A beginner’s guide to falling in love with Russian literature

Russian literature is renowned and often intimidating due to its vastness and complexity, featuring works like Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (1867) and Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (1880). Many readers either have already read these novels or aspire to one day, but rarely do. Big Think interviewed Rosamund Bartlett, a cultural historian, translator, and author, to explore why one should delve into Russian literature.

Bartlett, an honorary research fellow at Oxford, explains that Russian literature is deeply embedded in existential questions and was forged under oppressive political realities such as Tsarist and Soviet rule. The allure of Russian literature began for Bartlett through its unabated focus on existential inquiries, sparked by her visits to Moscow and St. Petersburg during Soviet times when these cities retained their 19th-century charm.

She found immense pleasure in strolling through the streets where literary giants like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Pushkin once tread, feeling as though she could almost touch the past. A common misconception about Russian literature is that it is tedious. However, Bartlett refutes this notion, stating that Tolstoy's chapters are akin to short stories, making it difficult to resist his narrative.

Russian literature is also often perceived as uniformly somber, yet it can also evoke laughter. Works like Nikolai Gogol's surreal short story 'The Nose' and his novel Dead Souls (1842) provide comedic relief. Another misconception is that Russian literature is isolated from European literary traditions. In reality, Russian literature has been deeply intertwined with Western influences since the establishment of St. Petersburg in 1703, absorbing and integrating foreign artistic elements.

While Russian literature shares common ground with European works, it has also forged its unique identity, particularly in its ability to address national destiny and challenge Western conventions. Bartlett emphasizes that Russian literature is not merely an art form but a vital means of public discourse, an outlet for political expression during periods of political inactivity.

Understanding Russia's history and politics is crucial to comprehending its literary landscape, as both are inextricably linked. The Great Reforms of the early 1860s, which included the abolition of serfdom, contributed to a surge of creative energy among Russian writers like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Turgenev, leading to their most illustrious works.