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Biography of Nikolai Gavrilovich ChernyshevskyName: Nikolai Gavrilovich ChernyshevskyBirth Date: 1, 1828 Death Date: October 29, 1889 Place of Birth: Saratov, Russia Nationality: Russian Gender: Male Occupations: journalist, critic, social theorist Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky The Russian radical journalist Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky (1828-1889) was a literary critic and social theorist. His best-known work, the novel What Is To Be Done?, became a classic of the Russian revolutionary movement.The son of a priest, Nikolai Chernyshevsky was born on July 1, 1828, in Saratov. He started his literary career in 1855 with a master's thesis on esthetics which he submitted at the University of St. Petersburg. In this work Chernyshevsky attacked contemporary esthetic theory, which held that art was an independent transcendent realm. He argued that the arts in general, and literature in particular, could justify their existence only by accurately describing, explaining, and evaluating the actual in terms comprehensible to all--by being a "textbook of life." This utilitarian view made a strong impact and later assumed a quasi-official status under communism, serving to sanction government regimentation of the arts.From 1855 to 1862 Chernyshevsky worked as a writer and editor …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…the impact of which lasts a lifetime."In 1864 Chernyshevsky was exiled to Siberia. Broken in health, he returned to civilization in 1883. He died in Saratov on Oct. 29, 1889. Further Reading Chernyshevsky's Selected Philosophical Essays (1953) contains a large collection of articles. His What Is To Be Done? Tales about New People (1961), with an introduction by E. H. Carr, is important as an intellectual document and as a prototype of later didactic radical novels. Recommended for general historical background are Tomas G. Masaryk, The Spirit of Russia: Studies in History, Literature, and Philosophy (2 vols., 1913; trans. 1919; 2d ed. 1955), and Franco Venturi, Roots of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in Nineteenth Century Russia (1960).Paperno, Irina, Chernyshevsky and the age of realism: a study in the semiotics of behavior, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1988.Pereira, N. G. O. (Norman G. O.), The thought and teachings of N. G. Chernyshevsky, The Hague: Mouton, 1975. |