Ivan Turgenev in English literary criticism (1855-1995): A critical study

This dissertation comprises six parts--Introduction; Chapter One (Ivan Turgenev in English Literary Criticism (1855-1995): Trends and Shifts); Chapter Two (Annotated Bibliography of Major English Criticism: (1855-1995)); Conclusion (author's own criticism); Subject Index; and Author Index. The dissertation concludes that criticism has rather effectively studied Turgenev as writer and man: comparing him with other writers and artists, Russian and foreign; seeking out new biographical data; viewing him in various socio-political and philosophical contexts; analyzing countless stylistic and structural aspects of his works; tracing his critical reception; linking him to various literary movements. Studies of Turgenev's own literary theories and Turgenev criticism have also been examined and credited for their contribution to the study of Turgenev's artistic world.;Recounted are many analytical methodologies, with epistolary studies receiving special attention for its function of opening new fields of Turgenev studies, especially comparative and biographical. An abundance of comparative criticism, which links Turgenev to many other writers, and shows his towering position in world literature, has been analyzed. The dissertation reveals a voluminous body of criticism of Turgenev's poetics, characterization modes and stylistic and structural devices ranging from narrative devices, imagery, time setting, nature descriptions, to literary parody, and intertextuality. The dissertation also concludes that Turgenev criticism has contributed significant, substantive, and lasting scholarship in several established categories, while identifying Notes of a Hunter and Fathers and Sons as Turgenev's most distinguished works. It is apparent that a firm research foundation in Turgenev studies has been established and that the large amount of documentary data accumulated offers much fertile ground for future development.