Vicissitudes of Genre in the Russian Novel: Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons," Chernyshevsky's "What is to be Done?," Dostoevsky's "Demons," Gorky's "Mother"

by Russell Scott Valentino

The 1860s witnessed one of the most vibrant periods in the history of modern Russian literature. This book focuses on what was arguably its most influential genre – the Russian tendentious novel. While tracing the genre’s early development through works such as Fathers and Sons and Notes from Underground, it simultaneously unfolds a unique approach to reading late-nineteenth-century Russian literature by showing how rich conflicting interpretations of the classics continue to be possible and by indicating numerous deep-rooted connections between the tendentious novels of the nineteenth century and their twentieth-century literary progeny.

166 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2001

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend this for people interested in literary analysis and in Russian fiction from the 1860s, particularly the works named in the title - these essays provide some great background linking the works culturally and temporally, add depth to the reader's understanding of the authors' choices in plot and characterization, and overall enhance the experience of reading nihilist/antinihilist tendentious fiction from the era. For those not interested in these topics, this will be a slog.