Authors

Uladzimir Valodzin¹;  ¹ European University Institute, Italy

Discussion

While writing a PhD thesis on non-conformity within Belarusian universities of the ‘thaw’ period, I was puzzled by underrepresentation of women in my sources and, consequently, in my interview sample. Although being present in non-conformist milieux of the epoch, women (especially students, less so faculty) were almost absent from recollections of men, whether written or oral. Even when present, women were often named only by family name (without the first name), or only by the first name (without family name), or no personal name was mentioned at all. Even when women were/are named, very little information was/is given on their roles.In the presentation, I would like to compare male and female written recollections on one specific loose group of friends (mostly university students) who gathered around Kim Chadeev (1929-2001), ex-political prisoner and self-made consultant in all humanities' issues. In this case, where narratives of women are available, it is possible to see mechanisms of exclusion and sidelining practiced by men, as women name their peers and give their biographic details.