Exam 2

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

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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