Ivan Turgenev, Nov' [Virgin Soil]

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Nov’

[

Virgin Soil

] was published in 1877, and was Turgenev’s last novel. In this work, he returns to political themes, which he had eschewed for some ten years, ever since the publication of

Dym

[

Smoke

, 1867].

Virgin Soil

depicts the “Going to the People” movement of the 1870s in Russia; accordingly, Turgenev uses a purely Russian locale, after setting his two main previous works (

Dym

and

Veshnie Vody

[

Spring Torrents

, 1872]) in Germany. However, despite this Russian setting,

Virgin Soil

feels somewhat detached from the Russia it is meant to represent, especially when compared with Turgenev’s earlier novels: for example,

Nakanune

[

On the Eve

, 1860] or

Ottsy i deti

[

Fathers and Children

, 1862]. This would appear to vindicate the arguments of Turgenev’s critics that his…

2105 words

Citation: Ambrose, Kathryn. "Nov'". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 September 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11254, accessed 04 December 2024.]

11254 Nov' 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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