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Introduction
The Momentum of Byronism
Terms of engagement

Turgenev: biography
Early upbringing
Early influences
Developing lifestyle
Exile, repatriation, death

Turgenev and political turbulence
Slavophiles and Westernizers
Forces of negation

Byronic influence through others
Pushkin and Lermontov
Anarchists and early nihilists

Fathers and Sons: from the source
Bazarov as nihilist?
Bazarov as Romantic hero?

Conclusion
Bazarov as Byronic negator and idealist
Bibliography

Text-Only Version

Bazarov's Byronic Roots

Tracing Byron's Influence on the Creation and Development of the Nihilist Bazarov in Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons

This essay was originally completed by Daniel Hocutt December 1996 as a graduate seminar paper for Dr. Terryl Givens' "Special Topics: The Byronic Hero" course (English 414) at the University of Richmond.

Use the navigation bar to the left of the main text to read the essay. The sections are listed in order from top to bottom; following the links in that order will reveal the full text of the essay. Footnotes are represented as hypertext links targeted at the end of each section. You can also download the complete text with endnotes for re-printing. If you plan to refer to this site or to the ideas expressed within, please read the note from the author.

Ivan TurgenevIvan Sergeevich Turgenev 1818-1883

Turgenev published Fathers and Sons in 1862, less than a year after the Emancipation Act abolished serfdom. Overwhelmingly criticized by his Russian contemporaries, the novel found a more receptive audience in France, Germany, and England. Today the novel is considered his greatest work, a vital precursor to the works of such Russian realists as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

This site needs your feedback. Please contact me with comments about this site, the essay, or with links to related sites. I am attempting to compile a list of links to English-language Russian literature sites, and any contributions would be welcome.

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Bucknell Russian Studies Department


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