Sharapenkova N., Safron E. TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEMININE IN PETER HOEG’S MISS SMILLA’S FEELING FOR SNOW AND ERIK AXL SUND’S THE WEAKNESS OF VICTORIA BERGMAN // Studia Humanitatis Borealis. 2022. Vol. 1. № 1. P. 29‒37.

DOI: 10.15393/j12.art.2022.3804


Issue № 1

CULTURAL STUDIES

TRANSFORMATION OF THE FEMININE IN PETER HOEG’S MISS SMILLA’S FEELING FOR SNOW AND ERIK AXL SUND’S THE WEAKNESS OF VICTORIA BERGMAN

Sharapenkova
   Natalia
PhD in PHILOLOGY,
Head of the Department of German Philology and Scandinavian Studies,
Petrozavodsk State University, Institute of Philology,
Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, natshar@mail.ru
Safron
   Elena
Associate Professor of Department of German Philology and Scandinavian Studies,
Petrozavodsk State University, Institute of Philology,
Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, 00inane@gmail.com
Ключевые слова:
Scandinavian detective fiction
Peter Hoeg
Erik Axl Sund
nature of female characters
masculinity
femininity
Аннотация: The article analyzes the nature of the main female characters and its transformation in modern Scandinavian detective fiction through the example of the novels Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg and The Weakness of Victoria Bergman by Erik Axl Sund. The authors of the article reveal the masculinity traits and the distorted feminine in the main female characters representing urgent national, ethical, and gender contradictions in Scandinavian society, which makes the current study highly relevant. The article shows that the heroines of both novels while investigating terrible crimes express courage, logic, powerful minds, break stereotypes of female behavior, thus acting as the female characters of Scandinavian myths. Such behavior is determined by the heavy traumatic experience of their childhoods. In contrast to the female characters, men in the novels not only fade into the background, but lose their gender role and undertake traditional female functions (become househusbands, wash, cook and run the house). The research methodology included the comparative typological method, the motive analysis, the psychoanalytical method and certain culturological tools. The authors conclude that modern Scandinavian detective fiction deserves a proper research regarding its form, genre, narrative strategies and the whole system of characters, especially the female ones.

© Petrozavodsk State University

Is received: 17 april 2022 year
Is passed for the press: 18 april 2022 year

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