Studied by 47 people
What was the term for 19th-century Russian literature that is also known as post-romanticism?
Realism
What was the time period for Realism?
1840s-1880s
What was the focus of Russian Realist literature?
Russian reality
People
social institutions
social needs
What were novels seen as in Russian realist literature?
vehicles of social action/social change
Nikolai Gogol
1809-1852
Where is Nikolai from and where did he move?
From Ukraine; moved to St. Petersburg
What renderings is Gogol known for and white famous writer praised him?
Renderings of ukrainian folktales; win praise of Pushkin
What famous novel did Gogol write?
Dead Souls
Where did Gogol for a long period of time before moving back to Russia?
Rome
How did gogol die?
Fasts that lead to death
What did Peter the Great introduce that determined a person’s position and status?
Peter the Great’s 1722 Table of Ranks
Who wrote the Overcoat and when?
Nikolai Gogol; 1842
Who is the main character in The Overcoat and what was his job?
Akaky Akakievich; Titular Councillor (Copier basically), Rank 9
What is Akaky Akakievich known as in literature?
Famous “little man”; meek, up against unfeeling bureaucracy
Did Akaky Akakiavich like the idea of getting promoted? Did he want more responsibilities?
HELL NO; Again… NO!
What was the narrator’s feelings towards Akaky Akakeivich?
Sometimes mocking, sometimes sympathetic
Important things to remember in The Overcoat?
Akaky’s inauspicious birth & naming
love of work, no promotion
content with his lot
office mates tease and bully him, but he says “I am your brother”
Who is the tailor in The Overcoat?
Petrovich the Tailor
Who did Akaky’s coworkers suggest that he go to for help and how did he act?
An “important person”; acted rude and scare Akaky to impress his friend
What happens to Akaky at the end?
He dies but comes back as a ghost who steals other people’s overcoats
Where did the Overcoat take place?
In Petersburg
What did St. Petersburg mean to Russian authors?
connection to western culture due to Peter the Great
Weird, mythical magical place
What was Gogol referred to?
As a bridge from romanticism to realism
What view did the Overcoat change?
The underdog and social misfit is treated not as a nuisance, but as a human being who has much right to happiness as anyone else
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
1818-1883
Who wrote Bezhin Meadow and when?
Ivan Turgenev; 1851
What is Bezhin Meadow about?
The boy who gets lost basically
What was Turgenev nicknamed in school and why?
“The American” becuase he was the westernizer
Where did Turgenev live most of life and which famous writer criticized him?
Lived in Aborad in France and Germany mostly, and Dostoevsky mocked him
What did Turgenev believe in?
the ideals of Western, liberal humanism
What was Turgenev’s upbringing?
grew upon on cruel, wealthy mother’s estate
father was a penniless officer who was handsome
Had typical university education, and went to Europe
said and thought that Russia must learn from west
What was new about Turgenev writing novels?
There was no tradition of Russian novel writing
What was Turgenev instrumental for?
Creating Russian novel
Who was the first Russian writer famous in west?
Turgenev
Who does Turgenev really speak out for?
Serfs
What was Turgenev’s first literary sensation?
Notes of a Hunter
What is the the Notes of a Hunter seen as the Russian version for?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin -- exposes the evils and injustices of serfdom
What collection is “Bezhin Meadow” a part of?
Notes of a Hunter collection
What was Serfdom?
Millinos of native Russians enslaved to landowners--or to state
What followed the Decembrist rebellion?
Police-bureaucractic dictatorship; “freeze” under Nicholas I
When does Nicholas I rule?
1825-1855
When does Alexander II rule?
1855-1881
What happened under Alexander II?
Reforms
When was the emancipation of the serfs?
1861
When does Turgenev’s book appear?
1847-51
When and what was an important intellectual trend in the 19th-century Russia?
1840s
Slavophiles vs. Westernizers
Still happening today under different names
those who wanted Russia to copy the west vs those who found pride in Russia’s native tradition
Is Turgenev considered a Slavophile or Westernizer?
Westernizer -- wanted Russia to copy the west
what was another important trend in 19th century Russi?
1860s Radical (Utilitarian, Positivist)
Radical 1860s Bazarov clashes with gentle liberals of 1840s
What does Bazarov do during the 1860s Radicals period?
Belittles artisitic feeling, romantic love, healing beauty of nature, and sanctity of individual personality -- all that Turgenev’s 1840s generation valued
Which novel from Turgenev develops the theme of the 1860s Radicals?
1862 Fathers and Children; clash between westernizing 1840s and nihilist bunch of 1860s radicals
What is Bazarov’s beliefs called?
Nihilism
What was nihlism? Who are the nihlists?
Rejecting all aesthetic, moral, and religious convictions
Time period of the “Sketches from a Hunter’s Album?”
1847-51, 1852
What was the narrative voice in “Sketches from a Hunter’s Album?
intelligent, interested but uncommitted observer
Fyodor Dostoevsky
1821-1881
What image does Dostoevsky represent?
typical image of Russian writer
Who was Dostoevsky other than a very important novelist?
teacher of politics, religion, psychology, ethics
Which major psychologist said Dostoevsky anticipated all his major inshights?
Freud
Which philosopher said that Dostoevsky influenced him like no one ever had?
Nietzsche
Who saw Dostoevsky as the forerunner of new christianity?
Existentialists
Who else did Dostoevsky?
Camus and Sartre influenced by him
How was Dostoevsky’s life?
difficult childhood with abusive father (doctor) and loving, religious mother
attended school in Petersburg, then entered military
entered literary world of Petersburg with translation of Balzac’s “Eugenie Grandet”
started gambling, money troubles
Did Dostoevsky like or hate western literature?
loved it; hugely influenced by it
What did Dostoevsky develop?
Epilepsy
When Dostoevsky join the Petrashevsky Circle and what were they accused of?
1846; accused of revolutionary activity
Why id the czar fear about the accusations of the Petrashevsky Circle?
he feared a repeat of the 1825 Decembrist Rebellion
When was Dostoevsky arrested?
1849
Was Dostoevsky actually excused?
Mock execution; right when he will be executed, a messenger will come pardon him on behalf of the czar
Waht happened to Dostoevsky after the mock execution?
Exiled to Siberia with hard labor for four years
After Siberia, when did Dostoevsky return to Petersburg?
1858
What does Dostoevsky do after his return?
Notes from “the House of the Dead” 1860-2
Travels through Europe
What does conservative Slavophile mean?
Peter the Great’s reforms enriched Russia but Russia must now turn back to its past; stick with slavic
What novels is Dostoevsky known for?
“Crime and Punishment” 1866
“The Idiot” 1868
“The Devils/The Possessed” 1872
“The Brothers Karamazov” 1880
When was the Meek Women writtten and who wrote it?
1876 by Dostoevsky
What is the Meek Women a part of? are the major themes of A Meek Women?
Diary of a Writer
What happens to the lady at the end of the Meek Woman?
she kills herself
Why did the woman marry the guy in the Meek Woman?
so she doesn’t have to marry an older dude
What are the major themes of A Meek Women?
corrupting nature of power and money
Spiritual debasement vs. purity
Need for spiritual sustenance
What are some big social changes in the late 19th century?
urbanization
literacy increase
infrastructure and industry: railroads, factories
ethnic diversity of empire
Till when do Alexander II’s reforms continue?
Reforms continue in the 1870s
Who did Alexander II free through his reforms?
The serfs
What was Alexander II’s successor like?
The opposite; very reactionary
When was the abolition of serfdom?
1861
What was the “Going to the People” movement?
culminates in 1874 -- remember Wanderers
What rose in the 1870s?
Intelligentsia
What was the intelligentsia?
The part of a nation that aspires to intellectual activity and political initiative
a section of society regarded as educated and possessing culture and political influence
Who were a part of the intelligentsia?
Priests’ sons and seminarians
Intellectuals
Free-thinking women
Raznochintsy: “people of various ranks”
What is Raznochinets/Raznochintsy?
people of various ranks
When was the assassination of Alexander II, and what was the person known as?
1881; the “Tsar-Liberator”
What other social issues were happening during the 1870s and that time period?
The Agrarian Question
The Woman Question
The Jewish Question
The Worker Question
What was the role of the Russian Writers?
Topical vs. lasting literature
Literature also addressed age-old, universal “accursed questions”
What is the meaning of life?
What is my role?
What is Russia?
What does it mean to be Russian?
etc…
Writers as ethical leaders
Writers as philosophers
Writers as religious thinkers and prophets
What century Russian novels are more than fiction and had many layers?
19th century Russian novels
Leo Tolstoy
1828-1910
More than a writer, what was Tolstoy seen as?
seen as prophet, religious sage
What did Tolstoy inspire and are they still around now?
inspired Tolstoyan communities
still in existence now
Which freedom fighter did Tolstoy inspire?
Gandhi
What was the famous saying in regards to the czar and Tolstoy?
“Two czars in Russia: One is Petersburg, other at Yasnaya Polyana (Tolstoy’s estate)”
What was Tolstoy’s background and early life?
from a aristocratic, rich family
was a count and his mother a princess
attended university but did not graduate
joined army
began literary career in army
What are two of Tolstoy’s most famous novels ever written?
War and Peace (1869)
Anna Karenina (1878)
Was Tolstoy depressed?
Yes
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