КОНФЛИКТ СТАРОГО И НОВОГО В АНТИНИГИЛИСТИЧЕСКОМ РОМАНЕ «В ВОДОВОРОТЕ» А. Ф. ПИСЕМСКОГО
THE CONFLICT OF THE OLD AND THE NEW IN THE ANTINIHILISTIC ROMAN “IN THE VORTEX” OF A. F. PISEMSKY

Summary/Abstract: During the second half of the 19th century, Russia saw sweeping economical, social and political development. Czar Alexander II’s empancipation led to reforms made in law, education, and military, bringing older and younger generations face to face. The new generation was influenced by the ideas of such philosophers as N. A. Dobrolyubov and N. K. Chernyshevsky, and denied their ancestor’s value judgments and beliefs. The old generation, on the other hand, stuck heavily to Russian tradition and orthodoxy, and resisted this nihilistic movement. Antinihilists regarded the action and the thoughts of the young generation as a threat to Russia. Out of that, a parallel genre of literature developed between 1860 and 1880: the antinihilistic novel, which criticized the social, political, and religious philosophy of nihilism. Russian author Aleksey Feofilaktovich Pisemsky (1821-1881) was a key Russian realist. In his 1871 novel In the Vortex (В Водовороте), he introduced his readers to nihilistic and the antinihilistic heroes using vivid realism. The novel described a tragic picture of Russia of the 1860s, and draws attention to the degeneration of the Russian family and societal structure. In this study, we shall explore how Russia evolved during this period the characteristics of the antinihilistic novel, and Pisemsky’s antinihilistic attitude in this aforementioned book, and then analyze the novel using historical literary methods.

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