of gender roles (particularly through dress) does not take into account the confusion of behavioural codes which prevailed at the time, enforced in particular through traditionalist etiquette manuals. Carolin Heyder and Arja Rosenholm's fol? lowing piece...