Nurses in Autobiographical and Fiction Writings

This chapter analyzes the representations of nurses in Russian literature from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The archetype of the sister of mercy was developed in fiction and supported by the patriotic community. Based on Christian symbolism and ideas of self-sacrifice, non-sexuality and maternity, this archetype was (re)thought by nurses during the First World War. In their diaries, the sisters of mercy—Lidiia Zakharova, Anna Zhdanova, Iuliia Butorova, Varvara Tatarinova, and Elizaveta Militsyna—developed various self-identities: literary and poetic, patriotic or socialist, flirting or non-sexual, and maternal. During the Russian Revolution of 1917, the femininity of the Red nurses expanded to combine “masculine” and “feminine” traits: bravery and militancy were added to consolation, care and inspiration. First formulated during the Russian Civil War in the speeches of Bolshevik leaders Aleksandra Kollontai and Inessa Armand, this military femininity became the norm for many who cared for the wounded and themselves fought in.