THE BEGINNING OF THE LITERARY ACTIVITIES OF THE RUSSIAN WRITER A.A. TIKHONOV-LUGOVOY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE POST-REFORM ERA IN RUSSIA (1878–1885)

DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2025-1-131-142

УДК 821.161.1(470.343)

ББК Ш33(2=411.2)52

Sergey V. STARIKOV

Key words

Russia, epoch, writer, literature, Chekhov’s time, poetry, fiction, merchantry, hero.

Abstract

The evolvement and development of the Russian literary intelligentsia of the XIX century remains an urgent problem of historical science and literature studies. A writer in Russia was not only the creator of literary works. His mission was closely connected with the development of the state and the society. The writer’s activities had a significant impact on politics, public life, and culture. Literature became the “teacher of life.” At the turning points of the Russian history, new talents poured into literary creativity. They searched for their creative credo, overcoming difficulties, became known throughout Russia, but were forgotten in the XX century.

The purpose of the study is to study the literary activity of the Russian writer A.A. Tikhonov-Lugovoy, which began in the post-reform era in Russia, the influence of living conditions, new ideas and aspirations on the formation of ideas and features of his creative talent and style.

Materials and methods. The sources were the writer’s memoirs “How My Faith Grew”, “Leaves from Autobiography”, the assessments of his contemporaries, as well as the first literary works he wrote – poems and short stories that give the opportunity to evaluate his views, the search for his place in the literary environment and his formation as a writer. The main methods were historicism, objectivity, analysis and synthesis of materials from literary sources and social and political essays.

Research results. At the turn of the 1870s and 1880s, the Russian state and the society as a whole were experiencing a time of reforms and transformations undertaken by Emperor Alexander II. The new era of capitalist modernization caused new phenomena in the economy and social relations, and created new contradictions in life. The Russian literature actively responded to the challenges of the time, striving to show the origins and causes of psychological and moral background of events and processes. The “Chekhov era” began. A new generation of poets, fiction writers and playwrights emerged. Among them, the first literary steps were made by A.A. Tikhonov-Lugovoy who decided to devote himself to literary creativity. He experienced many hardships and life lessons, the bitterness of disappointments, the joy of his first successes and recognition, becoming a famous writer of the late XIX and early XX centuries. In his work, he remained in the positions of classical Russian literature, striving like no one else to determine the deep socio-psychological characteristics of typical heroes of the post-reform era belonging to various social strata, ranks and titles.

Conclusions. Despite the emergence of new modernist trends in the literature of the coming “silver age”, many new talents came to the writing environment, including A.A. Tikhonov-Lugovoy, they continued the best traditions of the Russian literature of the “golden age”, whose works became a real “teacher of life” for many generations of compatriots.

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Information about the author

Sergey V. Starikov – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Department of Russian History, Mari State University, Russia, Yoshkar-Ola (sv.starikov@yandex.ru).

For citations

Starikov S.V. The beginning of the literary activities of the Russian writer A.A. Tikhonov-Lugovoy in the context of the post-reform era in Russia (1878–1885). Vestnik Chuvashskogo universiteta, 2025, no. 1, pp. 131–142. DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2025-1-131-142 (in Russian).

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