Abstract
The present article focuses on the strategies related to self-identification and the creation of the ‘Self’ in the autobiographical memoirs of Elizaveta Vodovozova and Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams, two representatives of the generations of the ‘Sixties’ and the ‘Eighties’ in nineteenth century Russia. The authors reveal the different forms of autobiographical self-representations, the links between individuality and the social, political, cultural communities (real and imagined) in the Russian women’s autobiographies; the role and meanings of such notions as ‘family’, ‘generation’, ‘intelligentsia’, and ‘nation’ in the construction of identity. The authors discuss the hierarchy and specificity of identities, which were reflected in the memoirs. In particular, they focus on generational, professional, and gender identity, accepting the concept of multiple identities; the connection between ‘private’ and ‘public’ in the Russian women’s autobiographical texts, the methods of incorporating private life into history are also described in the text.