Russian Literature

A Brief Introduction to the Golden Era of the Nineteenth Century

During the presentation, answer the following questions.

• What major events affected Russian culture in the 1800s? How did the different Tsars affect Russia?

What was it like for writers and other artists in the nineteenth century?

Why did the nobles fall?

For each given author, be able to explain why they were important to Russian Literature.

What were major topics, themes, and styles of Russian literature?

Russia to 1800

Russia 1900

Russia Today

Romanov History

• 1612 – Romanov family ascends to the throne; – gave nobles the power to control their peasants; this is

known as SERFDOM – family rules for over 300 years (until 1917)

• 1689 - Peter the Great assumed control and envisions Russia as a world power

• Peter visits the west (London, Paris, etc.) & brings back modern traditions.

• St. Petersburg is founded (new capital) and ties with Europe increase• schools for navigation, geography, math, politics and astronomy• new organization, strategy & technology for the navy, army • 1st Russian news paper, hospital, museum• ended isolation

Romanov Family History• Romanov monarchs are

historically very right wing (conservative or reactionary)

• Catherine the Great further expands Russian territory– Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia,

Estonia– Many of the ’stans (Kazakhstan,

Turkmenistan, etc.)

• 1812 - Alexander I defeats Napoleon with scorched earth (and Jack Frost )

Napolean in Russia

Changes in Russia

• Russia in the mid 1800’s was no different than Russia 100 years earlier– Economically based on serfdom– Mid 1800’s:nearly 40 million serfs– Land owners brought & sold serfs – No new farming methods or

technology– No introduction of industry (unlike

Western Europe) because there was no urban labor force (tied to land)

Foundation erodes• Government was autocracy – Czar had unlimited power• 1825 Decembrist Revolt: After the death of Alexander I,

people wanted a constitutional monarchy • Unsuccessfully attempted to revolt (force change)• Revolt deeply affected Nicolas I (Alexander I successor)

– Nicolas came to believe that government should have strict control of society

– the secret police gained power– Many people suspected of treason were banished and deported. – Strong enforcement of censorship.

ALEXANDER II Makes changes

• Serfdom was holding back progress in Russia. There were not enough free workers to work in factories.

• 1861 - Alexander II takes over and purposes radical governmental changes

1. Emancipates the serfs “it is better to abolish serfdom from above than wait until it is abolished from below”

2. relaxed government censorship3. jury system introduced4. Zemstvos – locally elected assemblies (work on

schools, health care, etc.)

Roadblocks on the road to progress

• CONSERVATISM ON THE PART OF THE PRIVELEGED CLASS– Regulations tied Serfs to rural villages for 49 years after

emancipation (until 1910)– Because there was no available urban labor force,

industrialization was greatly slowed• Following disastrous Crimean War (1850’s), and

emancipation of the Serfs, Czar Alexander had made many people angry.

• Radical groups soon formed that wanted MORE change. “The Peoples Will” (underground guerilla group) assassinated Czar Alexander 1881.

How do Nobles Fall?

• Nobility bestowed for military service

• Lack of primogenture (passing land to first-born), which meant land could be sold

• Estates privatized, and eventually sold. Investments leave family hands due to poor management

• Lack of laws systematically keeping titled people in power

How do Nobles Fall?• High mobility estate to

estate• Almost half of the serfs are

mortgaged• Nobility no longer required

to do military service• Serfs eventually freed• A series of revolutions• Finally, a law abolishes

nobility 1917

Leo Tolstoy

• War and Peace– 1869– Describes events

surrounding French invasion of Russia

– Impact of Napoleanic era on Tsarist society

– From perspective of 5 aristocratic families

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXUcmQrbDkY

• Anna Karenina• Anna Karenina is the tragedy of married

aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky.

• A parallel story within the novel is that of Konstantin Levin, a country landowner who desires to marry Kitty, sister to Dolly and sister-in-law to Anna's brother Oblonsky. Konstantin has to propose twice before Kitty accepts.

• The novel explores a diverse range of topics throughout its approximately thousand pages. Some of these topics include an evaluation of the feudal system that existed in Russia at the time; politics, in not only the Russian government but also at the level of the individual characters and families; and religion and morality.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPGLRO3fZnQ

Alexander Pushkin

• Poet• Shakespeare of Russian• “The illusion which

exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.”

Nikolai Gogol

• Satirized political corruption• Was exiled• “What a dreary world we

live in, gentlemen.”• “In the course of reading he

became more and more melancholy and finally became completely gloomy. When the reading was over he uttered in a voice full of sorrow: ‘Goodness, how sad is our Russia!’”

Ivan Surgeyevich Turgenev• Novelist, playwright• First Love

– “My son,' he wrote to me, 'fear the love of woman; fear that bliss, that poison....”

– “There is a sweetness in being the sole source, the autocraticand irresponsible cause of the greatest joy and profoundest pain to another.”

• Fathers and Sons

Fyodor Dostoyevsky• Crime and Punishment

– Focuses on mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor ex-student, who plans and carries out the murder of a pawnbroker.

– He argues that his good deeds cover the bad.

– He compares himself to Napolean Bonaparte

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W403QQrHPy4

• Notes from Underground– The anonymous narrator of Notes from

Underground is a bitter, misanthropic man living alone in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the 1860s. He is a veteran of the Russian civil service. The novel consists of the “notes” that the man writes, explaining his alienation from modern society.

– Written after exile and near execution.

Anton Chekhov• Short stories• Plays• The Duel• The story primarily focuses on Ivan Andreich Laevsky and

Nadyezhda Fyodorovna, lovers who have moved to the Caucasus. Nadezhda is married to another man and some townspeople disapprove of the couple living together. Laevsky confides in his friend Samoylenko that he no longer loves Nadyezhda. Laevsky drinks, gambles, and lacks direction.

• The scientist Von Koren feels that Laevsky's slovenly lifestyle is worthless. In fact, Von Koren feels killing Laevsky would be beneficial to society, an act of natural selection. Von Koren's dislike builds until he formally challenges Laevsky to a pistol duel.

• The tension at the duel steadily increases. None of the men in attendance, with the possible exception of Von Koren, want to see the challenge completed. Fortunately for Laevsky, a deacon stops the duel before either man is slain. Laevsky's near-death experience leads him back to Nadyezhda.

• “Everyone has the same God; only people differ.”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdGlMnLxyxE

Big Ideas

• Suicide• Suffering to earn

redemption• Suffering as a

mechanism for evil• Christianity and Christian

symbolism• Speaking out against

political leaders, oppression, serfdom

Focus on Ivan Turganev

• “First Love” = autobiographical

• Father died at 16• Mother abusive• 500 serfs• College in Russia and

Germany• Moved to Paris to be

with love, Pauline Viardot

Ivan Turganev

• Politically against serfdom

• Idealistic about love• Watched aristocracy

crumble• Imprisoned and put

under house arrest for publishing obituary of Gogol in Moscow newspaper

Politics During Turganev’s Life

• Serfs• Crumbling aristocracy• Artists, writers,

scientists oppressed and persecuted

• Dostoyevsky exiled

“First Love”

• Published 1861• Criticized for not being

highly political• Criticized for being

improper• Literary realism—

everyday, contemporary life and society