Patronymics

[Francoise Rosset]

Alina is right, the kid was named after her grandfather (Katya's father).

I haven't seen the movie in a while, but my memory coughed up two relevant
details:

When she is back at the boarding house, Katya names the baby Aleksandra and
specifies it is in honor of her father. She is asked for the "otchestvo" and
immediately says "Aleksandrovna." End of conversation and the viewer can draw
her/his conclusions.

The man who got Katya pregnant went by the name "Rudolf" -- presumably elegant
and classy at the time. Later it turns out that his real given name is the more
prosaic and more Russian "Rodion."
So it is particularly important that Katya's child not bear a patronymic from a
man who (1) abandoned her AND (2) has an inauthentic name anyway.
-FR

Francoise Rosset
Russian and Russian Studies
Coordinator for Women's Studies, spring 2004
Wheaton College
Norton, MA 02766
Office: (508) 286-3696
FAX:    (508) 286-3640

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