Cervantes and the rise of the Russian novel

Thesis

This thesis examines Cervantes’ contribution to the development of the Russian novel tradition by exploring his reception by four canonical nineteenth-century Russian writers: Pushkin, Gogol’, Turgenev and Dostoevsky. These authors have been chosen for the significance of their contribution to the development of the Russian canon and the clear presence of responses to Cervantes in their oeuvres. In order to paint a comprehensive picture of Cervantes’ reception in Russia (and, by extension, his impact on the Russian novel), this thesis takes into account the authors’ entire oeuvres while concentrating on the texts most pertinent to the study. While focus rests on Cervantes’ magnum opus, Don Quixote, his other works, particularly his Exemplary Tales, are also considered in relation to the Russian authors’ narrative developments. References and allusions to Cervantes and intertextual echoes with his texts are examined in both the Russian writers’ narrative fiction works (narrative poems, short stories and novels) and paraliterary texts (correspondence, notes and essays). This is the first time that references and allusions to Cervantes by these four writers are enumerated, examined and analysed all in one place. This comprehensiveness allows trends to be traced across the authors’ reception of Cervantes and its coincidence with their narrative developments. This enables the reader to understand both the extent to and manner in which Cervantes and his works contributed not only to the development of each writer’s individual oeuvre, but also, by extension, to the rise of the Russian novel tradition.

Authors: Mroz, G

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-zvdkm4xv8
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Gogol'; Spanish; Cervantes; Turgenev; Russian; Dostoevsky; Pushkin