The literary Trope of a Superfluous Man in Russian Literature and Culture

Mikhail Lermontov's protagonist, Grigory Pechorin, belongs to that group of literary characters known individually as the 'superfluous man.'; Generally an intelligent, educated individual, the superfluous man would appear to be one who has been either unjustly treated or outcast by society in general. The superfluous man attempts to find a place for himself in the world, but perhaps due to the combination of his talents, upbringing, personality and intelligence, continually finds himself on the…

million Russians worked inside factories: in a century, Russia had moved from a feudal system of serfdom to the shores of modernity. A theme of duplicity was carried throughout. The new industries and arterial railroads were European inventions, so was Russia a European nation? Or, did Russia's devotion to the Tsar and the peasant commune separate her from the growingly liberal, economically individualistic West? The theme of duality is spread throughout Crime and Punishment (in Russian, Преступление…

Russian Culture: A look at its Religion and Art Mankind has always aspired to be the largest, biggest, strongest, highest, essentially the best in everything. This is not untrue for the Russians who have had the largest country in the world for quite some time now. Russia covers one-sixth of the entire world’s land mass and has had a significant part in modern history. However, in order to understand why a country has become what it is now, one must look at its culture. A country’s culture not…

African Literature and Culture: African writers’ representation of male-female relationships Analyzing male-female relationships in African literature enables a better understanding of how African writers view the gender roles including the application of religious aspects, marriage and identity, midwives and slave women, nationalism, and migration. In earlier works, the female gender was often perceived as “the Queen Mother.” Many African writers portray women in traditional roles whereas articles…

Survey of Related Literature …………………………………………............. 6 CHAPTER III Presentation and Interpretation of Data …………………………………….... 7 CHAPTER IV Summary and Recommendation ..……………………………………………. 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY .…………………………………………………………………... 9 Chapter I THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING Introduction: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian short story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career…

Russian Art, Music and Literature The Arts play a large role in the expression of inner thoughts and beauty in life. From dance and music to art the concept of life is shown through the various ways in which we interpret it. The arts play a valued role in creating cultures and developing and documenting civilizations. Russia has been developing the its culture for as long as anybody could think. Nowadays, Russian painters and musicians are quickly becoming well known among each and every one around…

The Literary Evidence for "The Man in the High Castle" Literature sounds too stuffy and high-browed an descriptor for Science Fiction as a genre. Science fiction is meant to be fantasy, something that is not real and does not strive to meet the literary aspirations of those who would write meaningful prose. Not to say that science fiction writers do not want to something meaningful, but even though the genre may be filled with writers who are degraded by "real" authors as a breed, does not…

Literary Review My argument is that SF literature offers a utopian hope for the future where individual differences are no longer criticized. To conduct this literature review I used multiple information sources to examine issues of gender and sexuality within science fiction literature. None of these sources claim to have produced a conclusive work on the interpretation of gender and sexuality in SF. Some of what I have read seems to be a general overview while some is more focused, but everything…

Literature: Compare and Contrast Literary Devices Kathy J. Shannon University of Phoenix Mickeal M. Donald, Instructor September 3, 2010 Compare and Contrast Literature offers a variety of literary works by authors of all ages, writing non-fiction and fictional stories, poetry, and essays. The act of analyzing two different authors by both comparing their work and isolating their contrasting elements, can be difficult, yet rewarding. Oedipus Rex (Sophocles'), written in 429 B.C., offers the…

Russian literature was very much influenced by the literary trope known as the superfluous man. This trope was ideal for writers to describe the shortcomings of Russian high-class society. There has been a witnessed general consistency when dealing with the superfluous man such as the exhibition of cynicism and existential angst, while indulging in vices such as affairs, gambling and duelling. These individuals are typically from noble birth yet refused to fit into society and disregard the societal…