159:
poured the frustration and sheer power of her parenthood. Anna's struggles throughout to reconcile her intense love for her family with their parasitic lifestyles. The opening pages introduce Anna's daughter, Alyona, through a brief stolen segment of her diary, unveiling her chronic promiscuity and destructive incompetence. Alyona's rambunctious toddler, Tima, for whom Anna shows riveting affection aion, accompanies his grandmother during his mother's escapades. Anna's ex-convict son Andrei makes intermittent appearances at her communal apartment, looking for food and booze money. As the manuscript progresses, Petrushevskaya reveals the pitiful and terminal condition of Anna's mother in a mental hospital, and another illegitimate child of Alyona's. The narrative concludes with Alyona fleeing from the apartment with her children in the night.
286:. When prompted by an editor (before the publication of the novella) as to whether she sided with men or women, Petrushevskaya responded with "I'm on the side of the children.". Though her characters complain bitterly of Soviet and post-Soviet women's conditions, Petrushevskaya, nor New Women's Prose as a genre sprung from her work, minimizes "women's collusion in their own victimization." It might be concluded, then, that while Petrushevskaya introduced a blunt portrayal of contemporary Russian women's life in
230:
to feeling this distrust, the reader is further alienated and begins to outright dislike Anna when she harshly criticizes Alyona's diary, and even goes so far as to write in Alyona's voice. However, because Anna is not fully emotionally present, especially with regards to her relationship with her daughter, the reader is forced to supply the emotions that Anna cannot bring to her narrative, therefore making the experience of reading the novel all the more powerful.
216:
of her relationship with her daughter is accurate only in so far as it is a reflection of her relationship with her own mother. The novel ends on a redemptive note in which Anna shows that she is willing to forfeit everything- perhaps even her sanity- for her aging mother, and Alyona finds the strength to break away from the domineering Anna in order to be a better mother to her own children.
208:
The protagonist, Anna
Andrianovna, takes great pride in identifying herself as a storyteller and poet. Anna presents her tale as the story of her daughter, Alyona, and to some extent her son and grandchildren. She even sometimes goes so far as to write in her own version of Alyona's voice. Though she
229:
From very early in the novel, Anna's grandiose voice leads the reader to question the way she presents her reality. Later, as she recounts her interactions with minor characters by whom she has been duped, it becomes clear that Anna's interpretation of events is not entirely trustworthy. In addition
215:
Three generations of motherhood are present in the novel. The relationship most thoroughly explored is the one between Anna and her daughter Alyona. This relationship as depicted by Anna seems tumultuous and fraught with drama. However, as the novel progresses, the reader sees that Anna's portrayal
222:
All of the major characters in the novel are female. The male characters that do exist are often portrayed as untrustworthy, or are using the female characters for money, sex, or some other object. Additionally, both Anna and Alyona are unrelentingly chastised by their mothers for their choices in
267:
does typify
Petrushevskaya's dark sense of humor and candid portrayal of gritty urban life in post-Soviet Moscow; "unforgiving verbal authenticity" is a defining quality of all Petrushevskaya's work. Petrushevskaya's narrative style being "fueled by rumor, gossip, and polemic," her work suffered
158:
follows the struggles of the matriarchal Anna
Andrianovna as she holds together an emotionally unstable and financially decrepit family in early post soviet Russia. Writing in first-person, Petrushevskaya presents the novella as a manuscript Anna's family finds after her death, and into which she
243:
The novel is not chronological, but rather a series of anecdotes told by Anna. For example, stories of Alyona as a child, teenager, and mother are intermixed and often told without time markers. This makes it difficult for the reader to follow the action of the story or the plot, and adds to the
332:, No. 2, 1992. Copyright 1992 by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya. First published in English in 1994 by Pantheon Books, New York, and Virago Press Limited, London. English translation copyright 1994 by Sally Laird. Reprinted 2000 by arrangement with Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
276:
starkly contrasted traditional treatment of the issue in the early 1990s. Helen
Goscilo frames Petrushevskaya's "presumably unmotivated frankness" concerning the body as a break from a "feminine" mode of expression particular to only a few modern Russian women writers. Petrushevskaya's
306:
signifies the time of silence while Anna is surrounded by her sleeping family. By the end of the novel, however, the title comes to symbolize the loneliness and alienation Anna experiences at night after her family, no longer able to stand her forceful presence, leaves her.
281:
has since earned a reputation as a pillar of New Women's Prose, a genre of "bracing irreverence" and "complete lack of 'ladylike' squeamishness." Notably, however, Petrushevskaya does not take a particularly militant feminist stance, given the groundbreaking implications of
171:
Unsuccessful poet and narrator of the novella. Clinging to the
Russian literary tradition of the self-sacrificing matriarch or babushka, Anna views her life as a grand epic. Her self-centered delusions strain her relationship with her family, especially her daughter,
319:
came from
Petrushevskaya's childhood experience living with her family in Kuybyshev. When Petrushevskaya was five, her mother returned to Moscow while she remained in Kuybyshev with other family members to suffer the hardships of poverty and famine.
236:
Many scenes from the novel take place within Anna and her family's dwelling. The chaotic voice of the narrative is reflected in the chaotic way in which the space (in addition to other symbols of familial community, such as food) is shared.
262:
entered the scene on the border between mainstream and dissident literature just after the demise of the Soviet Union. Critics have acclaimed it as both
Petrushevskaya's strongest work and the standard mold for her distinctive voice.
623:
Vladiv-Glover, Slobodanka. "The New Mode of
Discourse in Post-Soviet Russian Fiction: Liudmila Petrushevskaia and Tatiana Tolstaia." Russian Postmodernism: New Perspectives on Post-Soviet Culture. Berghahn, 1999. 227โ98, 492. Print.
481:
Keeling, Tatiana V., and
Arizona State University. "Chapter 3." Surviving in Post-Soviet Russia: Magical Realism in the Works of Viktor Pelevin, Ludmila Petrushevskaya, and Ludmila Ulitskaya. ProQuest, 2008. 121-77.
209:
presents her tale as the story of her children's lives, as the novel progresses, it becomes apparent that the story is not about Anna's children, but about Anna herself and the way she relates them.
463:
Johnson, Maya. "Women and
Children First: Domestic Chaos and the Maternal Bond in the Drama of Liudmila Petrushevskaia," Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. 34, No. 1/2 (March/June 1992), pp. 97-112.
178:
Anna's daughter. With multiple children by multiple fathers, she is derided by her mother for her every action. However, this very criticism belies just how similar Alyona and Anna truly are.
716:
223:
partners. This creates a tension between the male and female characters, and often drives the male characters from the apartment, the main space of the novel.
711:
380:. However, Petrushevskaya scholar Helena Goscilo has noted a thematic similarity between Petrushevskaya's work and the films of Russian director
365:
354:
343:
620:
Parts, Lyudmila. "Down the Intertextual Lane: Petrushevskaia, Chekhov, Tolstoy," Russian Review, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Jan., 2005), 77โ89. Print.
472:
Woll, Josephine. "The Minotaur in the Maze: Remarks on Lyudmila Petrushevskaya," World Literature Today 67.1 (Winter 1993): 125-130. Print.
190:
Alyona's young son. Throughout most of the novella, is cared for by Anna, who dotes on him in an alarming and at times sexual manner.
29:
272:, when cynicism began to lose its appeal among the literary elite. Similarly, the author's evenhanded portrayal of physiology in
664:
290:, her frankness is less a political tool than an empathetic gesture, though it took scholars years to identify that purpose.
721:
701:
646:
652:
Profile of Petrushevskaya expert Helena Goscilo, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh
691:
706:
696:
421:
Doak, Connor. "Babushka Writes Back: Grandmothers and Grandchildren in Liudmila Petrushevskaia's Time: Night."
642:
Connor Doak, "Babushka Writes Back: Grandmothers and Grandchildren in Liudmila Petrushevskaia's Time: Night"
126:
42:
551:
Ed. Adele Marie Barker and Jehanne M. Gheith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. 297-311. Print.
196:
Anna's mother. Lives in a state home, but flashbacks highlight her uneasy relationship with her daughter.
144:
656:
627:
Cornwell, Neil. The Routledge Companion to Russian Literature. Psychology Press, 2001. Print.
573:
Smith, Melissa T. "Waiting in the Wings: Russian Women Playwrights in the Twentieth Century."
361:
350:
339:
315:
There is some conjecture that the inspiration for the relationships and feelings presented in
454:
Ed. Sona S. Hoisington. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1995, 111. Print.
130:
118:
434:
450:
Goscilo, Helen. "Mother as Mothra: Totalizing Narrative and Nurture in Petrushevskaia."
641:
577:. Ed. Toby W. Clyman and Diana Greene. London: Greenwood Press, 1994. 189-203. Print.
685:
381:
673:
651:
636:
269:
140:
52:
547:
Goscilo, Helen. "Perestroika and Post-Soviet Prose: From Dazzle to Dispersal."
637:
Josephine Wall, "The Minotaur in the Maze: Remarks on Lyudmila Petrushevskaya"
401:
28:
608:
Goscilo, "Perestroika and Post-Soviet Prose: From Dazzle to Dispersal," 302
560:
Zonina, M. Interview with Lyudmila Petrushevskaya. "Bessmertnaia liubov',"
254:
135:
647:"Russia's Last Writer," article on Petrushevskaya in the Financial Times
70:
184:
Anna's son. A troublemaker who often uses Anna for shelter and money.
536:
Fruits of Her Plume: Essays on Contemporary Russian Women's Culture
376:
No notable efforts have yet been made toward a film adaptation of
599:
Aiken, Susan Hardy. Dialogues. Duke University Press, 1994. Print.
523:
The Prose of Life: Russian Women Writers From Khrushchev to Putin
665:"Sometimes a Small Redemption: On Ludmilla Petrushevskaya" from
538:. Ed. Helena Goscilo. London: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. 135-164. Print.
452:
A Plot of Her Own: The Female Protagonist in Russian Literature.
360:
2000, United States of America, Northwestern University Press,
534:
Goscilo, Helen. "Speaking Bodies: Erotic Zones Rhetoricized."
588:
Voices from the Void: The Genres of Liudmila Petrushevskaia.
493:
Voices from the Void: The Genres of Liudmila Petrushevskaia.
33:
Cover of the 2000 Northwestern University Press edition
244:growing sense of disorder as the novel progresses.
102:
94:
86:
76:
66:
58:
48:
38:
338:1994, United States of America, Pantheon Books,
525:. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1999
252:Originally published in the dissident journal
349:1994, United Kingdom, Virago Press, Limited,
8:
143:in 1994. In 1992 it was shortlisted for the
21:
27:
20:
549:A History of Women's Writing in Russia.
393:
139:in 1992 and translated into English by
16:1992 novella by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya
717:Works originally published in Novy Mir
402:"1992 Russian Booker Prize Shortlist"
7:
712:Novels set in post-communist Russia
590:New York: Berghahn Books, 2000, 65.
575:Women Writers in Russian Literature
328:Originally published in Russian in
437:, "Petrushevskaia and Emptiness."
129:. It was originally published in
14:
423:Forum For Modern Language Studies
302:, sometimes translated simply as
125:) is a novella by Russian author
512:69.2 (Spring 1995): 394. Print.
298:In the beginning of the novel,
227:Unreliability of the Narrative-
508:, by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya.
504:Ziolkowski, Margaret. Rev. of
1:
495:New York: Berghahn, 2000, 64.
439:Russian Studies in Literature
674:Publishers Weekly review of
368:, Pub Date 11 October 2000
738:
346:, Pub Date 23 August 1994
658:The Literary Encyclopedia
122:
26:
133:in the literary journal
660:entry on Petrushevskaya
521:Sutcliffe, Benjamin M.
268:harsh criticism during
127:Lyudmila Petrushevskaya
43:Lyudmila Petrushevskaya
564:23 (November 1983): 6.
510:World Literature Today
425:47.2 (2011): 171. Web.
669:magazine, 2 Dec. 2009
586:Dalton-Brown, Sally.
491:Dalton-Brown, Sally.
248:Literary Significance
722:Novels set in Moscow
702:Novels about writers
562:Literatunraia gazeta
294:Explanation of Title
145:Russian Booker Prize
692:1992 Russian novels
324:Publication history
311:Development history
23:
707:Black comedy books
335:English Editions:
220:Gender/ Sexuality-
366:978-0-8101-1800-3
355:978-1-85381-701-4
344:978-0-679-43616-4
110:
109:
87:Publication place
729:
697:Satirical novels
609:
606:
600:
597:
591:
584:
578:
571:
565:
558:
552:
545:
539:
532:
526:
519:
513:
502:
496:
489:
483:
479:
473:
470:
464:
461:
455:
448:
442:
432:
426:
419:
413:
412:
410:
408:
398:
357:, Pub Date 1994
168:Anna Andrianovna
124:
78:Publication date
31:
24:
22:The Time: Night
737:
736:
732:
731:
730:
728:
727:
726:
682:
681:
676:The Time: Night
633:
618:
616:Further reading
613:
612:
607:
603:
598:
594:
585:
581:
572:
568:
559:
555:
546:
542:
533:
529:
520:
516:
506:The Time: Night
503:
499:
490:
486:
480:
476:
471:
467:
462:
458:
449:
445:
441:37.2 (2001):64.
435:Olga Slavnikova
433:
429:
420:
416:
406:
404:
400:
399:
395:
390:
378:The Time: Night
374:
326:
317:The Time: Night
313:
300:The Time: Night
296:
288:The Time: Night
284:The Time: Night
274:The Time: Night
265:The Time: Night
260:The Time: Night
250:
203:
165:
156:The Time: Night
153:
114:The Time: Night
95:Media type
79:
62:Russian/English
34:
17:
12:
11:
5:
735:
733:
725:
724:
719:
714:
709:
704:
699:
694:
684:
683:
680:
679:
671:
662:
654:
649:
644:
639:
632:
631:External links
629:
617:
614:
611:
610:
601:
592:
579:
566:
553:
540:
527:
514:
497:
484:
474:
465:
456:
443:
427:
414:
392:
391:
389:
386:
373:
370:
325:
322:
312:
309:
295:
292:
249:
246:
206:Story Telling-
202:
199:
198:
197:
194:
191:
188:
185:
182:
179:
176:
173:
169:
164:
161:
152:
149:
108:
107:
104:
100:
99:
96:
92:
91:
88:
84:
83:
80:
77:
74:
73:
68:
64:
63:
60:
56:
55:
50:
46:
45:
40:
36:
35:
32:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
734:
723:
720:
718:
715:
713:
710:
708:
705:
703:
700:
698:
695:
693:
690:
689:
687:
678:
677:
672:
670:
668:
663:
661:
659:
655:
653:
650:
648:
645:
643:
640:
638:
635:
634:
630:
628:
625:
621:
615:
605:
602:
596:
593:
589:
583:
580:
576:
570:
567:
563:
557:
554:
550:
544:
541:
537:
531:
528:
524:
518:
515:
511:
507:
501:
498:
494:
488:
485:
478:
475:
469:
466:
460:
457:
453:
447:
444:
440:
436:
431:
428:
424:
418:
415:
403:
397:
394:
387:
385:
383:
382:Kira Muratova
379:
371:
369:
367:
363:
358:
356:
352:
347:
345:
341:
336:
333:
331:
323:
321:
318:
310:
308:
305:
301:
293:
291:
289:
285:
280:
279:chef d'oeuvre
275:
271:
266:
261:
257:
256:
247:
245:
242:
238:
235:
231:
228:
224:
221:
217:
214:
210:
207:
200:
195:
192:
189:
186:
183:
180:
177:
174:
170:
167:
166:
162:
160:
157:
150:
148:
146:
142:
138:
137:
132:
128:
120:
116:
115:
105:
101:
97:
93:
89:
85:
81:
75:
72:
69:
65:
61:
57:
54:
51:
47:
44:
41:
37:
30:
25:
19:
675:
666:
657:
626:
622:
619:
604:
595:
587:
582:
574:
569:
561:
556:
548:
543:
535:
530:
522:
517:
509:
505:
500:
492:
487:
477:
468:
459:
451:
446:
438:
430:
422:
417:
405:. Retrieved
396:
377:
375:
359:
348:
337:
334:
329:
327:
316:
314:
303:
299:
297:
287:
283:
278:
273:
264:
259:
253:
251:
240:
239:
233:
232:
226:
225:
219:
218:
212:
211:
205:
204:
201:Major Themes
155:
154:
151:Plot Summary
134:
113:
112:
111:
18:
372:Adaptations
304:Night Time,
270:Perestroika
213:Motherhood-
141:Sally Laird
53:Sally Laird
686:Categories
667:The Nation
407:1 December
388:References
163:Characters
123:ะัะตะผั ะฝะพัั
49:Translator
330:Novy Mir
255:Novy Mir
136:Novy Mir
59:Language
172:Alyona.
131:Russian
119:Russian
71:Fiction
482:Print.
364:
353:
342:
234:Space-
181:Andrei
175:Alyona
90:Russia
39:Author
241:Time-
103:Pages
98:Print
67:Genre
409:2011
362:ISBN
351:ISBN
340:ISBN
193:Sima
187:Tima
82:1992
106:155
688::
384:.
258:,
147:.
121::
411:.
117:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
