ON ANGELS WINGS IDOLATRY AS DESTRUCTION IN TOKAREVA
- Slides: 9
ON ANGELS’ WINGS: IDOLATRY AS DESTRUCTION IN TOKAREVA AND ULITSKAYA Courtney Bentz 24 April 2020 The University of Montana Conference for Undergraduate Research
Lyudmila Ulitskaya Viktoria Tokareva THE AUTHO RS
■ Works off of Mary Ann Stenger’s theory Idolatry ■ Objectification, “idolatrous faith” ■ Significant in defining relationship dynamics
“Five Figures On a Pedestal” ■ Tamara: wife, mother, extremely depressed ■ Yura: mechanic, simple, “angel” ■ Objectification, fantasy of the male ■ Consequences of the affair
“Angel” ■ N. Romanovich: professor, philosopher, pedophile ■ Slava: fatherless, beautiful, also an “angel” ■ Objectification, fantasy of the male ■ Consequences of the affair
The Two Angels ■ Power dynamics: Tamara and N. Romanovich objectifying their partners ■ Use of angel imagery ■ Emotional consequences: Yura as a grown man, Slava as a child
Idolatry as Destruction ■ Idolatry as destructive, power imbalance ■ Costs Tamara and Yura a happy relationship, Slava a happy future ■ Ultimately doomed for failure
WORKS CITED Canova, Antonio. Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss. 1777, Marble sculpture, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Gozzoli, Benozzo. Angels Worshipping. 1459, Wall painting, Magi Chapel, Florence. “Idolatry. ” Merriam-Webster. com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https: //www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/idolatry. Accessed 22 Apr. 2020. Stenger, Mary Ann. “MALE OVER FEMALE OVER MALE: A Critique of Idolatry. ” Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 69, no. 4, 1986, pp. 464– 478. JSTOR, www. jstor. org/stable/41178393. Tokareva, Viktoria. “Five Figures On a Pedestal”, translated by Debra Irving, New York, NY, Abbeville Press, 1987. Soviet Women Writing: Fifteen Short Stories. Ulitskaya, Ludmila. “Angel”, translated by Arch Tait, New York, NY, Schocken Books, 2000. Sonechka: A Novella and Other Stories. Victor, Benjamin. The Angel. 2017, Bronze sculpture, Art Renewal Center, Port Reading, NJ.
