1. Russia: the 1880s A generational change

2. 1880 Pushkin Monument Speeches by Dostoevsky, Turgenev The myth of Russian literature, with Pushkin as its foundation, takes shape Pushkin is seen as “narodnyi” – national poet, creator of the Russian literary language

3. 9 February 1881 Dostoevsky dies…

4. Ivan Turgenev… … dies at Bougival outside Paris 3 September 1883

5. Turgenev’s remains transported to Russia…buried at the Volkov Cemetery in St Petersburg

6. Of the great novelists, only Tolstoy remains Tolstoy goes through religious crisis, renounces his early writings Espouses a radical Christianity based on poverty, non-violence, anarchy (Painting 1887 by Ilya Repin)

7. Repression Age darkened by the assassination of Alexander II in 1881 Police state strengthened, trials of suspects Pogroms break out in the areas of Jewish settlement Education system changed to emphasize classical studies rather than natural sciences Repin: “They did not expect him” (1884)

8. Intellectual shifts: after positivism Turning away from the optimism and belief in progress of the previous age Radical socialist ideas: terror or communism, strikes Pessimism promoted by Schopenhauer’s philosophy, interest in Buddhism, abnegation of will beginning of the ennui of the turn of the century

9. Deep divisions The intellectual world becomes divided as the industrial age reaches its peak Naturalism: harsh leftist vision of the sufferings of people in the industrial age: prose Art for art’s sake: a new aestheticism, themes from ancient Greece, symbolism, belief in a transcendent world, mysticism: poetry

10. Changes in the social landscape: the new reader Accelerated urbanization and industrialization of Russia Greater literacy Need for doctors, engineers, educators New, classless reader Cheap mass-produced magazines and journals catered to lower-class tastes The short form comes to the fore: the short story, anecdote, sketch

11. Vsevolod Garshin (1855-88) Father committed suicide in front of him when he was 7 Fought in the Russo- Turkish war (1877- 1878) Suffered from mental illness, committed suicide

12. Garshin’s work Left a collection of short stories Focusses on the inner life of the individual under extreme stress, the subconscious world Highly compressed stories with a grimly ironic twist “Red Flower” – about a madman who believes the evil of the world is concentrated in three red poppies growing in the mental hospital garden; he contrives to defeat his wardens and destroy them and dies in a bout of nervous exhaustion