A Sportsman's Sketches by Ivan Turgenev
"A Sportsman's Sketches" is a collection of narratives by Russian author Ivan Turgenev, first published in 1852. The work presents a series of vignettes, narrated by a sportsman who explores the Russian countryside, engaging with the lives of peasants and reflecting on their conditions. Notably, Turgenev's stories often prioritize character insights over traditional plot development, offering a glimpse into the complexities of rural life. For instance, in "Bezhin Meadow," the sportsman encounters peasant boys who share ghost stories, leading him to appreciate their individual humanity. Other sketches, such as "Yermolai and the Miller's Wife," delve into the intertwined lives of serfs and their struggles, showcasing the social dynamics and personal tragedies they face.
Turgenev's work highlights the stark realities of peasant life under the autocratic rule of Nicholas I, raising awareness of their plight in a time when direct criticism of the regime was risky. The narratives embody a mixture of empathy and realism, illustrating the beauty and sorrow present in the lives of ordinary people. The collection is a significant literary contribution, revealing the social issues of 19th-century Russia while remaining accessible and poignant for readers today.
A Sportsman's Sketches by Ivan Turgenev
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:Zapiski okhotnika, 1852 (English translation, 1855)
Type of work: Short stories
The Work
A Sportman’s Sketches effectively describes the stories that constitute the collection. They do not always express the concentration of elements toward the resolution of a clearly defined plot that readers associate with modern short stories. In one of the most famous pieces, “Bezhin lug” (“Bezhin Meadow”), the sportsman-narrator loses his way while hunting. At dusk, he stumbles into a camp of peasant boys who have brought horses out to graze in the cool night air. He sits among them, listens to their ghost stories, and leaves them at dawn with a sharpened sense of them as individuals rather than faceless members of the peasant class.
In “Ermolaj i melnichikha” (“Yermolai and the Miller’s Wife”), the sportsman-narrator hunts with a serf named Yermolai, who seems to have a clandestine relationship with Arina, the miller’s wife. Only toward the end of this sketch does Anna’s story materialize. She was taken to St. Petersburg to be maid to her master’s wife. When she fell in love with Petrushka, the footman, and asked for permission to marry him, she angered her mistress (who would not tolerate the inconvenience that a married servant might entail) and was banished to the countryside, where she now lives in a loveless marriage, dependent on Yermolai for the little happiness that she has.
For all of his sympathy with the peasants, Turgenev is faithful to the realities of the world that he depicts. In “Pevtsy” (“The Singers”), the sportsman wanders into a desolate village where two peasants are about to engage in a singing contest at the local tavern. When the singing begins, the contestants prove by their efforts that beauty can be found even in the voice of a simple peasant, but when the sportsman passes the tavern again at evening, everyone is drunk. In “Biryuk,” the forester Biryuk is harsh with the luckless peasant that he has caught cutting a tree before he finally lets him off, but Biryuk, a handsome, vigorous man, has had his own bad luck, for his wife ran away with a traveling peddler. One of Turgenev’s finest stories, “Zhivye moschi” (“Living Relics”), was not added to A Sportsman’s Sketches until 1874. Seeking shelter from a rainstorm, the sportsman enters a rude hut where he encounters Lukerya, once the most beautiful servant on his family’s estate. Yet shortly before she was to be married, Lukerya injured herself in a fall, and for seven years she has wasted away toward death, patiently and devoutly submitting to her bitter fate.
When A Sportsman’s Sketches appeared in 1852, Nicholas I was still czar of Russia, and direct criticism of his regime was not permitted. Turgenev’s “sketches” were perhaps as effective as anything in their time in bringing the plight of Russia’s underclass to the attention of a literate public.
Bibliography
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Lowe, David, ed. Critical Essays on Ivan Turgenev. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1988.
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