The phenomenon of the children’s novel in 19th-century russian literature: genre strategies of Alexandra N. Annenskaya

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of the children’s novel in 19th-century Russian literature through the works of Alexandra N. Annenskaya (1840–1915). The focus is on two of her texts: Chuzhoy khleb (1871), published with the subtitle “novel for children” in its journal version, and Anna (1881), which consistently retained this genre label across all pre-revolutionary editions. The analysis demonstrates that Annenskaya’s choice of genre label functioned as a deliberate literary gesture in response to contemporary pedagogical criticism, which regarded the novel as an unsuitable form for children’s reading. Annenskaya reinterpreted the tradition of the Bildungsroman, transferring its structure — the centrality of a single protagonist, linear character development, and ultimate integration into society — into the domain of children’s literature. Unlike didactic prose for children, which offered ready-made models of virtue, and unlike the biographical tale, which was built on revealing the hero’s innate exceptionality, Annenskaya’s novels depict the formation of ordinary heroines whose path is determined not by talent or innate qualities, but by labor and conscious choice. A typological comparison with the European Bildungsroman tradition, particularly Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, reveals both structural similarities and a fundamental adaptation for a young readership: the elimination of the love plot and an emphasis on professional self-realization. Annenskaya’s novels are examined in the context of post-reform processes of social mobility and deocratization of education, as well as pedagogical debates on the role of the novel in children’s reading, which makes it possible to see them as a

pedagogical instrument that shaped a model of an independent and socially responsible reader.

Keywords: Alexandra N. Annenskaya, children’s novel, Bildungsroman, novel of formation, post-reform Russia