Biography Goncharov Ivan Alexandrovich
(1812 – 1891)
GONCHAROV Ivan Aleksandrovich
[6 (18) June 1812, Simbirsk 15 (27) September 1891, Petersburg], Russian writer.
“Reading was my school…” Goncharov was born into a merchant family. He received his primary education in a private boarding house, where he learned French and German, and read all available books “an unimaginable mixture… almost learned by heart”. In 1822 he was sent to the Moscow Commercial College, in 1831 he entered the verbal branch of the Moscow University: the study of literature spurred the “passion for reading” and “formed the pen.” As a student, Goncharov translated and placed in the Telescope magazine two chapters from the novel E. Sue “Atar-Gul” (1832). Upon graduation from the University (1834), he returned briefly to Simbirsk, then moved permanently to Petersburg, where he began to serve in the Ministry of Finance, continuing his free time to study literature:
In 1845 Goncharov worked hard on the novel, which he passed to Belinsky “for reading and deciding whether it is suitable.” This
The multidimensionality of the author’s position and the sophistication of psychological analysis, which have become stable features of Goncharov’s poetics, are partly due to the autobiographical nature of the novel: each of the antipode heroes is psychologically close to the writer, representing various projections of his psychic world. Frigate “Pallada” In 1852 Goncharov, as secretary of Admiral E. Putyatin, went on a round-the-world voyage on the frigate Pallada. Secretarial duties took a lot of effort, however, already during the expedition “there was a desire to write,” and Goncharov “stuffed the entire portfolio with travel notes.” They formed as a result of a book of essays published in the periodicals of 1855-57, and in 1858 published in a separate edition under the name “Frigate” Pallada. “Goncharov, from childhood, had a taste for travel literature, and here he was the true master of this genre. “Parallel between one’s own and others”, acute impressions of meeting with other cultures (mainly British and Japanese), the habit of “prikidyvat” all “on my own” provided the Russian reader’s interested attention to these essays. NA Dobrolyubov admired the wit and observance of the “brilliant, fascinating storyteller.” Censor-exile Upon his return from the journey, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee. The censor’s post, as well as the invitation he received to teach Russian literature to the heir to the throne, turned the writer into the “object of indignation of the liberals” (diary EA Shtakenshneider). His relations with Belinsky’s circle have cooled noticeably. The parallel between one’s own and another’s, “the sharp impressions of a meeting with other cultures (mainly British and Japanese), the habit of” prikidyvat “everything” on their own “provided the Russian reader’s interested attention to these essays. observant “brilliant, fascinating storyteller.” Censor-exile On his return from the journey, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee. The censor’s post, as well as his invitation to teach Russian literature the throne of the throne turned the writer into “the object of the indignation of the liberals” (Diary of E. A. Shtakenschneider), and his relations with Belinsky’s circle have cooled noticeably. The parallel between one’s own and another’s, “the sharp impressions of a meeting with other cultures (mainly British and Japanese), the habit of” prikidyvat “everything” on their own “provided the Russian reader’s interested attention to these essays. observant “brilliant, fascinating storyteller.” Censor-exile On his return from the journey, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee. The censor’s post, as well as his invitation to teach Russian literature the throne of the throne turned the writer into “the object of the indignation of the liberals” (Diary of E. A. Shtakenschneider), and his relations with Belinsky’s circle have cooled noticeably. the habit of “prikidyvat” “on their own yardstick” provided the interested attention of the Russian reader to these essays. NA Dobrolyubov admired the wit and observance of the “brilliant, fascinating storyteller.” Censor-exile Upon his return from the journey, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee. The censor’s post, as well as the invitation he received to teach Russian literature to the heir to the throne, turned the writer into the “object of indignation of the liberals” (diary EA Shtakenshneider). His relations with Belinsky’s circle have cooled noticeably. the habit of “prikidyvat” “on their own yardstick” provided the interested attention of the Russian reader to these essays. NA Dobrolyubov admired the wit and observance of “a brilliant, fascinating storyteller.” Censor-exile Upon his return from the journey, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee. The censor’s post, as well as the invitation he received to teach Russian literature to the heir to the throne, turned the writer into the “object of indignation of the liberals” (diary EA Shtakenshneider). His relations with Belinsky’s circle have cooled noticeably. Censor-exile Upon his return from the journey, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee. The censor’s post, as well as the invitation he received to teach Russian literature to the heir to the throne, turned the writer into the “object of indignation of the liberals” (diary EA Shtakenshneider). His relations with Belinsky’s circle have cooled noticeably. Censor-exile Upon his return from the journey, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee. The censor’s post, as well as the invitation he received to teach Russian literature to the heir to the throne, turned the writer into the “object of indignation of the liberals” (diary EA Shtakenshneider). His relations with Belinsky’s circle have cooled noticeably.
Later Goncharov emphasized that his liberal moods of youth had nothing to do with “youthful utopias in the social spirit” and that Belinsky’s influence was limited to the sphere of aesthetics. Goncharov-censor facilitated the printed fate of a number of the best works of Russian literature (Turgenev’s Notes of a Hunter, AF Pisemsky’s Thousand Souls, etc.), but he was openly hostile to radical publications, which caused irritation in circles of the left intelligentsia. For several months, from autumn 1862 to summer 1863, Goncharov edited the semi-official newspaper Severnaya Pochta, which also had a bad effect on his reputation. In the 1860’s and 70’s. Goncharov, a hypochondriac and, by his own definition, “nervous”, stubbornly removed from the literary world. “A piece of independent bread, pen and close circle of his closest friends “composed his worldly ideal:” This was later called in me by Oblomov. “” I was happy with the success of Oblomov. “The idea of a new novel took shape in Goncharov as early as 1847. Two years later, the head of” Oblomov’s Dream ” “overture of the whole novel.” But the reader had to wait for another ten years to see the appearance of the full text of Oblomov (1859), which immediately won a huge success: “Oblomov and Oblomovism… flew all over Russia and became words forever rooted in our speech” (AV Druzhinin) . The novel provoked heated debates, testifying to the depth of the plan. Dobrolyubov’s article “What is Oblomovism” (1859) was a ruthless trial of the main character, “completely inert” and “apathetic” a barin, a symbol of stagnation of feudal Russia. Aesthetic criticism, on the contrary, saw in the hero an “independent and pure”, “tender and loving nature,” far from the fashionable tendencies and retaining fidelity to the main values of being. By the end of the last century the controversy about the novel continued, and the last interpretation gradually prevailed: Oblomov’s lazy dreamer, in contrast to the dry rationalist Stolz, began to be perceived as the embodiment of the “novelist’s artistic ideal”, the subtle psychological picture testified to the hero’s inner depth, the reader was exposed to mild humor and hidden the lyricism of Goncharov. far from the fashion trends and remained faithful to the main values of being. By the end of the last century the controversy about the novel continued, and the last interpretation gradually prevailed: Oblomov’s lazy dreamer, in contrast to the dry rationalist Stolz, began to be perceived as the embodiment of the “novelist’s artistic ideal”, the subtle psychological picture testified to the hero’s inner depth, the reader was exposed to mild humor and hidden the lyricism of Goncharov. far from the fashion trends and remained faithful to the main values of being. By the end of the last century the controversy about the novel continued, and the last interpretation gradually prevailed: Oblomov’s lazy dreamer, in contrast to the dry rationalist Stolz, began to be perceived as the embodiment of the “novelist’s artistic ideal”, the subtle psychological picture testified to the hero’s inner depth, the reader was exposed to mild humor and hidden the lyricism of Goncharov.
In the early 20th century, IF Annensky rightfully called Oblomov “the most perfect creation” of the writer. The last novel “The Cliff” (1868) was conceived back in 1849 as a novel about the complex relationship of the artist and society. By the 1860’s. The idea was enriched by a new problem, born after the reform era. In the center of the work was the tragic fate of the revolutionary youth, represented in the image of the “nihilist” Mark Volokhov. Already the symbolic title of the novel, found at the very last stage of the work, testified to the author’s rejection of social radicalism. Publications of the left orientation reacted angrily to the novel, denying the author talent and the right to trial young people, passing by a profound interpretation of the love theme in the “Cliff”. A tense conflict background,
Recent years After the “Cliff” Goncharov’s name rarely appeared in print. He limited himself to the publication of only a few memoir essays and literary critical articles, among which the “critical sketch” of “Millions of Tears” (1872), dedicated to the production of Grisoedov’s “Woe from Wit” on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater, which became a classical analysis of comedy. Goncharov offered such a profound interpretation of the psychological and dramatic nature of “Sorrow from Wit”, that no historian of literature later ignored his analysis. The writer himself painfully experienced the creative silence of the last decades. His letters of those years draw the image of a lonely and withdrawn person, an extraordinarily subtle observer, deliberately avoiding life and at the same time suffering from his isolated position. In the novel Oblomov (1859), the fate of the protagonist is revealed not only as a social phenomenon (Oblomovism), but also as a philosophical comprehension of the Russian national character, a special moral path that opposes the hectic all-consuming “progress.” In the novel “Ordinary History” (1847), the conflict between “realism” and “romanticism” appears as an essential collision of Russian life. In the novel “The Cliff” (1869), the search for a moral ideal (especially female images), criticism of nihilism. The cycle of travel essays “Fregat” Pallas “(1855-57) is a kind of” writer’s diary “, literary critical articles (” Millions of Tears “, 1872). but also as a philosophical interpretation of the Russian national character, a special moral path, opposed to the vanity of all-consuming “progress.” In the novel “Ordinary History” (1847), the conflict between “realism” and “romanticism” appears as an essential collision of Russian life. In the novel “The Cliff” (1869), the search for a moral ideal (especially female images), criticism of nihilism. The cycle of travel essays “Fregat” Pallas “(1855-57) is a kind of” writer’s diary “, literary critical articles (” Millions of Tears “, 1872). but also as a philosophical interpretation of the Russian national character, a special moral path, opposed to the vanity of all-consuming “progress.” In the novel “Ordinary History” (1847), the conflict between “realism” and “romanticism” appears as an essential collision of Russian life. In the novel “The Cliff” (1869), the search for a moral ideal (especially female images), criticism of nihilism. The cycle of travel essays “Fregat” Pallas “(1855-57) is a kind of” writer’s diary “, literary critical articles (” Millions of Tears “, 1872). appears as an essential collision of Russian life. In the novel “The Cliff” (1869), the search for a moral ideal (especially female images), criticism of nihilism. The cycle of travel essays “Fregat” Pallas “(1855-57) is a kind of” writer’s diary “, literary critical articles (” Millions of Tears “, 1872). appears as an essential collision of Russian life. In the novel “The Cliff” (1869), the search for a moral ideal (especially female images), criticism of nihilism. The cycle of travel essays “Fregat” Pallas “(1855-57) is a kind of” writer’s diary “, literary critical articles (” Millions of Tears “, 1872).