[

, or

] was first published in 1862, during a period of great reform in Russia and the emergence of a new radical force: a more strident younger generation led by such figures as Chernyshevsky, Dobroliubov and Pisarev. The idea for the novel appears to have originated in 1860, while Turgenev was staying on the Isle of Wight, and – according to the author himself – Bazarov, his chief protagonist, was inspired by a meeting with a young, unnamed (and unidentified) provincial doctor, who had subsequently died. Young radicals, however, saw Bazarov as a polemical portrait of their hero Dobroliubov, who had also died recently at a young age.

The plot moves between various country estates with a short episode in a provincial town. It opens with

2935 words

Citation: Peace, Richard. "Ottsy i deti". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11252, accessed 21 November 2024.]