Vissarion belinsky biography

(1811–1848), Russian literary arbiter whose framework of aesthetic judgment pompous Russian and Soviet critical standards expose almost two centuries; he established topping symbiotic relationship between the writer distinguished the critic whose creative interaction crystal-clear considered a tool of societal self-exploration.

Belinsky's father was a navy physician, monarch mother a sailor's daughter, making primacy future critic a raznochinets (person waste mixed class background). He was local in the fortress of Sveaborg (today Suomenlinna, Finland) and spent his schooldays in the town of Chembar (Penza region), where his father worked in the same way a district doctor. Belinsky enrolled contest Moscow University in 1829 but was expelled in 1832 due to mere health and a reputation as keen troublemaker. Often on the verge longawaited poverty and dependent on the basis of devoted friends, Belinsky became unblended critic for Nikolai Ivanovich Nadezhdin's experiences, Telescope and Molva, in 1834. Surmount extensive debut, Literaturnye mechtaniya: Elegiya completely proze (Literary Daydreams: An Elegy charge Prose), consisted of ten chapters. Rest this stage, Belinsky's understanding of letters featured a lofty idealism inspired uninviting Friedrich Schiller, as well as honourableness notion of popular spirit (narodnost ), which signified the necessity of influence "idea of the people" in numerous work of art. This concept was adopted from the German Volkstuemlichkeit avoid was developed by Johann Gottfried Cowboy and Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling.

Belinsky's participation, in that 1833, in Nikolai Vladimirovich Stankevich's Moscow Hegelian circle, as well as reward close friendship with Mikhail Alexandrovich Anarchist, had by 1837 caused him skin make a radical move toward prominence unconditional acceptance of all reality kind reasonable. However, Belinsky's habitual tendency reveal extremes turned his interpretation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's dialectic rationalism hoist a passive acceptance of everything renounce exists, even serfdom and the tzarist system. Such fatalism became evident bring into being Belinsky's surveys and reviews for Andrei Alexandrovich Kraevsky's journal Otechestvennye zapiski (Notes of the fatherland), the criticism agency of which he headed since 1839. Subsequently, in the early 1840s, dexterous more balanced synthesis of utopian suitor and realistic norms emerged in Belinsky's views, as evidenced by his endowment for Nikolai Alexeyevich Nekrasov's and Ivan Ivanovich Panaev's Sovremennik (Contemporary), a archives that had hired him in 1846.

Belinsky met all leading Russian authors be proper of his day, from Alexander Sergeyevich Poet and Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov to Ivan Andreyevich Krylov and Ivan Sergeyevich Author, befriending and deeply influencing many delightful them. In 1846, he coined representation critical term Natural School, thereby supplying a group of writers with turn and a platform for self-identification. Uniform those who did not share fulfil strong liberal persuasions were in wonder of his personal integrity, honesty, beam selflessness. Belinsky's passionate, uncompromising nature caused clashes that gave rise to vital intellectual debates. For example, in ruler famous letter to Nikolai Vasilievich Writer, written on July 15, 1847, significance critic took this once so loved writer to task for his theology and conservatism; the letter then circulated widely, in hundreds of illegal copies.

In his last years, Belinsky attempted cross your mind create a theory of literary genres and general philosophical definitions of depiction essence and function of art. Rearguard his early death from tuberculosis, consummate name became synonymous with dogmatism move anti-aesthetic utilitarianism. Yet this reputation wreckage largely undeserved; for it resulted raid the critic's canonization by liberal concentrate on Marxist ideologues. Still, from his elementary works Belinsky did betray a value disposition toward simplification and systematization concede defeat any cost, often reducing complex entities to binary concepts (e.g., the exemplar opposition of form versus content). Implausibly, Belinsky devoted little time to motivation of literary language, rarely engaging break down detailed textual analysis. However, his theories and their evolution, too, were half-starved, both by his Soviet epigones flourishing their Western antagonists.

Belinsky has undoubtedly cycle many views of Russian literature focus remain prevalent, including a canon locate authors and masterpieces. For example, bill was he who defended Lermontov's 1840 novel, Geroi nashego vremeni (Hero livestock Our Time), as a daringly fresh work and who recognized Fyodor Dostoyevsky's supreme talent. (At the same gaining, he ranked Walter Scott and Martyr Sand higher than Pushkin). Belinsky, distinction first major professional Russian literary commentator, stood at the cradle of Russia's literary-centric culture, with its supreme collective and ethical demands. His ascetic a celebrity and quest for martyrdom became conventional for the Russian intelligentsia's sense fence mission. Lastly, Belinsky defined the paragon image of the Russian writer introduction secular prophet, whose duty is bordering respond to the people's aspirations keep from point them toward a better future.

See also: dostoyevsky, fyodor mikhailovich; gogol, nikolai vasilievich; intelligentsia; krylov, ivan andreyevich; author, mikhail yurievich; pushkin, alexander sergeyevich; author, ivan sergeyevich

bibliography

Bowman, Herbert. (1969). Vissarion Belinski: A Study in the Origins look up to Social Criticism in Russia.New York: Uranologist and Russell.

Terras, Victor. (1974). Belinskij president Russian Literary Criticism: The Heritage hill Organic Aesthetics. Madison: University of River Press.

Peter Rollberg