Turgenev And Russian Populism

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev(1818-1883)was one of the most outstanding realist writers in Russia in the nineteenth century and gained a wide reputation in Europe as the first Russian writer.With great sensitivity and insight,he displayed in his works a magnificent picture of the Russian society from the 1930 s to the 1970 s,making significant contributions to the prosperity of Russian literature in the 19 th century and its connection with the world literature.Russian populism was one of the most important social thoughts in Russia in the late 19 th century.It not only reflected the sharp social contradictions in the wake of the reform of serfdom,but also embodied the urgent aspiration that Russian intellectuals expressed to rescue their country and people.The present research aims to study Turgenev's ideal from the perspective of Russian populism so as to present a thorough analysis and comprehensive interpretation of Russian populism through the methods of biographical criticism,text analysis,historical criticism,and comparison.The present study shows that Turgenev had deep reflection on Russian populism despite that he was not a populist,which is evidenced by his attitude toward populism in his works.The study mainly explores the complex relationship between Turgenev and populism by looking into the change of Turgenev's ideal about populism,his interaction with contemporary writers and the populism reflected in his works.The change of Turgenev's ideal about populism focuses on the causes and process of the change.Turgenev' ideal of populism was deeply related in his family education and social status,which motivated him to look for the way for rescuing his people in great confusion and agony.During the process of pursuing,Turgenev tried to save his country by populism.However,in his late life,he was disappointed by his persistence in the ‘top down' way of saving his country and decided to resort to populism for a ‘bottom up' revolution.Turgenev's interaction with his contemporary writers also contributed to the change of his mind.He not only unconsciously got involved in their theories when he communicated with Herzen,Bakunin and Lavrov,but also was greatly influenced by them.Turgenev accepted Bakunin and Lavrov's ideas,and questioned other ideals.He exerted great influence on these people,who created a few classic characters based on the one in Turgenev's works.It was,to some degree,Turgenev's works that led to the prosperity of literature about populism.Russian populism plays an important role in Turgenev's literary creation,which was constantly expressed in his novels,prose,poem and other works.In his works,Turgenev comprehensively reflected on populism,showed the complex relationship of populism with the people.In conclusion,the analysis of Turgenev's life experience,his interaction with his contemporary writers and his ideas about literary creation displays Turgenev's complex attitude and mixed emotion toward Russian populism,which played an essential role and had an important position in Turgenev's life.