russian literature: History

Overview
Russian literature has long been a cultural focus of the entire world. It's not surprising that the
formation of Russia's first literary traditions goes back to the first century. The adoption of
Christianity boosted the development of literacy, philosophy and theological literature. The
earliest literary works were not written in the Russian language but in Old Church Slavonic
which was developed in the 9th century by Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius.
Old Church Slavonic became the liturgical language of the Orthodox Church, prompting literary
activity in Russia.
In 988 Vladimir I, Grand Duke of Kyiv, converted to Christianity and made it Russia's official
religion. Eventually, religious ties between Russia, the Byzantine Empire, Ancient Rome and
Greece strengthened and began to share common traits. As literacy rapidly developed, so did
Russian literature. Historical chronicles, sacred scriptures, biblical texts, sermons, biographies of
saints and other religious writings and poems were translated from Greek into Old Church
Slavonic which remained the literary language of Russia until the 17th century. At that time,
books served mainly as a means to foster religious awareness. In the long run, Christianity
marked the character of the Russian literature. Church literature laid the foundation for the ideas
of Russian unity and Russian national identity.

First works of Russian literature

Byzantine Greek writings influenced the first texts created during the Kyiv period. The most
significant sermon, "Slovo O Zakone I Blagodati" (1050; "Sermon on Law and Grace"), is a
detailed oration written by the head of the Orthodox Church in Russia at that time, Metropolitan
Illarion. It is believed to be the first original work of Russian literature.
The chronicle "Povest' Vremennykh Let" (1113; "The Tale of Bygone Years," also known as
"The Russian Primary Chronicle"), attributed to the monk Nestor, explores the history of the East
Slavic peoples, namely Russians, Belarussians, and Ukrainians up to the year 1110.
However, the most prominent work of the period is probably "Slovo O Polku Igoreve" (1185;
"The Tale of Igor's Campaign"). It focuses on a Prince Igors failed raid against an army of Asian
nomads and is written in lyrical poetic language.
The creation of religious scripts went hand in hand with the creation of folk poetry; songs, epics
and fairy tales described authentic Russian life and culture. In the late 11th and early 12th
century, "Teaching" by Prince Vladimir Monomakh and "Wanderings of Daniel" featured a
fusion of religious scripts with folk literature. In 1240 the Tatars invaded Kyiv, bringing an early
end to this period in culture.

For the next 200 years the Tatars occupied most of Russia. While Europe was enjoying the
Renaissance, Russian literature was at a standstill. A series of upheavals and riots throughout the
16th and 17th centuries brought political and secular influences to literature.

"Messages of Ivan the Terrible" and the autobiography of Arch Priest Avvakum
were the first literary works written in spoken Russian. These works mixed the
church and bookish languages with folk speech.One of the most important and
notable literary works of the 16th century was "Domostroi" ("House-Orderer").
It set the rules for moral behaviour and gave instructions for running a
household.
In the 16th century folkloric poetry was on the rise as was the popular genre of the secular story
of manners. In the 17th century Russian culture was greatly influenced by Western European
values. Tsar Peter the Greats fascination with European culture was looming large and brought
the first printed books to Russia, almost all of which were religious in content. A number of
Russian poets started composing verses imitating Western authors. In fiction, the influence of
Western adventure tales such as "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, is obvious in "The Tale
of Savva Grudtsyn" ("Povest' o Savve Grudtsyne") and "The Tale of Frol Skobeev" ("Povest' o
Frole Skobeeve"). In 1678, the first plays written by a Russian author, Symeon Polotsky,
appeared. Step by step, modern Russian literature started to emerge as more and more writers
began to develop their own unconventional styles.
By the 18th century written Russian finally came into wide use, replacing Old Church Slavonic.
Peter the Great and Catherine the Great were keen to promote literature in Russia. Perhaps the
most important figure of Russian intellectual life in the 18th century was Mikhail Lomonosov
who rose from peasant origins to become a prominent scientist and writer. One of the greatest
poets of the time was Gavrila Derzhavin. Russian author Denis Fonvizin dominated the drama.
His plays "Brigadir" (written 1768-1769; published 1790; "The Brigadier") and "Nedorosl
(1782; "The Minor") mocked the manners and morals of the upper classes. One of the most
interesting non-fiction works of the period was "Puteshestvie iz Peterburga v Moskvu" (1790;
"Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow") by Aleksandr Radishchev. It earned its author a tenyear exile to Siberia. Nikolay Karamzin established a Russian prose style in his travel writings
with his famous "Istoriia gosudarstva rossiiskogo" (1818-1824; "History of the Russian State").

Golden Age of Poetry

The 19th century was probably the most fruitful period in the history of Russian literature.

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Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Lermontov 15 October

1814 27 July 1841

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 31 March 1809 4

March 1852

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Turgenev 9 November 1818 3

September 1883

Lyev Tolstoy Lyev Tolstoy 9 September 1828 20

November 1910

Anton Chekhov Anton Chekhov 29 January 1860

15 July 1904
The first few decades of the 19th century came to be known as the Golden Age of Poetry.
Without a doubt, Aleksandr Pushkin's renowned novel in verse "Evgeny Onegin" (1823-1831)
cemented his name in history.
Before the 19th century, drama received very little attention from Russian writers. It continued
until two pillars of Russian drama Aleksandr Griboedov ("Gore ot Uma" 1833; "The Woes of
Wit") and Aleksandr Ostrovsky ("Groza," 1860; "The Thunderstorm") stepped into the spotlight.
But by the end of the century, several timeless plays were written by Anton Chekhov, for
example "Chaika" (1896; The Seagull).
The author of the most famous short story in Russian, "Shinel" (1842; "The Overcoat"), Nikolay
Gogol, is considered to be the original master of Russian prose of the 19th century. His comic,
grotesquely humorous collection of short stories "Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki" (1831-1832;
"Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka") are peppered with the local colour and ambience of
Ukraine.
Fyodr Dostoyevsky's novels examined political and social issues as well as philosophical and
moral problems of Russian society. His "Crime and Punishment" (1866) is considered to be one
of the best novels of all time.
Leo Tolstoy, like his contemporary Dostoyevsky, was not just a brilliant novelist but a political
thinker and philosopher as well. His novel "Voina i Mir" (1865-1869; "War and Peace") is a
family and a historical novel in one and is said to be one of the greatest literary works in the
history of world literature.
Short fiction and poetry gradually replaced the novel and by the end of the 19th century were the
dominant genres of Russian literature.

Silver Age

Alexander Blok Alexander Blok 28 November 1880

7 August 1921
One of the most gifted lyrical poets produced by Russia after Alexander Pushkin.
Impressionism and symbolism replaced social realism. A new breed of Russian poets was
inspired by Western European cultures, while Russian culture was gaining in popularity in
Europe.
Russian poet and novelist Valery Bryusov introduced symbolism to Russian audiences.
One of the most sophisticated poets of the time was Aleksandr Blok. His greatest work,
"Dvenadtsat" (1918; "The Twelve," 1920), described the mood of Petrograd (now Saint
Petersburg) in the winter of 1918 in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
Some of the greatest poets of the 20th century who opposed the Bolshevik Revolution and Soviet
rule were Anna Akhmatova (Requiem, 1964), Marian Tsvetaeva and Osip Mandelstam. The last
of these was arrested in the 1930s and died in a labour camp.

Socialist realism
Among those who supported the 1917 Revolution was a prominent Soviet novelist and
playwright, Maksim Gorky ("Mother," 1907). He was also a founder of socialist realism.
After the Revolution, many writers left Russia for Europe and the West. Perhaps one of the most
gifted among them was novelist Vladimir Nabokov who emigrated to the United States in 1940
and began writing in English.
Under Joseph Stalin, the Soviet regime's enforcement of literary guidelines made many
established writers withdraw from literature. Little literature was created at that time.
Works by Andrey Platonov and Mikhail Bulgakov disappeared in the 1920s.
Although Bulgakov had published several plays and stories, his masterpiece "Master and
Margarita," completed shortly before his death in 1940, remained unknown until it was published
in 1966.

After the end of WW2, the guidelines of socialist realism were enforced even more strictly than
before, and the period from 1946 until the death of Stalin in 1953 was probably the bleakest in
Russian literature of the 20th century.

Russian literature in exile

However, the decades after Stalin's death saw several thaws. Restrictions over literature were
eased. In an effort to cast off Stalin's legacy, Nikita Khrushchev expanded the limits of what
could be said in public and written in the press. In the 1960s a number of works that had
previously been banned were republished and many writers felt relief.
Boris Pasternak finally published his legendary novel "Doctor Zhivago," although outside the
Soviet Union. At first it was accepted by a Soviet magazine, but then rejected. Eventually it was
published in the West in 1957. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1958, but
was forced by the Soviet authorities to decline the award.
Khrushchev's campaign against Stalin also allowed the publication of another masterpiece, "Odin
den' Ivana Denisovicha" ("A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," 1963) by Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn. It appeared in the leading Soviet literary magazine, causing a sensation. It focused
on the realities of life in prison camps to which tens of thousands of people suspected of antiSoviet views, including Solzhenitsyn himself, were sent.
But still, novels by Solzhenitsyn, such as "Rakovyi Korpus" ("Cancer Ward," 1968) and "V
Kruge Pervom" ("The First Circle," 1968) could not be published in the Soviet Union. Their
publication abroad eventually led to an official campaign against the writer that resulted in his
expulsion from the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970.
Among other prominent anti-Soviet authors was the poet Joseph Brodsky, who left the Soviet
Union in 1972. In 1987 Brodsky too was awarded the Nobel Prize. Like Solzhenitsyn, he moved
to the United States.

New faces
The early 1990s saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and with it the end of 70 years of state
control over literature. Official censorship was over and the government proclaimed freedom of
the press. This long-awaited independence had profound effects on Russian literature. Works by
writers which had previously been banned reappeared in major editions.
Up-and-coming, promising and controversial writers such as Liudmila Petrushevskaya, Ludmila
Ulitskaya, Vladimir Sorokin and Viktor Erofeev, to name a few, appeared on the Russian scene.
While Russian prose, poetry and drama explore new trends in the world of literature, with
Russian authors in the limelight, lovers of Russian literature are hopeful that another Golden Age
is just round the corner.

Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its migrs, and to the Russian-language
literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet
Union.
Roots of Russian literature can be traced to Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old
Russian were composed. In the Age of enlightenment, literature had grown in importance, and
from the early 1830s, Russian literature underwent an astounding golden age in both poetry,
prose, and drama. After the Revolution of 1917, Russian literature split into Soviet and white
migr parts. Soviet Union assured universal literacy and highly developed book printing
industry, but also carried out ideological censorship.
Russian authors significantly contributed almost to all known genres of the literature. Russia had
five Nobel Prize in literature laureates. As of 2011, Russia was the fourth largest book producer
in the world in terms of published titles.[1] A popular folk saying claims Russians are "the world's
most reading nation".
Early history

Old Russian literature consists of several masterpieces written in the Old Russian language (not
to be confused with the contemporaneous Church Slavonic). Anonymous works of this nature
include The Tale of Igor's Campaign and Praying of Daniel the Immured. The so-called "lives of
the saints" (Russian: , zhitiya svyatykh) formed a popular genre of the Old Russian
literature. Life of Alexander Nevsky offers a well-known example. Other Russian literary
monuments include Zadonschina, Physiologist, Synopsis and A Journey Beyond the Three Seas.
Bylinas oral folk epics fused Christian and pagan traditions. Medieval Russian literature had
an overwhelmingly religious character and used an adapted form of the Church Slavonic
language with many South Slavic elements. The first work in colloquial Russian, the
autobiography of the archpriest Avvakum, emerged only in the mid-17th century.
18th century

After taking the throne at the end of the 17th century, Peter the Great's influence on the Russian
culture would extend far into the 18th century. Peter's reign during the beginning of the 18th
century initiated a series of modernizing changes in Russian literature. The reforms he
implemented encouraged Russian artists and scientists to make innovations in their crafts and
fields with the intention of creating an economy and culture comparable. Peter's example set a
precedent for the remainder of the 18th century as Russian writers began to form clear ideas
about the proper use and progression of the Russian language. Through their debates regarding
versification of the Russian language and tone of Russian literature, the writers in the first half of
the 18th century were able to lay foundation for the more poignant, topical work of the late 18th
century.

Satirist Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir, 17081744, was one of the earliest Russian writers not
only to praise the ideals of Peter I's reforms but the ideals of the growing Enlightenment
movement in Europe. Kantemir's works regularly expressed his admiration for Peter, most
notably in his epic dedicated to the emperor entitled Petrida. More often, however, Kantemir
indirectly praised Peter's influence through his satiric criticism of Russia's superficiality and
obscurantism, which he saw as manifestations of the backwardness Peter attempted to correct
through his reforms.[2] Kantemir honored this tradition of reform not only through his support for
Peter, but by initiating a decade-long debate on the proper syllabic versification using the
Russian language.
Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, a poet, playwright, essayist, translator and contemporary to
Antiokh Kantemir, also found himself deeply entrenched in Enlightenment conventions in his
work with the Russian Academy of Sciences and his groundbreaking translations of French and
classical works to the Russian language. A turning point in the course of Russian literature, his
translation of Paul Tallemant's work Voyage to the Isle of Love, was the first to use the Russian
vernacular as opposed the formal and outdated Church-Slavonic.[3] This introduction set a
precedent for secular works to be composed in the vernacular, while sacred texts would remain in
Church-Slavonic. However, his work was often incredibly theoretical and scholarly, focused on
promoting the versification of the language with which he spoke.
While Trediakovsky's approach to writing is often described as highly erudite, the young writer
and scholarly rival to Trediakovsky, Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, 17171777, was dedicated
to the styles of French classicism. Sumarokov's interest in the form of French literature mirrored
his devotion to the westernizing spirit of Peter the Great's age. Although he often disagreed with
Trediakovsky, Sumarokov also advocated the use of simple, natural language in order to
diversify the audience and make more efficient use of the Russian language. Like his colleagues
and counterparts, Sumarokov extolled the legacy of Peter I, writing in his manifesto Epistle on
Poetry, The great Peter hurls his thunder from the Baltic shores, the Russian sword glitters in all
corners of the universe.[4] Peter the Great's policies of westernization and displays of military
prowess naturally attracted Sumarokov and his contemporaries.
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, in particular, expressed his gratitude for and dedication to
Peter's legacy in his unfinished Peter the Great, Lomonosov's works often focused on themes of
the awe-inspiring, grandeur nature, and was therefore drawn to Peter because of the magnitude of
his military, architectural, and cultural feats. In contrast to Sumarokov's devotion to simplicity,
Lomonosov favored a belief in a hierarchy of literary styles divided into high, middle, and low.
This style facilitated Lomonosov's grandiose, high minded writing and use of both vernacular
and Church-Slavonic.[5]
The influence of Peter I and debates over the function and form of literature as it related to the
Russian language in the first half of the 19th century set a stylistic precedent for the writers

during the reign of Catherine the Great in the second half of the century. However, the themes
and scopes of the works these writers produced were often more poignant, political and
controversial. Alexander Nikolayevich Radishchev, for example, shocked the Russian public
with his depictions of the socio-economic condition of the serfs. This Empress Catherine II
condemned this portrayal, forcing Radishchev into exile in Siberia.[6]
Others, however, picked topics less offensive to the autocrat. Nikolay Karamzin, 17661826, for
example, is known for his advocacy of Russian writers adopting traits in the poetry and prose
like a heightened sense of emotion and physical vanity, considered to be feminine at the time as
well as supporting the cause of female Russian writers. Karamzin's call for male writers to write
with femininity was not in accordance with the Enlightenment ideals of reason and theory,
considered masculine attributes. His works were thus not universally well-received, however
they did reflect in some areas of society a growing respect for, or at least ambivalence toward, a
female ruler in Catherine the Great. This concept heralded an era of regarding female
characteristics in writing as an abstract concept linked with attributes of frivolity, vanity and
pathos.
Some writers, on the other hand, were more direct in their praise for Catherine II. Gavrila
Romanovich Derzhavin, famous for his odes, often dedicated his poems to Empress Catherine II.
In contrast to most of his contemporaries, Derzhavin was highly devoted to his state; he served in
the military, before rising to various roles in Catherine II's government, including secretary to the
Empress and Minister of Justice. Unlike those who took after the grand style of Mikhail
Lomonosov and Alexander Sumarokov, Derzhavin was concerned with the minute details of his
subjects.
Denis Fonvizin, an author primarily of comedy, approached the subject of the Russian nobility
with an angle of critique. Fonvizin felt the nobility should be held to the standards they were
under the reign of Peter the Great, during which the quality of devotion to the state was
rewarded. His works criticized the current system for rewarding the nobility without holding
them responsible for the duties they once performed. Using satire and comedy, Fonvizin
supported a system of nobility in which the elite were rewarded based upon personal merit rather
than the hierarchal favoritism that was rampant during Catherine the Great's reign.[7

Golden Age

The 19th century is traditionally referred to as the "Golden Era" of Russian literature.
Romanticism permitted a flowering of especially poetic talent: the names of Vasily Zhukovsky
and later that of his protg Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Pushkin is credited with both

crystallizing the literary Russian language and introducing a new level of artistry to Russian
literature. His best-known work is a novel in verse, Eugene Onegin. An entire new generation of
poets including Mikhail Lermontov, Yevgeny Baratynsky, Konstantin Batyushkov, Nikolay
Nekrasov, Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Fyodor Tyutchev, and Afanasy Fet followed in
Pushkin's steps.
Prose was flourishing as well. The first great Russian novelist was Nikolai Gogol. Then came
Nikolai Leskov, Ivan Turgenev, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, all mastering both short stories and
novels, and novelist Ivan Goncharov. Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky soon became
internationally renowned to the point that many scholars such as F. R. Leavis have described one
or the other as the greatest novelist ever. In the second half of the century Anton Chekhov
excelled in writing short stories and became perhaps the leading dramatist internationally of his
period.
Other important 19th-century developments included the fabulist Ivan Krylov; non-fiction
writers such as Vissarion Belinsky and Alexander Herzen; playwrights such as Aleksandr
Griboyedov, Aleksandr Ostrovsky and the satirist Kozma Prutkov (a collective pen name).
Nineteenth century Russian literature perpetuated disparate ideas of suicide; it became another
facet of culture and society in which men and women were regarded and treated differently. A
woman could not commit the noble, heroic suicide that a man could; she would not be regarded
highly or as a martyr, but as a simple human who, overcome with feelings of love gone
unfulfilled and having no one to protect her from being victimized by society, surrendered
herself.[8] Many of the 19th century Russian heroines were victims of suicide as well as victims
of the lifestyle of St. Petersburg, which was long argued to have imported the very idea of and
justifications for suicide into Russia. St. Petersburg, which was built as a Western rather than a
Russian city was long accused by supporters of traditional Russian lifestyles as importing
Western ideasthe ideas of achieving nobility, committing suicide and, the synthesis of these
two ideas, the nobility of suicide being among them.[9]
Novels set in Moscow in particular, such as Anna Karenina, and Bednaia Liza (Poor Liza),[10]
follow a trend of female suicides which suggest a weakness in character which exists only
because they are women; they are said by readers to be driven by their emotions into situations
from which suicide seems to be the only escape. These instances of self-murder have no deeper
meaning than that and, in the case of Bednaia Liza, the setting of Moscow serves only to provide
a familiarity which will draw the reader to it, and away from Western novels.[10]
Contrastingly, many novels set in St. Petersburg viewed suicide primarily through the lens of a
male protagonist (as in Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment) as opposed to the females
who held the spotlight in the aforementioned titles. Beyond that, instead of the few females who
commit suicide in these Petersburg texts[10] being propelled to such lengths by a love so powerful

and inescapable that it consumed them, financial hardships and moral degradation which they
faced in the Imperial Capital[10] contaminated or destroyed their femininity; related to this,
prostitution became markedly more prominent in popular literature in the 19th century.[8]
Another new aspect of literary suicides introduced in the Petersburg texts is that authors have
shifted their gazes from individuals and their plot-driving actions to presentations of broad
political ideologies, which are common to Greek and Roman heroesthis step was taken in
order to establish a connection between Russian male protagonists who take their own lives and
Classic tragic heroes, whereas the women of the literature remained as microcosms for the
stereotyped idea of the female condition. The idea of suicide as a mode of protecting ones right
to self-sovereignty was seen as legitimate within the sphere of St. Petersburg, a secular and
Godless[10] capital. Unlike Classic tragic heroes, the deaths of male protagonists, such as in
Nikolai Gogols Nevskii Prospekt and Dmitry Grigorovichs Svistulkin, did not bring about great
celebrations in their honor, or even faint remembrances amongst their comrades. In fact, both
protagonists die lonely deaths, suffering quietly and alone in their final hours. Until the Russian
revolution in 1917, such themes remained prominent in literature.[10]
Silver Age

The beginning of the 20th century ranks as the Silver Age of Russian poetry. Well-known poets
of the period include: Alexander Blok, Sergei Yesenin, Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont,
Mikhail Kuzmin, Igor Severyanin, Sasha Chorny, Nikolay Gumilyov, Maximilian Voloshin,
Innokenty Annensky, Zinaida Gippius. The poets most often associated with the "Silver Age" are
Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Osip Mandelstam and Boris Pasternak.
While the Silver Age is considered to be the development of the 19th century Russian literature
tradition, some avant-garde poets tried to overturn it: Velimir Khlebnikov, David Burliuk,
Aleksei Kruchenykh and Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Though the Silver Age is famous mostly for its poetry, it produced some first-rate novelists and
short-story writers, such as Aleksandr Kuprin, Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin, Leonid Andreyev,
Fedor Sologub, Aleksey Remizov, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Andrei Bely,
though most of them wrote poetry as well as prose.
20th century

With the victory of Russia's Revolution, Mayakovsky worked on interpreting the facts of the new
reality. Mayakovsky works such as "Ode to the Revolution" and "Left March" (both 1918)
brought innovations to poetry. In "Left March", Mayakovsky calls for a struggle against the
enemies of the Russian Revolution. The poem "150,000,000" discusses the leading played by the
masses in the revolution. In the poem "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1924), Mayakovsky looks at the
life and work at the leader of Russia's revolution and depicts them against a broad historical

background. In the poem "It's Good", Mayakovsky writes about socialist society being the
"springtime of humanity". Mayakovsky was instrumental in producing a new type of poetry in
which politics played a major part. [11]
In the 1930s Socialist realism became the predominant trend in Russia. Its leading figure was
Maxim Gorky, who laid the foundations of this style with his works The Mother and his play The
Enemies (both 1906). His autobiographical trilogy describes his journey from the poor of society
to the development of his political consciousness. His novel The Artamanov Business (1925) and
his play Egor Bulyshov (1932) depict the decay and inevitable downfall of Russia's ruling
classes. Gorky defined socialist realism as the "realism of people who are rebuilding the world,"
and points out that it looks at the past "from the heights of the future's goals". Gorky considered
the main task of writers to help in the development of the new man in socialist society. Gorky's
version of a heroic revolutionary is Pavel Vlasov from the novel "Mother", who displays
selflessness and compassion for the working poor, as well as discipline and dedication. Gorky's
works were significant for the development of literature in Russia and became influential in
many parts of the world.[12]
Nikolay Ostrovsky's novel How the Steel Was Tempered has been among the most successful
works of Russian literature, with tens of millions of copies printed in many languages around the
world. In China, various versions of the book have sold more than 10 million copies.[13] In
Russia, more than 35 million copies of the book are in circulation.[14] The book is a fictionalized
autobiography of Ostrovsky's life, who had a difficult working-class childhood and became a
Komsomol member in July 1919 and went to the front as a volunteer. The novel's protagonist,
Pavel Korchagin, represented the "young hero" of Russian literature: he is dedicated to his
political causes, which help him to overcome his tragedies. The novel has served as an
inspiration to youths around the world and played a mobilizing role in Russia's Great Patriotic
War. [15]
Alexander Fadeyev achieved noteworthy success in Russia, with tens of millions of copies of his
books in circulation in Russia and around the world. [14] Many of Fadeyev's works have been
staged and filmed and translated into many languages in Russia and around the world. Fadeyev
served as a secretary of the Soviet Writers' Union and was the general secretary of the union's
administrative board from 1946 to 1954. He was awarded two Orders of Lenin and various
medals. His novel The Rout deals with the partisan struggle in Russia's Far East during the
Russian Revolution and Civil War. Fadeyev described the theme of this novel as one of a
revolution significantly transforming the masses. The novel's protagonist Levinson is a
Bolshevik revolutionary who has a high level of political consciousness. The novel The Young
Guard, which received the State Prize of the USSR in 1946, focuses on an underground
Komsomol group in Krasnodon, Ukraine and their struggle against the fascist occupation. [16]

The first years of the Soviet regime were marked by the proliferation of avant-garde literature
groups. One of the most important was the Oberiu movement that included Nikolay Zabolotsky,
Alexander Vvedensky, Konstantin Vaginov and the most famous Russian absurdist Daniil
Kharms. Other famous authors experimenting with language were novelists Andrei Platonov and
Yuri Olesha and short story writers Isaak Babel and Mikhail Zoshchenko.
Writers like those of Serapion Brothers group, who insisted on the right of an author to write
independently of political ideology, were forced by authorities to reject their views and accept
Socialist realism principles. Some 1930s writers, such as Mikhail Bulgakov, author of The
Master and Margarita, and Nobel-prize winning Boris Pasternak with his novel Doctor Zhivago
continued the classical tradition of Russian literature with little or no hope of being published.
Their major works would not be published until the Khrushchev Thaw and Pasternak was forced
to refuse his Nobel prize.
Meanwhile, migr writers, such as poets Vyacheslav Ivanov, Georgy Ivanov and Vladislav
Khodasevich; novelists such as Gaito Gazdanov, Mark Aldanov and Vladimir Nabokov and short
story Nobel Prize winning writer Ivan Bunin, continued to write in exile.
The Khrushchev Thaw brought some fresh wind to the literature. Poetry became a mass cultural
phenomenon: Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Andrei Voznesensky, Robert Rozhdestvensky and Bella
Akhmadulina read their poems in stadiums and attracted huge crowds.
Some writers dared to oppose Soviet ideology, like short story writer Varlam Shalamov and
Nobel Prize winning novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote about life in the gulag camps,
or Vasily Grossman, with his description of World War II events countering the Soviet official
historiography. They were dubbed "dissidents" and could not publish their major works until the
1960s.
But the thaw did not last long. In the 1970s, some of the most prominent authors were not only
banned from publishing, but were also prosecuted for their Anti-Soviet sentiments or parasitism.
Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the country. Others, such as Nobel prize winning poet Joseph
Brodsky, novelists Vasily Aksyonov, Eduard Limonov and Sasha Sokolov, and short story writer
Sergei Dovlatov, had to emigrate to the US, while Venedikt Yerofeyev and Oleg Grigoriev
"emigrated" to alcoholism. Their books were not published officially until perestroika, although
fans continued to reprint them manually in a manner called "samizdat" (self-publishing).
Popular genres

Children's literature in Soviet Union was considered a major genre, because of its educational
role. A large share of early period children's books were poems: Korney Chukovsky, Samuil
Marshak, Agnia Barto were among the most read. "Adult" poets, such as Mayakovsky and
Sergey Mikhalkov, contributed to the genre as well. Some of the early Soviet children's prose

was loose adaptations of foreign fairy tales unknown in contemporary Russia. Alexey N. Tolstoy
wrote Buratino, a light-hearted and shortened adaptation of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio. Alexander
Volkov introduced fantasy fiction to Soviet children with his loose translation of Frank L.
Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published as The Wizard of the Emerald City, and then
wrote a series of five sequels, unrelated to Baum. Other notable authors include Nikolay Nosov,
Lazar Lagin, Vitaly Bianki.
While fairy tales were relatively free from ideological oppression, the realistic children's prose of
the Stalin era was highly ideological and pursued the goal to raise children as patriots and
communists. A notable example is Arkady Gaydar, himself a Red Army soldier in Russian Civil
War: his stories and plays about Timur describe a team of young pioneer volunteers who help the
eldery and resist hooligans. There was a genre of hero pioneer story, that bore some similarities
with Christian genre of hagiography. In Khrushov and Brezhnev times, however, the pressure
lightened. Mid- and late Soviet children's books by Eduard Uspensky, Yuri Entin, Viktor
Dragunsky bear no signs of propaganda. In the 1970s many of these books, as well as stories by
foreign children's writers, were adapted into animation.
Soviet Science fiction, inspired by scientistic revolution, industrialisation, and the country's
space pioneering, was flourishing, albeit in the limits allowed by censors. Early science fiction
authors, such as Alexander Belyayev, Grigory Adamov, Vladimir Obruchev, Aleksey
Nikolayevich Tolstoy, stack to hard science fiction and regarded H. G. Wells and Jules Verne as
examples to follow. Two notable exclusions from this trend were Yevgeny Zamyatin, author of
dystopian novel We, and Mikhail Bulgakov, who, while using science fiction instrumentary in
Heart of a Dog, The Fatal Eggs and Ivan Vasilyevich, was interested in social satire rather than
scientistic progress. The two have had problems with publishing their books in Soviet Union.
Since the thaw in the 1950s Soviet science fiction began to form its own style. Philosophy,
ethics, utopian and dystopian ideas became its core, and Social science fiction was the most
popular subgenre.[17] Although the view of Earth's future as that of utopian communist society
was the only welcome, the liberties of genre still offered a loophole for free expression. Books of
brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, and Kir Bulychev, among others, are reminiscent of social
problems and often include satire on contemporary Soviet society. Ivan Yefremov, on the
contrary, arose to fame with his utopian views on future as well as on Ancient Greece in his
historical novels. Strugatskies are also credited for the Soviet's first science fantasy, the Monday
Begins on Saturday trilogy. Other notable science fiction writers included Vladimir Savchenko,
Georgy Gurevich, Alexander Kazantsev, Georgy Martynov, Yeremey Parnov. Space opera was
less developed, since both state censors and serious writers watched it unfavorably. Nevertheless,
there were moderately successful attempts to adapt space westerns to Soviet soil. The first was
Alexander Kolpakov with "Griada", after came Sergey Snegov with "Men Like Gods", among
others.

A specific branch of both science fiction and children's books appeared in mid-Soviet era: the
children's science fiction. It was meant to educate children while enterteining them. The star of
the genre was Bulychov, who, along with his adult books, created children's space adventure
series about Alisa Selezneva, a teenage girl from the future. Others include Nikolay Nosov with
his books about dwarf Neznayka, Evgeny Veltistov, who wrote about robot boy Electronic, Vitaly
Melentyev, Vladislav Krapivin, Vitaly Gubarev.
Mystery was another popular genre. Detectives by brothers Arkady and Georgy Vayner and spy
novels by Yulian Semyonov were best-selling,[18] and many of them were adapted into film or TV
in 1970's and 1980s.
Village prose is a genre that conveys nostalgic decriptions of rural life. Valentin Rasputins 1976
novel, Proshchaniye s Matyoroy (Farewell to Matyora) depicted a village faced with destruction
to make room for a hydroelectric plant.[19]
Historical fiction in the early Soviet era included a large share of memoirs, fictionalized or not.
Valentin Katayev and Lev Kassil wrote semi-autobiographic books about children's life in Tsarist
Russia. Vladimir Gilyarovsky wrote Moscow and Muscovites, about life in pre-revolutionary
Moscow. The late Soviet historical fiction was dominated by World War II novels and short
stories by authors such as Boris Vasilyev, Viktor Astafyev, Boris Polevoy, Vasil Byka, among
many others, based on the authors' own war experience. Vasily Yan and Konstantin Badygin are
best known for their novels on Medieval Rus, and Yury Tynyanov for writing on Russian
Empire. Valentin Pikul wrote about many different epochs and countries in an Alexander Dumasinspired style. In the 1970s there appeared a relatively independent Village Prose, whose most
prominent representatives were Viktor Astafyev and Valentin Rasputin.
Any sort of fiction that dealt with the occult, either horror, adult-oriented fantasy or magic
realism, was unwelcome in Soviet Russia. Until 1980's very few books in these genres were
written, and even fewer were published, although earlier books, such as by Gogol, were not
banned. Of the rare exceptions, Bulgakov in Master and Margarita (not published in author's
lifetime) and Strugatskies in Monday Begins on Saturday introduced magic and mystical
creatures into contemporary Soviet reality to satirize it. Another exception was early Soviet
writer Alexander Grin, who wrote romantic tales, both realistic and fantastic.
Post-Soviet era

End of the 20th century has proven a difficult period for Russian literature, with relatively few
distinct voices. Although the censorship was lifted and writers could now freely express their
thoughts, 1990's political and economic chaos affected the book market and literature heavily.
Book printing industry descended into crisis, the number of printed book copies dropped several
times in comparison to Soviet era, and it took about a decade to revive.

Among the most discussed authors of this period were Victor Pelevin, who gained popularity
with first short stories and then novels, novelist and playwright Vladimir Sorokin, and the poet
Dmitry Prigov. A relatively new trend in Russian literature is that female short story writers
Tatyana Tolstaya or Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, and novelists Lyudmila Ulitskaya or Dina Rubina
have come into prominence. The tradition of the classic Russian novel continues with such
authors as Mikhail Shishkin and Vasily Aksyonov.
Detective stories and thrillers have proven a very successful genre of new Russian literature: in
the 1990s serial detective novels by Alexandra Marinina, Polina Dashkova and Darya Dontsova
were published in millions of copies. In the next decade a more highbrow author Boris Akunin
with his series about the 19th century sleuth Erast Fandorin became widely popular.
Science fiction is still among best-selling, albeit second to fantasy, that was relatively new to
Russian readers. These genres boomed in late 1990s, with authors like Sergey Lukyanenko, Nick
Perumov, Maria Semenova, Vera Kamsha, Alexey Pekhov and Vadim Panov. A good share of
modern Russian science fiction and fantasy is written in Ukraine[20], especially in Kharkiv[21],
home to H. L. Oldie, Alexander Zorich, Yuri Nikitin and Andrey Valentinov. Many others hail
from Kiev, including Marina and Sergey Dyachenko and Vladimir Arenev. Significant
contribution to Russian horror literature has been done by Ukrainians Andrey Dashkov and
Alexander Vargo.
The leading poets of the young generation are arguably Dmitry Vodennikov and Andrey
Rodionov, both famous not only for their verses, but also for their ability to artistically recite
them. In the late 2000s (decade) a new generation of young poets came, who prefer the classic
style of writing, which inherits the traditions of the Silver Age: Maria Markova (owner of the
Russian presidential award), Andrey Nitchenko (winner of many authoritative literary contests)
and many others.
Trent Johnson was a leading critic of Russian literature during this time.
External influences
British romantic poetry

Robert Burns became a peoples poet in Russia. In Imperial times the Russian aristocracy were
so out of touch with the peasantry that Burns, translated into Russian, became a symbol for the
ordinary Russian people. In Soviet Russia Burns was elevated as the archetypical poet of the
people not least since the Soviet regime slaughtered and silenced its own poets. A new
translation of Burns, begun in 1924 by Samuil Marshak, proved enormously popular selling over
600,000 copies.[22][23] In 1956, the Soviet Union became the first country in the world to honour
Burns with a commemorative stamp. The poetry of Burns is taught in Russian schools alongside
their own national poets. Burns was a great admirer of the egalitarian ethos behind the French

Revolution. Whether Burns would have recognised the same principles at work in the Soviet
State at its most repressive is moot. This didnt stop the Communists from claiming Burns as one
of their own and incorporating his work into their state propaganda. The post communist years of
rampant capitalism in Russia have not tarnished Burns' reputation.[24]
Lord Byron was a major influence on almost all Russian poets of the Golden Era, including
Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Baratynsky, Delvig and, especially, Lermontov.[25]
French Literature

Writers such as Victor Hugo and Honor de Balzac were widely influential.
Abroad

Russian literature is not only written by Russians. In the Soviet times such popular writers as
Belarusian Vasil Byka, Kyrgyz Chinghiz Aitmatov and Abkhaz Fazil Iskander wrote some of
their books in Russian. Some renowned contemporary authors writing in Russian have been born
and live in Ukraine (Andrey Kurkov, Marina and Sergey Dyachenko) or Baltic States (Garros
and Evdokimov). Many, if not the most, Ukrainian fantasy and science fiction authors write in
Russian[20], which gives them access to a much broader audience, and usually publish their books
via Russian publishers such as Eksmo, Azbuka and AST.
A number of prominent Russian authors such as novelists Mikhail Shishkin, Rubn Gallego,
Svetlana Martynchik and Dina Rubina, poets Alexei Tsvetkov and Bakhyt Kenjeev, though born
in USSR, live and work in West Europe, North America or Israel.

18th century

Alexander Sumarokov

Mikhail Lomonosov

Gavrila Derzhavin

Nikolay Karamzin

Alexander Radishchev

Ivan Krylov

Golden Age

Fyodor Tyutchev

Vasily Zhukovsky

Nikolai Gogol

Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Herzen

Ivan Goncharov

Silver Age

Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Lermontov
Ivan Turgenev
Afanasy Fet
Nikolai Nekrasov

Dmitry Merezhkovsky

Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Alexander Ostrovsky
Mikhail Saltykov-Schedrin
Leo Tolstoy
Nikolai Leskov
Peter Kropotkin

Ivan Bunin

Anton Chekhov

Leonid Andreyev

Osip Mandelstam
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Sergei Yesenin
Valery Bryusov
Andrey Bely
Alexander Blok
Yevgeny Zamyatin

Boris Pasternak

Anna Akhmatova
Valery Bryusov
Andrey Bely
Alexander Blok
Yevgeny Zamyatin
Anna Akhmatova

20th century
Mikhail Bulgakov
Marina Tsvetaeva
Isaak Babel
Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov
Vladimir Nabokov
Mikhail Sholokhov
Daniil Kharms

Alexander Belayev

Aleksey Tolstoy

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Boris Akunin
Eduard Limonov

Victor Pelevin

Vladimir Sorokin

 Sergei Lukyanenko

Middle Ages Clothing ::

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Middle Ages Clothing ::

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Middle Ages Clothing ::

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