Gothic Novels - Gothic Fiction From The Russian Empire

Gothic Fiction From The Russian Empire

Russian Gothic was not, until recently, viewed as a critical label by Russian critics. If used, the word "gothic" was used to describe (mostly early) works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The most critics simply used the tags such as "Romanticism" and "fantastique". Even in relatively new story collection translated as Russian 19th-Century Gothic Tales (from 1984), the editor used the name Фантастический мир русской романтической повести (The Fantastic World of Russian Romanticism Short Story/Novella). However, since the mid-1980s, Russian gothic fiction was discussed in books like The Gothic-Fantastic in Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature, European Gothic: A Spirited Exchange 1760-1960, and The Russian Gothic novel and its British antecedents.

The first Russian author whose work can be described as gothic fiction is considered to be Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin. Although many of his works feature gothic elements, the first one which is considered to belong purely in the "gothic fiction" label is Ostrov Borngolm (Island of Bornholm) from 1793. The next important early Russian author is Nikolay Ivanovich Gnedich with his novel Don Corrado de Gerrera from 1803, which is set in Spain during the reign of Philip II.

The term „gothic“ is sometimes also used to describe the ballads of Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (particularly "Ludmila" (1808) and "Svetlana" (1813)). Also, the following poems are considered to belong in the gothic genre: Meshchevskiy's "Lila", Katenin's "Olga", Pushkhin's "The Bridegroom", Pletnev's "The Gravedigger" and Lermontov's „Demon“. The other authors from the romanticism era include: Antony Pogorelsky (penname of Alexey Alexeyevich Perovsky), Orest Somov, Alexandr Pushkin, Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy, Mikhail Lermontov (his work Stuss) and Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. Pushkin is particularly important, as his short story "The Queen of Spades" (1833) was adapted into operas and movies by both Russian and foreign artists. Some parts of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time" (1840) are also considered to belong in the gothic genre, but they lack the supernatural elements of the other Russian gothic stories.

The key author of the transition from romanticism to realism, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, is also one of the most important authors of the romanticism, and has produced a number of works which qualify as gothic fiction. His works include three short story collections, of which each one features a number of stories in the gothic genre, as well as many stories with gothic elements. The collections are: Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1831-1832) with the stories "St John's Eve" and "A Terrible Vengeance"; Arabesques (1835), with the story "The Portrait"; and Mirgorod (1835), with the story "Viy". The last story is probably the most famous, having inspired at least eight movie adaptations (two of which are now considered to be lost), one animated movie, two documentaries, and a video game. Gogol's work is very different from western European gothic fiction, as he is influenced by Ukrainian folklore, Cossack lifestyle and, being a very religious man, Orthodox Christianity.

Other authors of Gogol's era included Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoevsky (The Living Corpse, written 1838, published 1844; The Ghost; The Sylphide; and other stories), Count Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (The Family of the Vourdalak, 1839, and The Vampire, 1841), Mikhail Zagoskin (Unexpected Guests), Józef Sękowski/Osip Senkovsky (Antar), and Yevgeny Baratynsky (The Ring).

After Gogol, the Russian literature saw the rise of the realism, but many authors wrote pieces stories that belong in the gothic fiction territory. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, one of the world's most celebrated realists, wrote Faust (1856), Phantoms (1864), Song of the Triumphant Love (1881), and Clara Milich (1883). Another Russian realist classic, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, incorporated gothic elements in many of his works, although none of his novels are seen as purely gothic. Grigory Petrovich Danilevsky, who wrote historical and early science fiction novels and stories, wrote Mertvec-ubiytsa (Dead Murderer) in 1879. Also, Grigori Alexandrovich Machtet wrote the story "Zaklyatiy kazak".

During the last years of the Russian Empire, in the early 20th century, many authors continued to write in the gothic fiction genre. These include historian and historical fiction writer Alexander Valentinovich Amfiteatrov; Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev, who developed psychological characterization; symbolist Valery Yakovlevich Bryusov; Alexander Grin; Anton Pavlovich Chekhov; and Aleksandr Ivanovich Kuprin. Nobel Prize winner Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin wrote Dry Valley (1912), which is considered to be influenced by gothic literature.