Fictional Girls in Transition during Perestroika

This article explores the development of girl characters in works for children and young adults during Perestroika. First, it examines established heroines from the Soviet era, such as Elli in Volkov's Volshebnik izumrudnogo goroda [The wizard of the emerald city], and then goes on to examine the depiction of female protagonists and characters in works written during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The conclusion is that although there was a clear demand for new heroines and a new role model for girls, writers did not succeed in providing strong, independent female characters with a sense of agency. Instead, the Soviet preference for male protagonists continued, with females often being portrayed stereotypically as weak and ineffectual

Agency (philosophy · Art · Depiction · Developmental psychology · Girl · Literature · Preference · Social science · Sociology · Transition (genetics · Wizard · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Gender Studies · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Psychology · Themes in Literature Analysis