“CRISIS OF MASCULINITY” IN THE RUSSIAN FEMALE PROSE OF THE LATE 20TH CENTURY

One of the media topics of female prose in the late 20th century was the attempt to present the crisis of masculinity. In response to aesthetical suppositions in female prose, women writers relocated male characters from the public to the private field. In showing weakness, distancing, and emotional instability of males, they busted the myth of masculinity based on the so-called of a man of action, capable of deeds of valor. The writers concerned convincingly created a new type of character that objected to the canonical images of men presented in Russian classics. The article investigates works by Maria Arbatova, Ludmila Petrushevskaya, Rada Polistchuk, Ludmila Ulitskaya, Svetlana Vasilienko, and others.