The nihilist imagination
Subtitle: Dmitrii Pisarev and the cultural origins of Russian radicalism (1860-1868)
By: Peter C. Pozefsky.
Series: Middlebury studies in Russian language and literature ;; vol. 27; Middlebury studies in Russian language and literature ;; v. 27
Publisher: Peter Lang
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 272
Subjects: Pisarev, D. I. 1840-1868 -- Political and social views.; Nihilism.; Radicalism -- Russia -- History -- 19th century.; Social movements -- Russia -- History -- 19th century.; Socialism -- Russia -- History -- 19th century.; Russia -- Politics and government -- 1855-1881.; Russia -- Intellectual life -- 1801-1917.
Description: "Dimitrii Pisarev (1840-1868) was the leader of a cohort of Russian radicals known as the Nihilists and was Russia's most visible literary critic for most of the 1860s. During this pivotal decade in Russian cultural history Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Turgenev published much of their most important fiction, and Russian radicalism itself evolved from a handful of isolated circles into a full-fledged revolutionary movement.

The Nihilist Imagination, the first English-language book devoted to this influential nineteenth-century intellectual, explores the convergence between historic developments in literature and politics, the ways young contemporary readers approached novels such as Turgenev's Fathers and Sons when they were first published, the evolution of Russian radicalism during one of its critical phases, and the perceptions of government officials and members of educated society of this emerging radical threat.

Rather than a biography, this book is a series of essays on the theme of Russian literary and political Nihilism, structured around the analysis of Pisarev's writings, their intellectual sources, and their influence."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [251]-262) and index.