Kokhanovskaya (N. S. Sokhanskaya): A Historical-Literary Portrait

Abstract

The article introduces the biography and work of the forgotten writer Kokhanovskaya (N.S. Sokhanskaya; 1823–1884), who belonged to the generation of Dostoevsky and Iv. Aksakov, but came into contact – through her apprenticeship with P. A. Pletnev – with Pushkin’s circle. Having spent her entire life in a real seclusion on a distant farm in the steppe, Sokhanskaya not only achieved all-Russian fame and reader’s love, but also acquired many companionship with her among Petersburg and Moscow writers and public figures. A significant period of her work falls on the time of collaboration in Slavophil publications, which predetermined the turn in the “reputation” of the writer in an increasingly liberalizing society: she was waiting for ridicule, oblivion and falling into the category of “literary exiles”. At present, interest in this forgotten writer is reviving in Russia, and the publication of her collected works is being prepared. The literary fate of Kokhanovskaya is a long path of self-education, temperation with fame and return to her solitary work.

Extended abstract:

The article is devoted to the writer of Ukrainian-Russian-Polish origin Nadezhda Stepanovna Sokhanskaya (literary pen name Kokhanovskaya; 1823–1884). Using the comparative and biographical method, for the first time in Russian literary studies, the author describes and evaluates main events in biography and literary fate of the writer, who belonged to the generation of Fedor Dostoevsky and Ivan Aksakov, but had begun her literary career under the aegis and with the help of Petr A. Pletnev. This critic, writer and scholar, one of the closest friends of Alexandre Pushkin, in his correspondence with Sokhanskaya, has introduced her into the ideals of Pushkin’s era and circle. Pletnev has noticed and underscored in the works of a young graduate of the Kharkov Institute of Noble Maidens “imagination, feeling and mind” and helped her with publications and recognition. Having spent her entire life in a real seclusion on a distant farm in the Ukrainian steppe, Sokhanskaya has managed not only to achieve all-Russian fame and reader’s love, but also developed close ties with Petersburg and Moscow literary and public figures. A significant period of her work falls on the time of collaboration in Slavophil publications (Slavophiles considered her a representative of the “positive direction” in Russian literature, which they believed to be the adversary of the prevailing “negative direction”, or westernized social and critical literary trend). These circumstances predetermined the turn in the writer’s reputation in an increasingly liberalizing society: she was ridiculed, forgotten and fell into the category of “literary exiles” (the term coined by Vassily Rozanov). Kokhanovskaya’s understanding of literary work as a “sacred” or “prophetic” ministry was believed to be “outdated”. At present, interest in this forgotten writer is being revived in Russia, and the publication of her collected works is being prepared in the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin’s House) of Russian Academy of sciences. The long literary path of “steppe young lady” Kokhanovskaya was the one self-education, temptation by fame and return to her solitary work. The article traces main points of the writer’s biography, characterizes her most important works and describes the features of her literary style, such as lyricism, new imagery, humor, brevity, bright folk language, etc. The author attempts to distinguish these features from the traditional understanding of “women’s prose”. An analysis of the entire corpus of Kokhanovskaya's works and the literary reception of her writing allows the author to conclude, that her work is not lost on the rich “literary map” of Russian literature.