Article

Name: Quotes and reminiscences from the works of Lermontov in the antinihilistic novel “Nowhere” by N. S. Leskov

Authors: Vurgun G. Mekhtiev

Pacific State University, Khabarovsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: The paper deals with quotes and reminiscences from Lermontov’s works in the novel “Nowhere” by Leskov. The Lermontov’s text is used to express the author’s assessment and in the internal and external monologues of the nihilists of the “pure race” following the “theories” of nihilism. They tend not to delve into the contradictions of this phenomenon, therefore finding themselves in conflict with tradition. Lermontov’s reminiscences add lyrical drama to the characters’ conflict with society and their social protest. They help the author relate the theme of nihilism to the high themes and motives of Russian literature. As Leskov considers Lermontov’s poetry an example of skepticism and rebellion of the gifted man against authority, he shows the connection of the nihilism of his time with the complex of rebellious and demonic worldview characteristic of Lermontov’s lyrical hero and Pechorin. Lermontov’s motifs in the novel elevate the images of “pure nihilists” above the socio-pragmatic tasks of their plan. The personality traits of Lisa Bakhareva, Justin Pomada reveal a romantic yearning for an ideal. Searching for an ideal, they are captured by the “theories” of nihilism. Leskov regarded the contradictions in the inner world of both “Lermontov’s man” and the characters in “Nowhere” as a feature of the Russian national character. The writer’s sympathy for such a spiritual experience is accompanied by a desire to understand its moral origins. The quotes from Lermontov overcome the “pamphlet,” “tendentious” nature of the text, which Leskov’s contemporaries accused him of, to form a hidden tragic plot.

Keywords: N. Leskov, Yu. Lermontov, lyrics, prose, quote, tragic, nihilism

Bibliography:

Antonovich M. A. Literaturno-kriticheskie stat’i [Literary and critical articles]. Moscow, Leningrad, Gos. izd. khudozh. lit., 1961, 516 p.

Belinskiy V. G. Sobranie sochineniy. V 9 t. [Collected works: in 9 vols]. Moscow, Khudozh. lit., 1976, vol. 3, 614 p.

Gogol’ N. V. Sobranie sochineniy. V 9 t. [Collected works: In 9 vols]. V. A. Voropaeva, I. A. Vinogradova (Comp. and comm.). Moscow, Russkaya kniga, 1994, vol. 1, 496 p.

Grigor’ev Ap. Literaturnaya kritika [Literary criticism]. B. F. Egorov (Ed.). Moscow, Sovremennik, 1967, 632 p.

Dudyshkin S. S. Predislovie [Introduction]. Sochineniya Lermontova: V 2 t. [Collected works: In 2 vols.]. St. Petersburg, Publishing of the bookseller A. I. Glazunov, 1863, vol. 1, pp. VII–XXIV.

Konyshev E. M. Bayronicheskaya lichnost’ v izobrazhenii Turgeneva i Dostoevskogo [Byronic personality in the image of Turgenev and Dostoevsky]. Scientific notes of Orel State University. Philological Sciences. 2013, vol. 2, no. 2 (52), pp. 193–199.

Lermontov M. Yu. Soch.: V 2 t. [Collected works: In 2 vols.]. Moscow, Pravda, 1990, vol. 1, 720 p.; vol. 2, 704 p.

Lermontovskaya entsiklopediya [Lermontov encyclopedia]. V. A. Manuylov (Ed. in Ch.). Moscow, Sov. entsiklopediya, 1981, 746 p.

Leskov A. Zhizn’ Nikolaya Leskova: V 2 t. [The Life of Nikolai Leskov: In 2 vols.]. Moscow, Khudozh. lit., 1984, vol. 1, 476 p.

Leskov N. S. Iz perepiski [From the correspondence]. O. E. Mayorova (Prep. of text and intr. art.). Voprosy literatury. 1987, no. 1, pp. 278–282.

Leskov N. S. Sobr. soch.: V 11 t. [Collected works: In 11 vols.]. Moscow, Gos. izd. khudozh. lit., 1957, vol. 2, 761 p.; 1958, vol. 10, 596 p.

Likhachev D. S. Osobennosti poetiki proizvedeniy N. S. Leskova [Peculiarities of the poetics of Leskov’s works]. In: Leskov i russkaya literatura [Leskov and Russian literature]. Moscow, Nauka, 1988, pp. 12–21.

Prokof’ev N. I. Traditsii drevnerusskoy literatury v tvorchestve Leskova [Traditions of Old Russian literature in Leskov’s works]. In: Leskov i russkaya literatura [Leskov and Russian literature]. Moscow, Nauka, 1988, pp. 118–136.

Skabichevskiy A. Russkoe nedomyslie [Russian folly]. Otechestvennye zapiski. 1868, no. 9, “Sovremennoe obozrenie i kritika [Modern review and criticism]”. pp. 1–46.

Stolyarova I. V. V poiskakh ideala [In search of the ideal]. Leningrad, LSU Publ., 1978, 230 p.

Suvorin A. S. Propushchennye glavy iz romana “Nekuda” [Missing chapters from the novel “Nowhere to go”]. Sankt-Peterburgskie vedomosti. 1864, no. 200, 11 September.

Troitskiy V.Yu. Tvorchestvo Leskova i russkiy romantizm [Leskov’s creativity and Russian Romanticism]. Leskov i russkaya literatura. Moscow, Nauka, 1988. pp. 149–165.

Turgenev I. S. Poln. sobr. soch. i pisem: V 30 t. [Collected works and letters: In 30 vols.]. Moscow, Nauka, 1978, vol. 1, 574 p.; 1980, vol. 4, 687 p.; 1980, vol. 5, 543 p.

Viduetskaya I. P. Gogol’ i Leskov [Gogol and Leskov]. In: Gogol’ v literature narodov Sovetskogo Soyuza [Gogol in the literature of the peoples of the Soviet Union]. Erevan, 1988, pp. 128–140.

Zhuravleva A. I. Lermontov v russkoy literature. Problemy poetiki [Lermontov in Russian literature. Problems of poetics]. Moscow, Progress-Traditsiya, 2002, 288 p.