Chapter II: Preface: v

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

The Russian Language--Early folk literature: Folklore--Songs--Sagas--_Lay of Igor’s Raid_--Annals--Mongolian Invasion; its consequences--Correspondence between John IV. and Kúrbskiy--Religious splitting--Avvakúm’s _Memoirs_--The eighteenth century--Peter I. and his contemporaries: Tretiakóvskiy--Lomonósoff--Sumarókoff--The times of Catherine II: Derzhávin--Von Wízin--The Freemasons: Nóvikoff--Radíscheff--Early nineteenth century: Karamzin and Zhukóvskiy--The Decembrists--Ryléeff.

CHAPTER II: PUSHKIN; LERMONTÓFF 39

PUSHKIN--Beauty of form--Pushkin and Schiller--His youth; his exile; his later career and death--Fairy tales: _Ruslán and Ludmíla_--His lyrics--“Byronism”--Drama--Evghéniy Onyeghin--LERMONTÓFF--Pushkin or Lermontóff? His life--The Caucasus--Poetry of nature--Influence of Shelley--_The Demon_--_Mtsýri_--Love of Freedom--Pushkin and Lermontóff as prose-writers--Other poets and novelists of the same epoch.

CHAPTER III: GÓGOL 67

Little Russia--_Nights on a Farm near Dikánka_ and _Mírgorod_--Village life and humour--_How Ivan Ivanovitch quarrelled with Ivan Nikíforytch_--Historical novel: _Tarás Búlba_--_The Cloak_--Drama: _The Inspector-General_--Its influence--_Dead Souls_: Main types--Realism in the Russian novel.

CHAPTER IV: TURGUÉNEFF; TOLSTÓY 88

Turguéneff--The Character of his art--_A Sportsman’s Note-book_--Pessimism in his early novels--His series of novels representing the leading types of Society: Rudin--Lavrétskiy--Helen and Insároff--Bazároff--Why _Fathers and Sons_ was misunderstood--_Hamlet_ and _Don Quixote_--_Virgin Soil_--Movement towards the people--Tolstóy--_Childhood_ and _Boyhood_--During and after the Crimean War--_Youth_: in search of an ideal--Small stories--_The Cossacks_--Educational work--_War and Peace_--_Anna Karénina_--Religious crisis--His interpretation of the Christian teaching--Main points of Christian ethics--Latest works of art--_Kreutzer Sonata_--_Resurrection_.

CHAPTER V: GONTCHARÓFF; DOSTOYÉVSKIY; NEKRÁSOFF 151

Gontcharóff--_Oblomoff_--The Russian malady of Oblomoffdom--Is it exclusively Russian? _The Precipice_--Dostoyévskiy--His first novel--General character of his work--_Memoirs from a Dead House_--_Down-trodden and Offended_--_Crime and Punishment_--_The Brothers Karamázoff_--Nekrasoff--Discussions about his talent--His love of the people--Apotheosis of Woman--Other prose-writers of the same epoch--Serghéi Aksákoff--Dal--Ivan Panaeff--Hvoschinskaya (V. Krestovskiy-pseudonyme)--Poets of the same epoch--Koltsoff--Nikitin--Pleschéeff--The admirers of pure art: Tutcheff; A. Maykoff; Scherbina; A. Fet--A. K. Tolstóy--The Translators.

CHAPTER VI: THE DRAMA 191

Its origin--The Tsars Alexei and Peter I.--Sumarókoff--Pseudo-classical tragedies: Knyazhnín; Ozeroff--First comedies--The first years of the nineteenth century--Griboyedoff--The Moscow stage in the fifties--Ostróvskiy: his first dramas--_The Thunderstorm_--Ostrovskiy’s later dramas--Historical dramas: A. K. Tolstóy--Other dramatic writers.

CHAPTER VII: FOLK-NOVELISTS 221

Their position in Russian literature--The early folk-novelists--Grigórovitch--Márko Vovtchók--Danilévskiy--Intermediate period: Kókoreff; Písemskiy; Potyekhin--Ethnographical researches--The realistic school: Pomyalóvskiy--Ryeshetnikoff--Levítoff--Gleb Uspenskiy--Zlatovrátskiy and other folk-novelists: Naúmoff--Zasódimskiy--Sáloff--Nefédoff--Modern realism: Maxim Gorkiy.

CHAPTER VIII: POLITICAL LITERATURE; SATIRE; ART-CRITICISM; CONTEMPORARY NOVELISTS 263

POLITICAL LITERATURE--Difficulties of censorship--The circles: Westerners and Slavophiles--Political literature abroad: Herzen--Ogaryóff--Bakunin--Lavróff--Stepniak--_The Contemporary_ and Tchernyshévskiy--SATIRE: Schedrin (Saltykoff)--ART-CRITICISM--Its importance in Russia--Byelinskiy--Dobrolúboff--Písareff--Mihailóvskiy-- Tolstóy’s _What is Art?_--CONTEMPORARY NOVELISTS: Oertel--Korolenko--Present drift of literature--Merezhovskiy-- Boborykin--Potápenko--Tchehoff.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 319

INDEX 321