Ivan Turgenev
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Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (/tʊərˈɡɛnjɛf, -ˈɡeɪn-/ toor-GHEN-yef, -GAYN-;[1] Russian: Иван Сергеевич Тургенев[note 1], IPA: [ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf]; 9 November [O.S. 28 October] 1818 – 3 September [O.S. 22 August] 1883) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, translator and popularizer of Russian literature in the West.
His first major publication, a short story collection titled A Sportsman's Sketches (1852), was a milestone of Russian realism. His novel Fathers and Sons (1862) is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction.
Life
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was born in
Ivan and his brothers Nikolai and Sergei were raised by their mother, an educated, authoritarian woman. Their residence was the
After the standard schooling for a son of a gentleman, Turgenev studied for one year at the
Turgenev was impressed with German society and returned home believing that Russia could best improve itself by incorporating ideas from the
When Turgenev was a child, a family serf had read to him verses from the Rossiad of Mikhail Kheraskov, a celebrated poet of the 18th century. Turgenev's early attempts in literature, poems, and sketches gave indications of genius and were favorably spoken of by Vissarion Belinsky, then the leading Russian literary critic. During the latter part of his life, Turgenev did not reside much in Russia: he lived either at Baden-Baden or Paris, often in proximity to the family of the celebrated opera singer Pauline Viardot,[7] with whom he had a lifelong affair.
Turgenev never married, but he had some affairs with his family's serfs, one of which resulted in the birth of his illegitimate daughter, Paulinette. He was tall and broad-shouldered, but was timid, restrained, and soft-spoken. When Turgenev was 19, while traveling on a steamboat in Germany, the boat caught fire. According to rumours by Turgenev's enemies, he reacted in a cowardly manner. He denied such accounts, but these rumours circulated in Russia and followed him for his entire career, providing the basis for his story "
Unlike Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, Turgenev lacked religious motives in his writings, representing the more social aspect to the reform movement. He was considered to be an
Turgenev occasionally visited England, and in 1879 the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law was conferred upon him by the University of Oxford.[7]
Turgenev's health declined during his later years. In January 1883, an aggressive malignant tumor (liposarcoma) was removed from his suprapubic region, but by then the tumor had metastasized in his upper spinal cord, causing him intense pain during the final months of his life. On 3 September 1883, Turgenev died of a spinal abscess, a complication of the metastatic liposarcoma, in his house at Bougival near Paris. His remains were taken to Russia and buried in Volkovo Cemetery in St. Petersburg.[10] On his deathbed, he pleaded with Tolstoy: "My friend, return to literature!" After this, Tolstoy wrote such works as The Death of Ivan Ilyich and The Kreutzer Sonata.
Ivan Turgenev's brain was found to be one of the largest on record for
Work
Turgenev first made his name with A Sportsman's Sketches (Записки охотника), also known as Sketches from a Hunter's Album or Notes of a Hunter, a collection of short stories, based on his observations of peasant life and nature, while hunting in the forests around his mother's estate of Spasskoye. Most of the stories were published in a single volume in 1852, with others being added in later editions. The book is credited with having influenced public opinion in favour of the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Turgenev himself considered the book to be his most important contribution to Russian literature; it is reported that Pravda,[12] and Tolstoy, among others, agreed wholeheartedly, adding that Turgenev's evocations of nature in these stories were unsurpassed.[13] One of the stories in A Sportsman's Sketches, known as "Bezhin Lea" or "Byezhin Prairie", was later to become the basis for the controversial film Bezhin Meadow (1937), directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
In 1852, when his first major novels of Russian society were still to come, Turgenev wrote an obituary for Nikolai Gogol, intended for publication in the Saint Petersburg Gazette. The key passage reads: "Gogol is dead!... What Russian heart is not shaken by those three words?... He is gone, that man whom we now have the right (the bitter right, given to us by death) to call great." The censor of Saint Petersburg did not approve of this and banned publication, but the Moscow censor allowed it to be published in a newspaper in that city. The censor was dismissed; but Turgenev was held responsible for the incident, imprisoned for a month, and then exiled to his country estate for nearly two years. It was during this time that Turgenev wrote his short story Mumu ("Муму") in 1854. The story tells a tale of a deaf and mute peasant who is forced to drown the only thing in the world which brings him happiness, his dog Mumu. Like his A Sportsman's Sketches (Записки охотника), this work takes aim at the cruelties of a serf society. This work was later applauded by John Galsworthy who claimed, "no more stirring protest against tyrannical cruelty was ever penned in terms of art."
While he was still in Russia in the early 1850s, Turgenev wrote several novellas (povesti in Russian):
In the 1840s and early 1850s, during the rule of Tsar
The following years produced the novel Rudin ("Рудин"), the story of a man in his thirties who is unable to put his talents and idealism to any use in the Russia of Nicholas I. Rudin is also full of nostalgia for the idealistic student circles of the 1840s.
Following the thoughts of the influential critic Vissarion Belinsky, Turgenev abandoned Romantic idealism for a more realistic style. Belinsky defended sociological realism in literature; Turgenev portrayed him in Yakov Pasinkov (1855). During the period of 1853–62 Turgenev wrote some of his finest stories as well as the first four of his novels: Rudin ("Рудин") (1856), A Nest of the Gentry ("Дворянское гнездо") (1859), On the Eve ("Накануне") (1860) and Fathers and Sons ("Отцы и дети") (1862). Some themes involved in these works include the beauty of early love, failure to reach one's dreams, and frustrated love. Great influences on these works are derived from his love of Pauline and his experiences with his mother, who controlled over 500 serfs with the same strict demeanor in which she raised him.
In 1858 Turgenev wrote the novel A Nest of the Gentry ("Дворянское гнездо"), also full of nostalgia for the irretrievable past and of love for the Russian countryside. It contains one of his most memorable female characters, Liza, whom Dostoyevsky paid tribute to in his Pushkin speech of 1880, alongside Tatiana and Tolstoy's Natasha Rostova.
Alexander II ascended the Russian throne in 1855, and the political climate became more relaxed. In 1859, inspired by reports of positive social changes, Turgenev wrote the novel On the Eve ("Накануне") (published 1860), portraying the Bulgarian revolutionary Insarov.
The following year saw the publication of one of his finest novellas,
Turgenev's next novel, Smoke ("Дым"), was published in 1867 and was again received less than enthusiastically in his native country, as well as triggering a quarrel with Dostoyevsky in Baden-Baden.
His last substantial work attempting to do justice to the problems of contemporary Russian society, Virgin Soil ("Новь"), was published in 1877.
Stories of a more personal nature, such as Torrents of Spring ("Вешние воды"), King Lear of the Steppes ("Степной король Лир"), and The Song of Triumphant Love ("Песнь торжествующей любви"), were also written in these autumnal years of his life. Other last works included the Poems in Prose and "Clara Milich" ("After Death"), which appeared in the journal European Messenger.[7]
"The conscious use of art for ends extraneous to itself was detestable to him... He knew that the Russian reader wanted to be told what to believe and how to live, expected to be provided with clearly contrasted values, clearly distinguishable heroes and villains.... Turgenev remained cautious and skeptical; the reader is left in suspense, in a state of doubt: problems are raised, and for the most part left unanswered" – Isaiah Berlin, Lecture on Fathers and Children[15] |
Turgenev wrote on themes similar to those found in the works of
Legacy
Turgenev's artistic purity made him a favorite of like-minded novelists of the next generation, such as
Antisemitism
Turgenev was known for his venomous descriptions of the Jewish figure, for example in his story "The Jew" (1847). (The story's title in Russian, "жид" (zhyd), is a pejorative.) The story describes a "zhyd" named Hirschel as short and thin, with yellow hair, red eyes that he blinks constantly, and a long and crooked nose. He pursues his greed to the point of prostituting his daughter, and is quoted as saying that "money is a good thing, you can get anything with it". Hirschel is described as heartbroken, and in the description of his trial on charges of espionage, he is sentenced to death. Turgenev describes him as shaking with his whole body, shouting and meowing, "until he involuntarily brought a smile to our faces." In a similar way, the beating of another Jew and the attempt to kill him is described as being met with laughter from the audience.[20][21][22]
Publications
Novels
- 1857: Rudin
- 1859: Home of the Gentry (Дворянское гнездо), also translated as A Nest of Gentlefolk, A House of Gentlefolk and Liza
- 1860: On the Eve (Накануне)
- 1862: Fathers and Sons (Отцы и дети), also translated as Fathers and Children
- 1867: Smoke (Дым)
- 1872: Torrents of Spring (Вешние воды)
- 1877: Virgin Soil (Новь)
Selected shorter fiction
- 1850: Dnevnik lishnevo cheloveka (Дневник лишнего человека); novella, English translation: The Diary of a Superfluous Man
- 1852: Zapiski okhotnika (Записки охотника); collection of stories, English translations: A Sportsman's Sketches, The Hunter's Sketches, A Sportsman's Notebook
- 1854: Mumu
- 1855: Yakov Pasynkov (Яков Пасынков); novella
- 1856: Faust(Фауст); novella
- 1858: Asya (Ася); novella, English translation: Asya or Annouchka
- 1860: Pervaya lyubov (Первая любовь); novella, English translation: First Love
- 1870: Stepnoy korol Lir (Степной король Лир); novella, English translation: King Lear of the Steppes
- 1881: Pesn torzhestvuyushchey lyubvi (Песнь торжествующей любви); novella, English translation: The Song of Triumphant Love
- 1883: Klara Milich (Клара Милич); novella, English translation: The Mysterious Tales
Plays
- 1843: A Rash Thing to Do (Неосторожность)
- 1847: It Tears Where It Is Thin (Где тонко, там и рвётся)
- 1849/1856: Breakfast at the Chief's (Завтрак у предводителя)
- 1850/1851: A Conversation on the Highway (Разговор на большой дороге)
- 1846/1852: Lack of Money (Безденежье)
- 1851: A Provincial Lady (Провинциалка)
- 1857/1862: Fortune's Fool (Нахлебник), also translated as The Hanger-On and The Family Charge
- 1855/1872: A Month in the Country (Месяц в деревне)
- 1882: An Evening in Sorrento (Вечер в Сорренто)
Other
- 1877–1882: Poems in Prose (Стихотворения в прозе)
See also
- Alexander Dmitriyevich Kastalskywho composed an opera based on the novella Klara Milich
- Sir Frederick Ashton, who created a ballet based on A Month in the Country in 1976
- Asteroid 3323 Turgenev, named after the writer
- Lee Hoiby, an American composer and his opera based on A Month in the Country
- Vladimir Rebikov, who composed an opera based on Home of the Gentry in 1916
- Galina Ulanova, who advised her pupils to read such stories of Turgenev's as "Asya" or Torrents of Spring when preparing to dance Giselle
Notes
Explanatory notes
- ^ In Turgenev's day, his name was written Иванъ Сергѣевичъ Тургеневъ.
Citations
- ^ "Turgenev". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
- ^ Turgenev coat of arms, All-Russian Armorials of Noble Houses of the Russian Empire. Part 4, December 7, 1799 (in Russian)
- ^ Pipes, Richard (1981). U.S.–Soviet Relations in the Era of Détente: a Tragedy of Errors. Westview Press. p. 17.
- ^ a b Lutovinov coat of arms, All-Russian Armorials of Noble Houses of the Russian Empire. Part 8, January 25, 1807 (in Russian)
- ^ ISBN 5-235-00789-1.
- ^ Зайцев Б. К. Жизнь Тургенева. — Париж: YMCA Press, 1949. С. 14.
- ^ a b c d public domain: Morfill, William Richard (1911). "Turgueniev, Ivan". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 417. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ISBN 9780674912977. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ISBN 9780791073995.
For example, Leonard Schapiro, Turgenev, His Life and Times (New York: Random, 1978) 214, writes about Turgenev's agnosticism as follows: "Turgenev was not a determined atheist; there is ample evidence which shows that he was an agnostic who would have been happy to embrace the consolations of religion, but was, except perhaps on some rare occasions, unable to do so"; and Edgar Lehrman, Turgenev's Letters (New York: Knopf, 1961) xi, presents still another interpretation for Turgenev's lack of religion, suggesting literature as a possible substitution: "Sometimes Turgenev's attitude toward literature makes us wonder whether, for him, literature was not a surrogate religion—something in which he could believe unhesitatingly, unreservedly, and enthusiastically, something that somehow would make man in general and Turgenev in particular a little happier."
- S2CID 10869743.
- ^ Spitzka, EA. "A study of the brains of six eminent scientists and scholars belonging to the American Anthropometric Society. Together with a description of the skull of Professor E D Cope". Trans Am Philos Soc. 1907 (21): 175–308.
- ^ Pravda 1988: 308
- ^ Tolstoy said after Turgenev's death: "His stories of peasant life will forever remain a valuable contribution to Russian literature. I have always valued them highly. And in this respect none of us can stand comparison with him. Take, for example, Living Relic (Живые мощи), Loner (Бирюк), and so on. All these are unique stories. And as for his nature descriptions, these are true pearls, beyond the reach of any other writer!" Quoted by K.N. Lomunov, "Turgenev i Lev Tolstoi: Tvorcheskie vzaimootnosheniia", in S.E. Shatalov (ed.), I.S. Turgenev v sovremennom mire (Moscow: Nauka, 1987).
- ^ See the "Influences" section in the Infobox of the article on Dostoyevsky for a reference to a study dealing with precisely this issue.
- ^ Isaiah Berlin, Russian Thinkers (Penguin, 1994), pp. 264–305.
- ^ See Karl Ernst Laage, Theodor Storm. Biographie (Heide: Boyens, 1999).
- ^ See Henry James, European Writers & The Prefaces (The Library of America: New York, 1984).
- ^ See Vladimir Nabokov, Lectures on Russian Literature (HBJ, San Diego: 1981).
- S2CID 144124311. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
- ^ Golan, Shammai. "Dostoevsky's Antisemitism". Archived from the original on October 20, 2013.
- JSTOR 20620927.
- ISBN 978-90-420-3148-7.
General and cited sources
- Cecil, David. 1949. "Turgenev", in David Cecil, Poets and Story-tellers: A Book of Critical Essays. New York: Macmillan Co.: 123–38.
- Freeborn, Richard. 1960. Turgenev: The Novelist's Novelist, a Study. London: Oxford University Press.
- Magarshack, David. 1954. Turgenev: A Life. London: Faber and Faber.
- Sokolowska, Katarzyna. 2011. Conrad and Turgenev: Towards the Real. Boulder: Eastern European Monographs.
- Troyat, Henri. 1988. Turgenev. New York: Dutton.
- Yarmolinsky, Avrahm. 1959. Turgenev, the Man, His Art and His Age. New York: Orion Press.
External links
- Works by Ivan Turgenev in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
- Works by Ivan Turgenev at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Ivan Turgenev at Internet Archive
- Works by Ivan Turgenev at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Ivan Turgenev poetry (in Russian)
- Online archive of Turgenev's novels in the original Russian (in Russian)
- Turgenev's works (in Russian)
- Turgenev Society (mainly in (in Russian))
- Turgenev Museum in Bougival (in French)
- Petri Liukkonen. "Ivan Turgenev". Books and Writers.
- Turgenev Bibliography 1983– by Nicholas Žekulin
- The Novels of Ivan Turgenev: Symbols and Emblems by Richard Peace
- English translations of 4 Poetic Miniatures
- English translations of 4 late Prose Poems
- English translation of eight late prose poems by Alexander Stillmark in Modern Poetry in Translation, Series 2, No. 11 (1997).