"Persistent habit of opposition...": the problem of women's emancipation in V.I. Belov's story "Morning Dates"

Vasily Ivanovich Belov is a Russian writer, a representative of "village prose," known for his well-recognized literary works: "The Village of Berdyayka" (1961), "Searing Summer" (1963), "A Routine Affair" (1966), "Carpenter Stories" (1968), "Kanuns" (1972), and many others. The article is dedicated to identifying Vasily Ivanovich Belov's position regarding the phenomenon of women's emancipation and the idea of gender equality in the story "Morning Dates" (1977). The female images in the story are examined in the context of the writer's moral inquiries, rooted in the traditions of Russian culture and literature. It is argued that Belov, as an artist, has a natural need to reveal the nature of human behavior in the process of moral choice. Behind Zorin's "shameful period of life" lies the spiritual crisis of the epoch. The material for the undertaken study is Vasily Ivanovich Belov's short story "Morning Dates" (1977). A comprehensive approach was used in the analysis, including elements of biographical, structural-semiotic, and cultural-historical methods. The analysis of existing sources led to the following conclusions: the writer's story embodies a cross-section of society during the third "wave" of women's struggles for freedom and independence, reflecting the penetration of feminist theories new to Russia in the second half of the 20th century; the author uncovers the depth of moral contradictions, activating the binary opposition of "harmony – discord"; V.I. Belov highlights in the artistic text the bleak picture of a lost Russia, while transmitting the key idea: "And, apparently, all women must be forgiven for everything." According to Belov, a "new" type of woman needs to find a balance between the traditional/ideal and modern/real in her tense search. Such a synthesis allows the writer to form a symbolic-metaphorical plan for the narrative. In the works of Vasily Belov, as well as in Russian culture as a whole, a woman gains value precisely in the role of a mother; she must instinctively protect the foundations and mysteries of life – the maternal essence – as an axiological dominant. The scientific novelty of the research is due to the fact that such an experience of comprehensive analysis of V.I. Belov's story has been undertaken in academic practice for the first time.