Аннотация: Turgenev and Belinsky. From the noble nest into a world literature. Essay.
Turgenev and Belinsky. From the noble nest into a world literature. Essay.
Vissarion Belinsky (1811 - 1848) showed himself primarily as a critic and as a theorist of literature.
Belinsky is not now particularly wide-known. However, Belinsky"s relatively small fame at present cannot overshadow his role in Turgenev"s life.
None of Turgenev's biographies deny Belinsky's significance to Turgenev. But, as it seems to us, not one of the biographies (from Henri Troyat, from Nicholas Bogoslovskiy, from Yuri Lebedev) contains a generalizing brief characteristic of Belinsky's value for Turgenev.
Without such a brief generalizing characteristic, it is difficult for readers interested in understanding the logic of Turgenev"s life to understand the qualitative change that happened in Turgenev"s fate after his acquaintance with Belinsky, which resulted in Turgenev"s transition from the "noble nest" ("nest of the gentlefolk", "nest of the gentry") to Russian literature.
Already in his youth, Turgenev wanted to break with his former surroundings. But, having broken (psychologically) the old connections, what human could he become? A man without internal pillars, without psychological base? A person without employment, without a profession, without plans and prospects, without recognition? ...
Turgenev, a native of the noble environment, needed to be supported in the transition to the "position" of a professional writer.
The family environment and social environment did not contribute to the internal reorganization of Turgenev.
"Avdotya Panaeva tells in her memoirs about how Turgenev once got opinion from Belinsky in 1843 (that is, at the very beginning of their acquaintance), when Belinsky found out that Turgenev considered it humiliating to take money for his works and would prefer to give them to the editors of magazines.
- So you consider it a shame to admit that you are paid money for your mental, intellectual work? I am ashamed and hurt me for you, Turgenev! - Belinsky reproached him.
In the future, Ivan Sergeevich never expressed such strange views on the work of writer.
In the family he was instilled a neglect to a literary working, to a literary activity.
"A writer ... What is a writer?" Said Varvara Petrovna [mother]. - crivain ou gratte-papier est tout un. (The writer and the clerk are one and the same thing.) And the one and the other are scratching paper for money ... A nobleman should serve and make up his career and his name by a state service, not by a scratching of paper. " (Nicholas Bogoslovskiy "Turgenev").
"Without a doubt, under the influence of Belinsky, Turgenev decided to unexpectedly resign from the Ministry of Internal Affairs." (Henri Troyat. "Ivan Turgenev").
From (out) the "barin", from (out) the nobleman, from (out) the official, Turgenev was to become a writer and cultural figure. [Barin is a little busy with useful things, usually immersed in idleness, but possessing an estate, serfs (peasants), rights and privileges (inherited), an unpleasant character and a sense of his own superiority].
But how to carry out this magical transformation?
The family and social environment of Turgenev did not provide any driving impulses for such a movement, nor psychological support, nor any help in such changes.
A fundamentally important biographical moment - the appearance of Turgenev-the writer - may seem to some of Turgenev's biography readers to be a "natural", generally understood process: he went hunting - he got some impressions - he returned to the estate - he sat down at the table - wrote "The Hunter's Sketches" - he sent the manuscript to the capital magazines - published the book - received money and recognition - became a writer.
All is clear.
Why did he go hunting? Because he loved to hunt.
Why did he get impressions? Because he was from his birth an impressionable person.
Why did he sit at the table and start writing? There were natural literary abilities.
Why the book was published? The topic was interesting (hunting), there were relatively few capable writers, Turgenev (perhaps) had no complaints about the size of the fee, and the publishers were benevolent people ...
Why did fame come? Copies of the book sold many (it was needed to print more copies additionaly). The educated public loved reading, discussing, thinking about literature, writing letters to authors of books...
Everything is explainable? And, in the end, in total, due to simplification, which comes to distortion, we get a picture that fundamentally distorts reality.
In fact, the birth of the Turgenev-writer from (out) the Turgenev-barin was a separate complex process in the life of the future writer. This part of his life from a barin (nobleman, official) to a professional writer and cultural figure, Turgenev passed with Belinsky and with the support of Belinsky.
"Turgenev, not without reason, believed in fate, in a fateful combination of circumstances that ... at once change a life dramatically. The year 1843 in the literary and human destiny of Turgenev turned out to be fatal: it was the year of the beginning of his literary success, the year he met Belinsky and at the same time the writer met with the "central luminary" of his life - the young twenty-two-year-old singer Pauline Viardot- García, who performed in the autumn in St. Petersburg as part of the Italian Opera. " (Yuri Lebedev "Turgenev").
For the sense of internal harmony Turgenev it was important to establish at least minimal interaction between Pauline Viardot and Belinsky. The dialogue between madame Viardot and Belinsky took place in the Dresden Gallery (in 1847).
"Later assessing the significance of the activities of his unforgettable friend, Turgenev just in relation to him first used the term" central person"..." (Nicholas Bogoslovskiy "Turgenev").
Belinsky "won" for Turgenev a place in the literary and cultural world. Belinsky gave Turgenev psychological support, an understanding of the peculiarities of the "position" of a writer, he gave Turgenev contacts in a professional creative environment, a school of professional literary journalism, a sense of a personal (successful) creative path, a sense of personal individual place in Russian literature, the ability to see Russian literature as an independent social phenomenon.
Belinsky became the ideological inspirer of "The Hunter's Sketches".
Belinsky rebuilt the consciousness of Turgenev - a landowner-nobleman-official. He created in Turgenev (who parted with the career of a landlord [a rural host] and an official) the ability to comfortably, with self-respect, feel like a professional writer and European cultural figure.
Turgenev entered the "River of Belinsky" as a "young barin". He came out of this river as a confident, successful professional writer and cultural figure.
"In the Spassky house, in the office, above the writing desk, at which the best Turgenev"s novels were created, a portrait of Belinsky invariably hung. Before his death, Turgenev bequeathed to bury himself in the Volkov cemetery, next to the grave of Belinsky ... " (Yuri Lebedev "Turgenev"). (The father of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, Sergey Nikolaevich, died in St. Petersburg on October 30, 1834).
June 2, 2020 11:14
Translation from Russian into English: June 2, 2020 23:13.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Тургенев и Белинский. Из дворянского гнезда в мировую литературу. Очерк".