Liudmila Petrushevskaia (1938-) is one of the most well-known authors of Russian post-modernism. In a number of works Petrushevskaia depicts motherhood, or the relationship between a female caregiver and her child, in a confusing and rather grotesque fashion. Many researchers have pointed out this fact and explained that Petrushevskaia’s works feature “distorted motherhood” and “dysfunctional mothers.” However, few have noticed that in Petrushevskaia’s stories a child often gives meaning to the female protagonist’s life. Petrushevskaia depicts female protagonists who are homeless, often leading a nomadic lifestyle, wandering from one friend’s house to the next. The city environment is frequently described as a maze in which the female protagonist finds no exist. The birth of a child most often changes everything for the female protagonist, giving her a sense of purpose and meaning in life. While Petrushevskaia’s protagonist cherishes her child, however, the child-rearing process is never easy. It is partly because Petrushevskaia’s protagonist is usually in destitute, and partly because Petrushevskaka depicts her protagonist not as the perfect, sacred mother who endures and tolerates everything but as a human being with her own limits and flaws. The protagonist nevertheless strives to take care of her child and make the best of an impossible situation, even if the process ruins her own life. Such is the meaning of motherhood in Petrushevskaia’s works.
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