Artistic features and compositional originality of Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?” Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky

Unconventional and unusual for Russian prose XIX century, the plot of the plot, more typical of French adventure novels - the mysterious suicide described in the first chapter of “What is to be done?” - was, in the generally accepted opinion of all researchers, a kind of intriguing device designed to confuse the investigative commission and the tsarist censorship. The melodramatic tone of the story about family drama in the second chapter, and the unexpected title of the third - “Preface”, which begins with the words: “The content of the story is love, the main character is a woman, this is good, even if the story itself was bad...”.
Moreover, in this chapter, the author, addressing the audience in a half-joking, half-mocking tone, admits that he quite deliberately “began the story with spectacular scenes, torn from the middle or end of it, and covered them with fog.” After this, the author, having had a good laugh at his readers, says: “I don’t have a shadow of artistic talent. I don’t even speak the language well. But this is still nothing... Truth is a good thing: it rewards the shortcomings of the writer who serves it.”
The reader is puzzled: on the one hand, the author clearly despises him, counting him among the majority with whom he is “impudent,” on the other hand, as if he is ready to reveal all his cards to him and, moreover, intrigues him by the fact that his narrative also contains hidden meaning! The reader has only one thing left to do - read, and in the process of reading, gain patience, and the deeper he plunges into the work, the more his patience is tested...
The reader is convinced literally from the first pages that the author really does not speak the language well. So, for example, Chernyshevsky has a weakness for stringing together verb chains: “Mother stopped daring to enter her room”; loves repetitions: “This is strange to others, but you don’t know that it’s strange, but I know that it’s not strange”; the author’s speech is careless and vulgar, and sometimes one gets the feeling that this is a bad translation from a foreign language: “The gentleman broke into ambition”; “For a long time they felt the sides of one of them”; “He answered with exquisite portability”; “People fall into two main divisions”; “The end of this beginning took place when they passed the old man”; the author’s digressions are dark, clumsy and verbose: “They didn’t even think that they were thinking this; and this is the best thing, that they didn’t even notice that they were thinking this”; “Vera Pavlovna... began to think, not at all, but somewhat, no, not severally, but almost completely, that there was nothing important, that she mistook for a strong passion just a dream that would dissipate in a few days... or she thought that no, does not think this, that he feels that this is not so? Yes, that’s not true, no, that’s true, that’s true, she thought more and more firmly that she was thinking that.”
At times the tone of the narrative seems to parody the intonations of Russian everyday fairy tale: “After tea... she came to her room and lay down. So she reads in her crib, only the book drops from her eyes, and she thinks
Vera Pavlovna: what is this? Lately, did I get a little bored sometimes?” Alas, such examples can be given ad infinitum... The confusion of styles is no less annoying: during one semantic episode, the same people continually stray from a pathetically sublime style to an everyday, frivolous or vulgar one.
Why did the Russian public accept this novel? The critic Skabichevsky recalled: “We read the novel almost on our knees, with such piety that does not allow the slightest smile on the lips, with which liturgical books are read.” Even Herzen, admitting that the novel was “disgustingly written,” immediately made the reservation: “on the other hand, there is a lot of good.” On what “other side”? Obviously, on the part of Truth, whose service should clear the author of all accusations of mediocrity! And the “advanced minds” of that era identified Truth with Benefit, Benefit with Happiness, Happiness with serving the same Truth...
Be that as it may, it is difficult to blame Chernyshevsky for insincerity, because he wanted the best, and not for himself, but for everyone! As Vladimir Nabokov wrote in the novel “The Gift” (in the chapter dedicated to Chernyshevsky), “the brilliant Russian reader understood the good that the mediocre fiction writer vainly wanted to express.” Another thing is how Chernyshevsky himself went towards this good and where he led the “new people”. (Let us remember that the regicide Sofya Perovskaya, already in her early youth, adopted Rakhmetov’s “boxing diet” and slept on the bare floor.) Let the revolutionary Chernyshevsky be judged with all severity by history, and the writer and critic Chernyshevsky - by the history of literature.

Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich(1828 - 1889) - publicist, literary critic, prose writer, economist, philosopher, revolutionary democrat.

Born into a priest's family. Until the age of 12, he was raised and studied at home under the guidance of his father. In 1842-1845, Chernyshevsky studied at the Saratov Seminary, where he was predicted to have a brilliant spiritual career. However, the spiritual field did not attract the future publicist, and, without graduating from the seminary, he entered in 1846 the department of general literature of the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University, where he studied Slavic philology.

Chernyshevsky tried his hand at prose (the story about Lily and Goethe, the story about Josephine, “Theory and Practice”, “The Cut Off”). Having left the university as a candidate, after briefly working as a tutor in the Second cadet corps in St. Petersburg, served as a senior teacher of literature at the Saratov gymnasium (1851-1853), where he said in class “things that smell like hard labor.”
Returning to St. Petersburg in May 1853, Chernyshevsky taught in the Second Cadet Corps, while preparing for exams for a master's degree and working on his dissertation “Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality.” The debate on the dissertation presented to Professor Nikitenko in the fall of 1853 took place on May 10, 1855 and was a manifestation of materialist ideas in aesthetics, irritating the university authorities. The dissertation was officially approved in January 1859. At the same time, journal work was going on, which began in the summer of 1853 with reviews in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski.

But since the spring of 1855, Chernyshevsky, who had retired, was engaged in magazine work for N.A. Nekrasov’s Sovremennik. Collaboration in this magazine (1859-1861) occurred during a period of social upsurge associated with the preparation of the peasant reform. Under the leadership of Chernyshevsky and Nekrasov, and later Dobrolyubov, the revolutionary-democratic direction of the magazine was determined.
Since 1854, Chernyshevsky led the department of criticism and bibliography at Sovremennik. At the end of 1857, he handed it over to Dobrolyubov and focused primarily on political, economic, philosophical topics. Convinced of the predatory nature of the upcoming reform, Chernyshevsky boycotts the pre-reform excitement; upon the publication of the manifesto on February 19, 1861, Sovremennik did not directly respond to it. In “Letters without an Address,” written after the reform and actually addressed to Alexander II (published abroad in 1874), Chernyshevsky accused the autocratic-bureaucratic regime of robbing the peasants. Counting on a peasant revolution, the Sovremennik circle, led by Chernyshevsky, resorted to illegal forms of struggle. Chernyshevsky wrote a revolutionary proclamation “Bow to the lordly peasants from well-wishers.”

In an atmosphere of growing post-reform reaction, the attention of the III Department is increasingly attracted by the activities of Chernyshevsky. Since the fall of 1861, he was under police surveillance. But Chernyshevsky was a skilled conspirator; nothing suspicious was found in his papers. In June 1862, the publication of Sovremennik was banned for eight months.

On July 7, 1862, Chernyshevsky was arrested. The reason for the arrest was a letter from Herzen and Ogarev intercepted at the border, in which it was proposed to publish Sovremennik in London or Geneva. On the same day, Chernyshevsky became a prisoner of the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he remained until the verdict was pronounced - civil execution, which took place on May 19, 1864 on Mytninskaya Square. He was deprived of all rights of the estate and sentenced to 14 years of hard labor in the mines, with subsequent settlement in Siberia, Alexander II reduced the term of hard labor to 7 years. The trial in the Chernyshevsky case dragged on for a very long time due to the lack of direct evidence.

In the fortress, Chernyshevsky turned to artistic creativity. Here, from December 14, 1862 to April 4, 1863, the novel “What is to be done? From stories about new people." It was followed by the remaining unfinished story “Alferyev” (1863) and the novel “Tales within a Tale” (1863), “Small Stories” (1864). Only the novel “What to do?” was published.

In May 1864, Chernyshevsky was sent under escort to Siberia, where he was first in the mine, and from September 1865 in the prison of the Aleksandrovsky plant.

Hard labor, which expired in 1871, turned out to be the threshold to a worse test - a settlement in Yakutia, in the city of Vilyuysk, where the prison was the best building and the climate turned out to be disastrous.

Here Chernyshevsky was the only exile and could only communicate with the gendarmes and the local Yakut population; correspondence was difficult and often deliberately delayed. Only in 1883, under Alexander III, Chernyshevsky was allowed to move to Astrakhan. The sudden change in climate greatly damaged his health.

The years of fortress, hard labor and exile (1862-1883) did not lead to the oblivion of the name and works of Chernyshevsky - his fame as a thinker and revolutionary grew. Upon arrival in Astrakhan, Chernyshevsky hoped to return to active literary activity, but the publication of his works, albeit under a pseudonym, was difficult.

In the diverse heritage of Chernyshevsky important place work on aesthetics, literary criticism, artistic creativity. In all these areas, he was an innovator who still stirs controversy to this day. His own words about Gogol are applicable to Chernyshevsky as a writer from among those “love for whom requires the same mood of soul with them, because their activity is serving a certain direction of moral aspirations.”

In the novel “What to do? From stories about new people" Chernyshevsky continued the theme of a new public figure, mainly from commoners, who changed the type " extra person».

The romantic pathos of the work is in the aspiration to the socialist ideal, the future, when the type of “new man” will become “the common nature of all people.” The prototype of the future is the personal relationships of “new people”, resolving conflicts on the basis of the humane theory of “calculation of benefits”, and their work activity. These detailed areas of life of the “new people” are correlated with a hidden, “Aesopian” plot, the main character of which is the professional revolutionary Rakhmetov.

The themes of love, labor, revolution are organically connected in the novel, the heroes of which profess “reasonable egoism”, stimulating moral development personality. The realistic principle of typification is more consistently maintained in Rakhmetov, whose stern courage was dictated by the conditions of the revolutionary struggle of the early 60s. A call for a bright and wonderful future, Chernyshevsky’s historical optimism, and a major finale are combined in the novel with awareness tragic fate his “new people”: “... a few more years, perhaps not years, but months, and they will be cursed, and they will be driven from the stage, pushed away, shunned.”

The publication of the novel caused a storm of criticism. Against the backdrop of numerous accusations of immorality and other things, Chernyshevsky’s article by R.R. Strakhov stands out for the seriousness of its analysis. Happy people" Having recognized the vital basis and “tension of inspiration” of the author, the “organic” critic challenged the rationalism and optimism of the “new people” and the absence of deep conflicts between them.

M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, expressing sympathy for the general idea of the novel, noted that in its implementation the author could not avoid some arbitrary regulation of details."

And N.G. Chernyshevsky believed: "... Only those areas of literature achieve brilliant development that arise under the influence of strong and living ideas that satisfy the urgent needs of the era. Each century has its own historical cause, its own special aspirations. The life and glory of our time constitute two aspirations, closely related and complementary to each other: humanity and concern for the improvement of human life."

(1828-1889). Publicist, literary critic, prose writer, economist, philosopher, revolutionary democrat. Born into a priest's family. Until the age of 12, he was raised and studied at home under the guidance of his father. In 1842-1845, Chernyshevsky studied at the Saratov Seminary, where he was destined for a spiritual career. However, the spiritual field did not attract the future publicist, and, without graduating from the seminary, he entered in 1846 the department of general literature of the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University, where he studied Slavic philology .

During his years of study at the university (1846-1850), the foundations of his worldview were developed. The conviction that had developed by 1850 about the need for revolution in Russia was combined with sobriety of historical thinking: “Here is my way of thinking about Russia: an irresistible expectation of an imminent revolution and a thirst for it, although I know that for a long time, maybe for a very long time, nothing will come of it good. That, perhaps, oppression will only increase for a long time, etc. – that the needs of peaceful, quiet development are impossible.” Chernyshevsky tried his hand at prose (the story about Lily and Goethe, the story about Josephine, “Theory and Practice”, “The Cut Off”). Having left the university as a candidate, after a short period of work as a tutor in the Second Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, he served as a senior literature teacher at the Saratov gymnasium (1851-1853), where he said in class “things that smell like hard labor.” Returning to St. Petersburg in May 1853, Chernyshevsky taught in the Second Cadet Corps, while preparing for exams for a master's degree and working on his dissertation “Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality.” The debate on the dissertation presented to Professor Nikitenko in the fall of 1853 took place on May 10, 1855 and was a manifestation of materialist ideas in aesthetics, irritating the university authorities.

The dissertation was officially approved in January 1859. At the same time, journal work was going on, which began in the summer of 1853 with reviews in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. But since the spring of 1855, Chernyshevsky, who had retired, was engaged in magazine work for N.A. Nekrasov’s Sovremennik.

Collaboration in this magazine (1859-1861) occurred during a period of social upsurge associated with the preparation of the peasant reform.

Under the leadership of Chernyshevsky and Nekrasov, and later Dobrolyubov, the revolutionary-democratic direction of the magazine was determined. Since 1854, Chernyshevsky led the department of criticism and bibliography at Sovremennik. At the end of 1857, he transferred it to Dobrolyubov and focused primarily on political, economic, and philosophical topics.

Convinced of the predatory nature of the upcoming reform, Chernyshevsky boycotts the pre-reform excitement; upon the publication of the manifesto on February 19, 1861, Sovremennik did not directly respond to it. In “Letters without an Address,” written after the reform and actually addressed to Alexander II (published abroad in 1874), Chernyshevsky accused the autocratic-bureaucratic regime of robbing the peasants. Counting on a peasant revolution, the Sovremennik circle, led by Chernyshevsky, resorted to illegal forms of struggle.

Chernyshevsky wrote a revolutionary proclamation “Bow to the lordly peasants from well-wishers.” In an atmosphere of growing post-reform reaction, the attention of the III Department is increasingly attracted by the activities of Chernyshevsky. Since the fall of 1861, he was under police surveillance. But Chernyshevsky was a skilled conspirator; nothing suspicious was found in his papers. In June 1862, the publication of Sovremennik was banned for 8 months. On July 7, 1862, Chernyshevsky was arrested.

The reason for the arrest was a letter from Herzen and Ogarev intercepted at the border, in which it was proposed to publish Sovremennik in London or Geneva. On the same day, Chernyshevsky became a prisoner of the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he remained until the verdict was pronounced - civil execution, which took place on May 19, 1864 on Mytninskaya Square. He was deprived of all the rights of the estate and sentenced to 14 years of hard labor in the mines, followed by settlement in Siberia.

Alexander II reduced the term of hard labor to 7 years. The trial in the Chernyshevsky case dragged on for a very long time due to the lack of direct evidence. In the fortress, Chernyshevsky turned to artistic creativity. Here, from December 14, 1862 to April 4, 1863, the novel “What to do? From stories about new people." It was followed by the unfinished story “Alferyev” (1863) and the novel “Tales within a Tale” (1863), “Small Stories” (1864). Only the novel “What to do?” was published. In May 1864, Chernyshevsky was sent under escort to Siberia, where he was first in a mine, and from September 1865 - in the prison of the Aleksandrovsky plant. Hard labor, which expired in 1871, turned out to be the threshold to the worst test - settlement in Yakutia, in the city of Vilyuysk , where the prison was the best building, and the climate turned out to be disastrous.

Here Chernyshevsky was the only exile and could only communicate with the gendarmes and the local Yakut population; correspondence was difficult and often deliberately delayed.

Only in 1883, under Alexander III, Chernyshevsky was allowed to move to Astrakhan. The sharp change in climate greatly damaged his health. The years of fortress, hard labor and exile (1862-1883) did not lead to the oblivion of Chernyshevsky’s name and works - his fame as a thinker and revolutionary grew. Upon arrival in Astrakhan, Chernyshevsky hoped to return to active literary activity, but the publication of his works, albeit under a pseudonym, was difficult.

In June 1889, Chernyshevsky received permission to return to his homeland, Saratov. He made big plans, despite his rapidly deteriorating health. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried in Saratov. Works on aesthetics, literary criticism, and artistic creativity occupy an important place in Chernyshevsky’s diverse heritage. In all these areas, he acted as an innovator, arousing controversy to this day. Chernyshevsky’s own words about Gogol are applicable as a writer from among those “love for whom requires the same mood of the soul with them, because their activity is serving a certain direction of moral aspirations.” . In the novel “What to do? From stories about new people” Chernyshevsky continued the theme of a new public figure, mainly from commoners, who replaced the type of “superfluous person”, discovered by Turgenev in “Fathers and Sons”. The romantic pathos of the work lies in the aspiration to the socialist ideal, the future, when the type of “new man” will become “the common nature of all people.” The prototype of the future is the personal relationships of “new people”, resolving conflicts on the basis of the humane theory of “calculation of benefits,” and their work activities.

These detailed areas of life of the “new people” are correlated with a hidden, “Aesopian” plot, the main character of which is the professional revolutionary Rakhmetov.

The themes of love, labor, and revolution are organically connected in the novel, the heroes of which profess “reasonable egoism,” which stimulates the moral development of the individual.

The realistic principle of typification is more consistently maintained in Rakhmetov, whose stern courage is dictated by the conditions of the revolutionary struggle of the early 60s. The call for a bright and wonderful future, Chernyshevsky’s historical optimism, and a major ending are combined in the novel with an awareness of the tragic fate of his “new people”: “a little more years, perhaps not years, but months, and they will be cursed, and they will be driven off the stage, pushed aside, stringed out.” The publication of the novel caused a storm of criticism.

Against the background of numerous accusations of Chernyshevsky of immorality and other things, the article by R.R. stands out for the seriousness of its analysis. Strakhov "Happy People". Having recognized the vital basis and “tension of inspiration” of the author, the “organic” critic challenged the rationalism and optimism of the “new people” and the absence of deep conflicts between them. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, expressing sympathy for the general idea of the novel, noted that in its implementation the author could not avoid some arbitrary regulation of details.

A N.G. Chernyshevsky believed: “...Only those areas of literature achieve brilliant development that arise under the influence of strong and living ideas that satisfy the urgent needs of the era. Each century has its own historical cause, its own special aspirations. The life and glory of our time consist of two aspirations, closely related and complementary to each other: humanity and concern for the improvement of human life.”

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The writer, philosopher and journalist Nikolai Chernyshevsky was popular during his lifetime among a narrow circle of readers. With coming Soviet power his works (especially the novel “What is to be done?”) became textbook. Today his name is one of the symbols of Russian literature of the 19th century century.

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose biography began in Saratov, was born into the family of a provincial priest. The father himself was involved in the child’s education. From him Chernyshevsky received religiosity, which faded away in student years when the young man became interested in revolutionary ideas. Since childhood, Kolenka read a lot and devoured book after book, surprising everyone around him.

In 1843, he entered the Saratov theological seminary, but without graduating, he continued his education at the University of St. Petersburg. Chernyshevsky, whose biography was connected with the humanities, chose the Faculty of Philosophy.

At the university, the future writer developed his personality. He became a utopian socialist. His ideology was influenced by members of Irinarch Vvedensky’s circle, with whom the student communicated and argued a lot. At the same time, he began his literary activity. First works of art were only a training exercise and remained unpublished.

Teacher and journalist

Having received his education, Chernyshevsky, whose biography was now connected with pedagogy, became a teacher. He taught in Saratov, and then returned to the capital. During these same years, he met his wife Olga Vasilyeva. The wedding took place in 1853.

The beginning of Chernyshevsky’s activities as a journalist was connected with St. Petersburg. In the same 1853, he began publishing in the newspapers Otechestvennye Zapiski and St. Petersburg Vedomosti. But most of all Nikolai Gavrilovich was known as a member of the editorial board of the Sovremennik magazine. There were several circles of writers, each of which defended its position.

Work at Sovremennik

Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose biography was already known in the literary circles of the capital, became closest to Dobrolyubov and Nekrasov. These authors were passionate about revolutionary ideas, which they wanted to express in Sovremennik.

A few years earlier, civil riots took place throughout Europe, which echoed throughout Russia. For example, in Paris, Louis Philippe was overthrown by the bourgeoisie. And in Austria, the nationalist movement of the Hungarians was suppressed only after Nicholas I came to the rescue of the emperor, who sent several regiments to Budapest. The Tsar, whose reign began with the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, was afraid of revolutions and increased censorship in Russia.

This caused concern among liberals in Sovremennik. They Vasily Botkin, Alexander Druzhinin and others) did not want the radicalization of the magazine.

Chernyshevsky's activities increasingly attracted the attention of the state and officials responsible for censorship. A bright event was a public defense of a dissertation on art, at which the writer gave a revolutionary speech. As a sign of protest, the Minister of Education Abraham Norov did not allow the prize to be awarded to Nikolai Gavrilovich. Only after he was replaced in this position by the more liberal Evgraf Kovalevsky, the writer became a master of Russian literature.

Chernyshevsky's views

It is important to note some features of Chernyshevsky’s views. They were influenced by schools such as French materialism and Hegelianism. As a child, the writer was a zealous Christian, but in adulthood he began to actively criticize religion, as well as liberalism and the bourgeoisie.

He branded especially vehemently serfdom. Even before the Manifesto on the Liberation of the Peasants of Alexander II was published, the writer described the future reform in many articles and essays. He proposed radical measures, including the transfer of land to peasants free of charge. However, the Manifesto had little in common with these utopian programs. Since it was established that they prevented the peasants from becoming completely free, Chernyshevsky regularly scolded this document. He compared the situation of Russian peasants with the life of black slaves in the United States.

Chernyshevsky believed that within 20 or 30 years after the liberation of the peasants, the country would get rid of capitalist agriculture, and socialism with a communal form of ownership would come. Nikolai Gavrilovich advocated the creation of phalansteries - premises in which residents of future communes would work together for mutual benefit. This project was utopian, which is not surprising, because its author was the Phalanster and was described by Chernyshevsky in one of the chapters of the novel “What is to be done?”

"Land and Freedom"

The propaganda of the revolution continued. One of her inspirations was Nikolai Chernyshevsky. short biography writer in any textbook necessarily contains at least a paragraph stating that it was he who became the founder of the famous “Land and Freedom” movement. This is true. In the second half of the 50s, Chernyshevsky began to have a lot of contact with Alexander Herzen. went into exile due to pressure from the authorities. In London, he began publishing the Russian-language newspaper Kolokol. She became the mouthpiece of revolutionaries and socialists. It was sent in secret editions to Russia, where the issues were very popular among radical students.

Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky also published in it. The writer's biography was known to any socialist in Russia. In 1861, with his enthusiastic participation (as well as the influence of Herzen), “Land and Freedom” appeared. This movement united a dozen circles in the most big cities countries. It included writers, students and other supporters of revolutionary ideas. It is interesting that Chernyshevsky even managed to attract officers with whom he collaborated, publishing in military magazines.

Members of the organization were engaged in propaganda and criticism of the tsarist authorities. “Walking among the people” has become a historical anecdote over the years. Agitators trying to find mutual language with the peasants, they were also handed over to the police. For many years revolutionary views did not find a response in common people, remaining the lot of a narrow stratum of the intelligentsia.

Arrest

Over time, Chernyshevsky’s biography, in short, became of interest to secret investigation agents. On business with Kolokol, he even went to see Herzen in London, which, of course, only attracted more attention to him. From September 1861, the writer found himself under secret surveillance. He was suspected of provocations against the authorities.

In June 1862, Chernyshevsky was arrested. Even before this event, clouds began to gather around him. In May, the Sovremennik magazine was closed. The writer was accused of drafting a proclamation defaming the government, which ended up in the hands of provocateurs. The police also managed to intercept Herzen’s letter, where the emigrant proposed publishing the closed Sovremennik again, only this time in London.

"What to do?"

The accused was placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he remained during the investigation. It went on for a year and a half. At first the writer tried to protest against the arrest. He went on hunger strikes, which, however, did not change his situation. On days when the prisoner felt better, he took up his pen and began working on a sheet of paper. So the novel “What is to be done?” was written, which became the most famous work, which was published by Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky. A short biography of this figure, published in any encyclopedia, necessarily contains information about this book.

The novel was published in the newly opened Sovremennik in three issues in 1863. It is interesting that there might not have been any publication. The only original was lost on the streets of St. Petersburg during transportation to the editorial office. A passerby found the papers and only out of his kindness returned them to Sovremennik. Nikolai Nekrasov, who worked there and was literally going crazy from the loss, was overjoyed when the novel was returned to him.

Sentence

Finally, in 1864, the verdict for the disgraced writer was announced. He was sent to hard labor in Nerchinsk. The sentence also contained a clause according to which Nikolai Gavrilovich had to spend the rest of his life in eternal exile. Alexander II changed the term of hard labor to 7 years. What else can Chernyshevsky’s biography tell us? Briefly, literally in a nutshell, let's talk about the years spent by the materialist philosopher in captivity. Harsh climate and the harsh conditions greatly deteriorated his health. Despite surviving hard labor. Later he lived in several provincial towns, but never returned to the capital.

While still in hard labor, like-minded people tried to free him and came up with various escape plans. However, they were never implemented. Nikolai Chernyshevsky (his biography says that this was towards the end of the revolutionary-democrat’s life) spent the time from 1883 to 1889 in Astrakhan. Shortly before his death, he returned to Saratov thanks to the patronage of his son.

Death and meaning

October 11, 1889 at hometown N. G. Chernyshevsky died. The writer’s biography became the subject of imitation by many followers and supporters.

Soviet ideology put him on a par with the figures of the 19th century who were the harbingers of the revolution. The novel “What to do?” has become a must school curriculum. On modern lessons In literature, this topic is also studied, only fewer hours are allocated to it.

In Russian journalism and publicism there is a separate list of the founders of these areas. It included Herzen, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky. Biography, summary his books, as well as their influence on social thought - all these issues are being studied by writers today.

Quotes from Chernyshevsky

The writer was known for his sharp tongue and ability to construct sentences. Here are the most famous quotes from Chernyshevsky:

Personal happiness is impossible without the happiness of others.
Youth is a time of freshness of noble feelings.
Learned literature saves people from ignorance, and elegant literature saves people from rudeness and vulgarity.
They flatter in order to dominate under the guise of submission.
Only in truth is the power of talent; wrong direction destroys the strongest talent.

Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich - prominent public figure XIX century. Famous Russian writer, critic, scientist, philosopher, publicist. His most famous work is the novel “What is to be done?”, which had a very great influence on the society of its time. In this article we will talk about the life and work of the author.

Chernyshevsky: biography. Childhood and youth

Born on July 12 (24), 1828 in Saratov. His father was the archpriest of the local Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, came from serf peasants in the village of Chernysheva, and this is where the surname originates. At first he studied at home under the supervision of his father and cousin. The boy also had a French tutor who taught him the language.

In 1846, Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky entered St. Petersburg University in the historical and philological department. Already at this time, the circle of interests of the future writer began to take shape, which would later be reflected in his works. The young man studies Russian literature, reads Feuerbach, Hegel, and positivist philosophers. Chernyshevsky realizes that the main thing in human actions is benefit, and not abstract ideas and useless aesthetics. The works of Saint-Simon and Fourier made the greatest impression on him. Their dream of a society where everyone was equal seemed to him quite real and achievable.

After graduating from university in 1850, Chernyshevsky returned to his native Saratov. Here he took the place of a literature teacher at the local gymnasium. He did not at all hide his rebellious ideas from his students and clearly thought more about how to transform the world than about teaching children.

Moving to the capital

In 1853, Chernyshevsky (the writer’s biography is presented in this article) decides to quit teaching and move to St. Petersburg, where he begins a journalistic career. Very quickly he became the most prominent representative of the Sovremennik magazine, where he was invited by N. A. Nekrasov. At the beginning of his collaboration with the publication, Chernyshevsky focused all his attention on the problems of literature, since the political situation in the country did not allow him to speak openly on more pressing topics.

In parallel with his work at Sovremennik, the writer defended his dissertation in 1855 on the topic “Aesthetic relations of art to reality.” In it he denies the principles of " pure art” and formulates a new view - “beautiful is life itself.” According to the author, art should serve for the benefit of people, and not exalt itself.

Chernyshevsky develops this same idea in “Essays on the Gogol Period,” published in Sovremennik. In this work, he analyzed the most famous wills of the classics from the point of view of the principles he voiced.

New orders

Chernyshevsky became famous for his unusual views on art. The writer’s biography suggests that he had both supporters and ardent opponents.

With the coming to power of Alexander II political situation the country has changed dramatically. And many topics that were previously considered taboo became allowed to be discussed publicly. In addition, the whole country expected reforms and significant changes from the monarch.

Sovremennik, led by Dobrolyubov, Nekrasov and Chernyshevsky, did not stand aside and participated in all political discussions. Chernyshevsky, who was the most active in publishing, tried to express his opinion on any issue. In addition, he was involved in reviewing literary works, evaluating them from the point of view of their usefulness to society. In this regard, Fet suffered greatly from his attacks, and was eventually forced to leave the capital.

However, the news of the liberation of the peasants received the greatest resonance. Chernyshevsky himself perceived the reform as the beginning of even more serious changes. What I often wrote and spoke about.

Arrest and exile

Chernyshevsky's creativity led to his arrest. It happened on June 12, 1862, the writer was taken into custody and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. He was accused of drawing up a proclamation entitled “Bow to the lordly peasants from their well-wishers.” This view was handwritten and delivered to a person who turned out to be a provocateur.

Another reason for the arrest was a letter from Herzen intercepted by the secret police, in which a proposal was made to publish the banned Sovremennik in London. In this case, Chernyshevsky acted as an intermediary.

The investigation into the case lasted a year and a half. The writer did not give up all this time and actively fought with the investigative committee. Protesting against the actions of the secret police, he went on a hunger strike that lasted 9 days. At the same time, Chernyshevsky did not abandon his calling and continued to write. It was here that he wrote the novel “What is to be done?”, later published in parts in Sovremennik.

The verdict was handed down to the writer on February 7, 1864. It reported that Chernyshevsky was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor, after which he would have to settle permanently in Siberia. However, Alexander II personally reduced the time of hard labor to 7 years. In total, the writer spent more than 20 years in prison.

For 7 years, Chernyshevsky was transferred from one prison to another more than once. He visited the Nerchinsk penal servitude, the Kadai and Akatuysk prisons and the Alexandria Plant, where the house-museum named after the writer is still preserved.

After completing hard labor, in 1871, Chernyshevsky was sent to Vilyuysk. Three years later, he was officially offered release, but the writer refused to write a petition for pardon.

Views

Chernyshevsky's philosophical views throughout his life were sharply rebellious. The writer can be called a direct follower of the Russian revolutionary-democratic school and progressive Western philosophy, especially social utopians. Hobby in university years Hegel led to criticism of the idealistic views of Christianity and liberal morality, which the writer considered “slave.”

Chernyshevsky's philosophy is called monistic and is associated with anthropological materialism, since he focused on the material world, neglecting spirituality. He was sure that natural needs and circumstances shape moral consciousness person. If all the needs of people are satisfied, then the personality will flourish and there will be no moral pathologies. But to achieve this, we need to seriously change living conditions, and this is only possible through revolution.

His ethical standards are based on anthropological principles and the concept of reasonable egoism. Man belongs to the natural world and obeys its laws. Chernyshevsky did not recognize free will, replacing it with the principle of causality.

Personal life

Chernyshevsky got married quite early. The writer’s biography says that this happened in 1853 in Saratov, Olga Sokratovna Vasilyeva became the chosen one. The girl had big success in local society, but for some reason she preferred the quiet and awkward Chernyshevsky to all her fans. During their marriage, they had two boys.

Chernyshevsky's family lived happily until the writer was arrested. After he was sent to hard labor, Olga Sokratovna visited him in 1866. However, she refused to go to Siberia after her husband - the local climate did not suit her. She lived alone for twenty years. During this time beautiful woman several lovers changed. The writer did not at all condemn his wife’s connections and even wrote to her that it was harmful for a woman to remain alone for a long time.

Chernyshevsky: facts from life

Here are some notable events from the life of the author:

Little Nikolai was incredibly well read. For his love of books, he even received the nickname “bibliophage,” that is, “book eater.”
The censors passed the novel “What Is To Be Done?” without noticing its revolutionary themes.
In official correspondence and secret police documentation, the writer was called “the enemy Russian Empire number one".
F. M. Dostoevsky was an ardent ideological opponent of Chernyshevsky and openly argued with him in his “Notes from the Underground.”

Most famous work

Let's talk about the book "What to do?" Chernyshevsky's novel, as noted above, was written during the arrest in the Peter and Paul Fortress (1862-1863). And, in fact, it was a response to Turgenev’s work “Fathers and Sons”.

The writer handed over the finished parts of the manuscript to the investigative commission, which was in charge of his case. Censor Beketov overlooked political orientation novel, for which he was soon removed from office. However, this did not help, since the work had already been published in Sovremennik by that time. Issues of the magazine were banned, but the text had already been rewritten more than once and in this form was distributed throughout the country.

The book “What to do?” became a real revelation for contemporaries. Chernyshevsky's novel instantly became a bestseller, everyone read and discussed it. In 1867, the work was published in Geneva by the Russian emigration. After that, it was translated into English, Serbian, Polish, French and other European languages.

Last years of life and death

In 1883, Chernyshevsky was allowed to move to Astrakhan. By this time he was already a sick man of advanced years. During these years, his son Mikhail begins to work for him. Thanks to his efforts, the writer moved to Saratov in 1889. However, in the same year he falls ill with malaria. The author died on October 17 (29) from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried at the Resurrection Cemetery in Saratov.

The memory of Chernyshevsky is still alive. His works continue to be read and studied not only by literary scholars, but also by historians.