“This is not a man’s business”: The patriarchal village and new professions in V. M. Shukshin’s short story The Milker
This paper analyzes the plot, main character portrayals, and the author’s ideological and aesthetic stance to interpret V. M. Shukshin’s short story The Milker (1962) in connection with its historical context and the writer’s broader oeuvre. This narrative remains one of Shukshin’s least-known works. Originally, Shukshin intended to write a feuilleton-style story ridiculing the vestiges of the past that hindered the practical implementation of the 1961 Third Program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). He specifically addressed the adoption of mechanized agricultural professions by the youth and the introduction of modern social relations in the village. However, the patriarchal stereotypes surrounding traditional peasant professions and behavioral norms, including gender roles, proved stronger among the villagers of Baklan than the futuristic theses of the CPSU Program. The protagonist, Kolka Voevodin (an early iteration of Shukshin’s “slacker” hero), who works as a milker, faces a boycott from his native village’s micro-community. Shukshin’s attempt at a feuilleton was ultimately unsuccessful, even though it outlined the dominant themes, motifs, and character types prevalent in his mature work. Realizing this, the author submitted The Milker exclusively to regional newspapers. Nevertheless, what Shukshin hesitated to declare openly in 1962, he would articulate unequivocally in 1966 in his programmatic article A Question for Myself.
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