Russian literature
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What is Russian literature?
Russian literature is the written body of work produced in the Russian language. Its history is unusual, with major, sudden breaks that divide it into pre-Petrine, Imperial, post-Revolutionary, and post-Soviet periods. The most celebrated period was the 19th century, which, in a short time, produced masterworks of world literature.
Russian literature is defined by an intense concern with philosophical problems, constant self-consciousness in relation to Western cultures, and a strong tendency toward formal innovation. It is also characterized by the defiance of European generic norms.
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Who are some famous Russian authors?
Russian literature reached its peak in the 19th century. Some of its most famous authors include:
- Aleksandr Pushkin: A poet and novelist considered the founder of modern Russian literature. His notable works include Eugene Onegin and The Captain's Daughter.
- Nikolai Gogol: A novelist, short story writer and playwright. Gogol's notable works include The Government Inspector and Dead Souls.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky: Explored human psychology in novels like Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.
- Leo Tolstoy: Known for his realistic novels, including War and Peace and Anna Karenina, which offer deep insights into Russian society and human nature.
- Anton Chekhov: A playwright and short story writer, celebrated for his plays such as Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard, and short stories like "The Lady with the Lapdog".
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What are some important works in Russian literature?
Russian literature, especially in the 19th century, holds a prestigious place in world culture, often seen as a justification for the Russian people's existence. Literary critics were central to intellectual and political thought, with literature fulfilling philosophical, moral, and religious functions. Politics and literature were closely connected, with writers often seen as political prophets.
Key works include Aleksandr Griboyedov's Woe from Wit, Mikhail Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time, and Nikolay Gogol's plays. Fyodor Dostoevsky's philosophical novels, such as Crime and Punishment, The Possessed, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov, explore morality, psychology, and the compatibility of Christianity with the human psyche. Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and Anna Karenina are praised for their realistic portrayal of life.
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How did Russian history influence its literature?
Russian history has significantly shaped its literature through political and social changes. The reforms of Peter the Great in the 18th century, which rapidly Westernized the country, created a cultural gap between the nobility and the peasantry, becoming an important theme in Russian literature.
In the 19th century, literature held great prestige and was expected to fulfill philosophical, moral, and religious functions. The rise of the intelligentsia, with their passion for social and political ideas, further influenced literature, often judging works based on their contribution to social progress.
The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 radically altered Russian literature, leading to censorship and the use of literature as state propaganda. Despite these constraints, significant works emerged, often circulated unofficially or abroad, reflecting the complex interplay between politics and artistic expression.
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What themes are common in Russian literature?
Russian literature, particularly in the 19th century, holds significant prestige and is deeply intertwined with philosophical, moral, and religious analysis, often exceeding the boundaries of typical Western literature. Political and social themes are also very common, and writers and critics were frequently seen as political prophets.
Major themes include:
* Philosophical and Religious Analysis Russian literature often explores philosophical, moral, and religious dimensions, with writers like Dostoyevsky delving into Christian thought and the Russian psyche.
* Russia and the West The relationship between Russia and Western Europe is a recurring theme, with writers contemplating Russia's unique identity and its place in the world.
* Social critique Social satires, accounts of peasant life, and the theme of the "superfluous man" are depicted by writers such as Nikolay Nekrasov, Mikhail Lermontov, and Aleksandr Griboyedov.
* The Russian Identity The search for Russian identity, often in defiance of European norms, is a key aspect. This includes appropriating old Russian themes and challenging foreign influences.2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has Russian literature influenced world literature?
Russian literature has had a profound and lasting influence on world literature, particularly during the 19th century, which is considered one of its most fruitful periods. Russian literature is characterized by its intense concern with philosophical problems, its self-consciousness in relation to Western cultures, and its tendency toward formal innovation.
Figures like Fyodor Dostoevsky have become synonymous with psychological depth, influencing writers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Aleksandr Pushkin significantly shaped the Russian literary language, impacting novelists like Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy. Anton Chekhov is celebrated for his short stories and plays that capture Russian life with a seemingly simple style, influencing writers internationally after World War I.
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Russian literature, the body of written works produced in the Russian language, beginning with the Christianization of Kievan Rus in the late 10th century.
The unusual shape of Russian literary history has been the source of numerous controversies. Three major and sudden breaks divide it into four periods—pre-Petrine (or Old Russian), Imperial, post-Revolutionary, and post-Soviet. The reforms of Peter I (the Great; reigned 1682–1725), who rapidly Westernized the country, created so sharp a divide with the past that it was common in the 19th century to maintain that Russian literature had begun only a century before. The 19th century’s most influential critic, Vissarion Belinsky, even proposed the exact year (1739) in which Russian literature began, thus denying the status of literature to all pre-Petrine works. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Bolshevik coup later in the same year created another major divide, eventually turning “official” Russian literature into political propaganda for the communist state. Finally, Mikhail Gorbachev’s ascent to power in 1985 and the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 marked another dramatic break. What is important in this pattern is that the breaks were sudden rather than gradual and that they were the product of political forces external to literary history itself.
The most celebrated period of Russian literature was the 19th century, which produced, in a remarkably short period, some of the indisputable masterworks of world literature. It has often been noted that the overwhelming majority of Russian works of world significance were produced within the lifetime of one person, Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Indeed, many of them were written within two decades, the 1860s and 1870s, a period that perhaps never has been surpassed in any culture for sheer concentrated literary brilliance.
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Russian literature, especially of the Imperial and post-Revolutionary periods, has as its defining characteristics an intense concern with philosophical problems, a constant self-consciousness about its relation to the cultures of the West, and a strong tendency toward formal innovation and defiance of received generic norms. The combination of formal radicalism and preoccupation with abstract philosophical issues creates the recognizable aura of Russian classics.
Old Russian literature (10th–17th centuries)
The conventional term “Old Russian literature” is anachronistic for several reasons. The authors of works written during this time obviously did not think of themselves as “old Russians” or as predecessors of Tolstoy. Moreover, the term, which represents the perspective of modern scholars seeking to trace the origin of later Russian works, obscures the fact that the East Slavic peoples (of the lands then called Rus) are the ancestors of the Ukrainian and Belarusian as well as of the Russian people of today. Works of the oldest (Kievan) period also led to modern Ukrainian and Belarusian literature. Third, the literary language established in Kievan Rus was Church Slavonic, which, despite the gradual increase of local East Slavic variants, linked the culture to the wider community known as Slavia orthodoxa—that is, to the Eastern Orthodox South Slavs of the Balkans. In contrast to the present, this larger community took precedence over the “nation” in the modern sense of that term. Fourth, some have questioned whether these texts can properly be called literary, if by that term is meant works that are designed to serve a primarily aesthetic function, inasmuch as these writings were generally written to serve ecclesiastic or utilitarian purposes.
