''Virgin Soil'' () is an 1877 novel by
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
. It was Turgenev's sixth and final novel as well as his longest and most ambitious.
Plot
The novel centres on a depiction of some of the young people in 1868 and the early 1870s in Russia who decided to reject the standard cultural mores of their time, join the
Populist
Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
movement, and 'go amongst the people', living the lives of simple workers and peasants rather than lives of affectation and luxury. The novel has a number of central characters around whom the action revolves. It explores, for instance, the life of Alexey Dmitrievich Nezhdanov, the illegitimate son of an aristocrat, who seeks to radicalise the peasantry and involve them in political action. He is given a job as tutor to Kolya, the nine-year-old son of Sipyagin, a local politician, and goes to live on his country estate. Whilst working there he becomes attracted to Marianna, the niece of the family.
Another central character is Vasily Solomin, who manages a local factory and is also a Populist, though one with less optimism about the potential of the movement to effect fundamental socio-economic change.
Reception
One of the major concerns for Turgenev at the time of publication was his anticipated reception from the public on the one hand and the censor on the other; he expected, for instance, that his depiction of Populism and its adherents (seen as good people inherently, but unfortunately undertaking a path that Turgenev saw as not conducive to success) would gain a critical reception as hostile in some quarters as
''Fathers and Sons'' (in which he had explored the
nihilism
Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that Existential nihilism, life is meaningless, that Moral nihilism, moral values are baseless, and ...
, a precursor of populism).
See also
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Going to the People
Going to the People was a Populism, populist movement in the Russian Empire. It was largely inspired by the work of Russian theorists such as Mikhail Bakunin and Pyotr Lavrov, who advocated that groups of dedicated revolutionaries could inspire ...
References
External links
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''Virgin Soil'' by Ivan Turgenevat
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...
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{{Authority control
1877 Russian novels
Novels by Ivan Turgenev
Russian political novels
NYRB Classics