Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons

Published in 1862, Turgenev’s most famous novel Fathers and Sons has inspired some of the most vigorous and durable debates in Russian literary studies. Its subject is the conflict of ideas, social classes and generations that was fought in Russia in the aftermath of the Crimean War and which foreshadowed the events of 1917. To the present day there is probably more disagreement among scholars and critics about its meaning than about that of any other major Russian novel. This study presents the most comprehensive and up-to-date survey yet of the widely differing interpretations that have been suggested by Russian and Western critics and offers an original reading which incorporates an assessment of the competing arguments.