Research in Contemporary World Literature

Research in Contemporary World Literature

The Representation of Eastern Female Archetypes in the Poetry of Ivan Bunin

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Janolah Karimi-Motahhar 1
Pavel V Alekseev 2
Marzieh Yahyapour 1
1 Department of Russian Language and Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Tehran, Iran.
2 Department of Russian Literature, Faculty of History and Philology, Gorno-Altaisk State University, Russia; Department of Russian and Foreign Literature, Faculty of Philology, Samarkand State University, Uzbekistan.
10.22059/jor.2025.402074.2729
Abstract
This study investigates the representation of Eastern female archetypes in the poetry of Ivan Bunin (1870–1953), a topic that has received limited scholarly attention. The research problem is the lack of systematic analysis concerning the image of the Eastern woman in Bunin’s works and her role within the semantic and semiotic structures of his poetry. This study seeks to examine the representation of the archetypes of sacred Eastern women and to elucidate their role in shaping a poetic structure grounded in religious, natural, mythological, and geo-historical elements. The central research question asks: In what ways, and with what functions, is the Eastern woman represented as an archetype in Bunin’s poetry? To address this, key poems such as The Tomb of Rachel, Safia and Muhammad, The Tomb of Safia, Road Signs, On the Way Near Hebron, and Zaynab are analyzed. The findings demonstrate that the female figure is not depicted corporeally but functions as a structural element within the poem’s semiotic system. Figures such as Hagar, Sarah, Mary, Rachel, Safia, and Zaynab act as symbolic mediators and carriers of sacred memory, evoking notions of journey, exile, prophetic lineage, and eschatological transformation. The study concludes that the Eastern woman in Bunin’s poetry serves as a semantic focal point where personal experience, sacred Middle Eastern geography, and natural symbols converge, transforming her role from an individual or romantic subject into a universal archetype with spiritual, cultural, and mythological significance.
Keywords
Archetype
Eastern Woman
Ivan Bunin
Russian Orientalism
Semiotics.
Subjects
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Research in Contemporary World Literature
Volume 31, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 365-382