Remarks on the protagonist in Russian classical literature between 1825 and 1925

This paper examines the main types of literary protagonists in Russian classical literature (1825-1925), focusing on key aspects that shaped their evolution over time. Through a comparative-historical and typological analysis, different types of the central literary hero are investigated. The analysis draws on materials from the personal libraries of the authors, excluding electronic sources, as well as books from the Alexander Solzhenitsyn Library collection at the Department of Slavic Languages, Faculty of Philosophy, Matej Bel University. A critical analysis of the models of the “useless person” and the “little man” traces the development of the protagonist up to its transformation in the early 20th century, with examples taken from the works of Ivan Turgenev and Ivan Shmelev. The article offers a scholarly discussion of this specific period in the evolution of the Russian literary hero and proposes several original theses and revisions. By investigating these literary archetypes, the study also aims to refine existing conclusions from the perspective of foreign literary scholars, potentially broadening and deepening the discourse while introducing new viewpoints. Ultimately, the study seeks to stimulate further debate on defining the central protagonist in Russian literature between 1825 and 1925.

Keywords

Authors

References