return to title page 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

Tracing Byron's Influence on the Creation and Development of the Nihilist Bazarov in Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons TURGENEV: BIOGRAPHY Exile, Repatriation, and Death Another theme in Turgenev's life that echoes Byron's is his self-imposed exile from his homeland, Russia. Turgenev chose to spend as much or more time traveling outside of Russia as time living and writing in Russia. Beginning with his graduate studies in Berlin, Turgenev traveled and lived in Germany, France, and England, interspersing sojourns to Russia for long and short periods. Very often his living environment followed the Viardot's moves throughout Europe. While his early travels outside of Russia were grounded in a desire to learn more of European culture (in the Slavophile versus Westernizing debate, Turgenev always remained firmly in the Westernizing camp), his later transplantation occurred as a result of negative popular and critical reaction to Fathers and Sons. He ceased all correspondence and communication with contemporary critics who had lambasted his ambivalent attitude to the nihilistic character Bazarov. Following the Viardot family and living with and near his daughter Paulinette, Turgenev found comfort away from Russia, unappreciated at home and warmly accepted in Europe; his works were also highly regarded in translation in France and Germany, and later in England and America (Lowe 29-31). Only in the late 1870s did Turgenev begin to feel welcome in his homeland, though he had always dearly loved Russia and written lovingly of the Russian countryside. It was only at this time that Turgenev reconciled with many critics and writers who had earlier turned on him, namely Tolstoy (Lowe, 31-2). Turgenev died outside of his homeland Russia, but his body was returned and buried in Volkovo cemetery in St. Petersburg in 1783-a Russian literary hero and legend (Magarshack 313). return to top of page