Historical Context in Fathers and Sons

In the 19th century, several pseudosciences gained prominence in the public mind as well as in literature. One of the more notable ones is phrenology, or the study of the size and shape of the skull and how that relates to moral and intellectual characteristics. Turgenev likely points out Bazarov’s skull to indicate to readers something subliminal in Bazarov’s character or intellect.

It is important to note that Hogarth has added the word "comrade" (товарищ) to this sentence. Garnett's 1917 translation simply says "my great friend, Bazarov, about whom I have so often written to you." Hogarth's translation came out in 1921, and Lenin and the Communists had largely taken over the Russian Empire. This addition of "comrade" then is a political choice and not true to Turgenev's original.

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin’s most famous work is Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse which Pushkin wrote and published between 1825 and 1832. The novel traces the story of the title character, a highly educated, world-weary young man who moves from St. Petersburg to the country. Onegin becomes a mentor to a naive younger man and an object of desire for a young woman, whom he initially rejects and then longs for. In both personality and action, Bazarov resembles Onegin. Turgenev introduces this allusion with irony: Bazarov despises poetry, despite the fact that he mirrors one of the central characters of Russian poetry.

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, novelist, and playwright. Born in 1799 and working until his premature death in 1837, Pushkin defined the modern Russian language and was perhaps the central figure of the romantic era of Russian literature. Given Nikolai’s professed love for poetry and romanticism, it is appropriate that Pushkin appeals to him. To this day, Pushkin is considered by many to be the greatest poet of the Russian language.

This translation is a little unclear: instead of “Katherine’s Day,” this should convey the land measurements that were using during Catherine the Great’s time. The narrator is referring to the former ruler of Imperial Russia Catherine II, whose work in the 18th century revitalized Russia and turned it into one of the great powers of Europe.

This Russian word can be translated as “philistine” or “petty bourgeois.” So, Nikolai is stating that his new steward is a member of the middle class. In 19th century Russian, there was a small (compared to Europe) middle class that was not as well educated as the upper class, which likely explains why Nikola says that the steward “seems at least capable.”

Il est libre, en effet = [French] “He is free, in fact” For the Russian aristocrats and the educated, knowledge of French was essential. In fact, many Russian writers (like Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy) used French throughout their works to reflect this. Translations are not offered because contemporary readers these texts would have had passing knowledge of the French language.

In 1861, Tsar Alexander II freed all serfs—a kind of indentured servant—in Russia. Turgenev wrote Fathers and Sons in the immediate aftermath of this decree. Turgenev includes the tension between the ruling classes and the newly freed workings classes in the story—in this case, the tension which arises from Nikolai’s decision not to “have any freed serfs about the place.”

This verb refers to Nikolai’s having Arkady’s room redone with new wallpaper. At the start of the 19th century, and lasting well into the 20th century, there was a revival of interest in wallpaper designs and use around the world and in England and France in particular. Considering that the Russian aristocratic class had close, historical ties with these nations, the French in particular, it is not surprising that the Kirsanov house utilizes this means of decor over bare wood or paint.

Bazarov identifies Nikolai as a “romanticist.” Romanticism was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement in the first half of the 19th century. Romantics—or romanticists—emphasize emotion, intuition, and aesthetic experience over the rationality emphasized by the Enlightenment. Romantics such as Nikolai value emotional and aesthetic reactions, exemplified by Nikolai’s spontaneous recitation of Pushkin when beholding the spring landscape.

That Bazarov claims the English washstands represent progress is important. Among the rise of socialists, nihilists, and other educated liberals at this time, there was a common perception in Russia that Western Europe was the home of advanced progress and civilized society. For Bazarov, Russian goods and systems represent backward views and modes of living.

Hegelists are those who subscribe to the ideas of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German philosopher writing at the turn of the 19th century. Hegel was a seminal philosopher who worked on a number of intellectual areas, including metaphysics, logic, and phenomenology. As a university student, Turgenev studied Hegel’s work extensively. The apparent similarity between Hegelian and Nihilistic philosophy lies in the question of meaning. One of Hegel’s central ideas is that life is inherently meaningless, a fact which is in itself also meaninglessness. In this way, Nihilism evokes shades of Hegel for Paul.

After Tsar Alexander II liberated the serfs, the landowners were obligated to provide them with land to work for a living. Many of these allotments were apportioned unequally or in such ways that the serfs were still indentured through taxation to the land-owning aristocrats.

Justus Freiherr von Liebig, who lived from 1803 to 1873, was a renowned German chemist. Liebig is best known as the founder of agricultural chemistry. Nikolai references Liebig out of a desire to find common ground between himself and Bazarov: Nikolai cares about agriculture; Bazarov cares about chemistry.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, novelist, philosopher, and scientist who lived during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Goethe is widely considered one of the most important figures in the history of German literature, akin to Shakespeare’s position in English letters. Paul mentions Goethe as a symbol for a bygone era in which Germany produced notable artists, and not only scientists.

Friedrich Schiller was a German poet, playwright, philosopher, and historian who lived during the late 18th century. Along with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Schiller founded the literary and cultural movement known as Weimar classicism. Paul cites Schiller as a past example of German achievement, particularly in the arts.

Bazarov’s comment reveals both his personal opinion as well as the intellectual landscape of his time. As someone without allegiance for tradition or national pride, Bazarov has no inclination to praise Russia without reason. In the century preceding the publication of Fathers and Sons in 1862, Germany was the premier intellectual powerhouse of continental Europe, producing many of the era’s most significant works of philosophy and science.

Another possibility for Turgenev’s providing only the first initial of this name is the censorship practices of the 19th century. Many Russian authors—like Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy—either omitted the full names of people and places to avoid issues with the censors, or the censors themselves redacted this information prior to publication.

The Imperial Corps of Pages was a military academy in St. Petersburg. Founded in 1759, the school prepared the sons of the upper classes for lives of military service. As a page—or young male servant—in the Corps, Paul was groomed from childhood to be an officer.