Lectures on Russian Literature: Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenef, Tolstoy

A series of lectures surveys four Russian writers, mapping them onto a cyclical theory of the literary soul that moves from lyric song through lament and protest to militant critique and finally moral preaching. The speaker traces how literature records spiritual development, argues that Russian letters adopt Western forms while exhibiting a characteristic passive receptivity, and analyzes representative passages and translations to illustrate each phase. Close readings explore stylistic features, ethical concerns, and the relationship between artistic method and spiritual purpose, concluding with extended treatments of the aesthetic and religious dimensions of the final author discussed.