Katkov and Belinskii: the Intersection of Lives and Views

Abstract

The year 2018 marks the 200th anniversary of M. N. Katkov`s birth and the 170th year since V. G. Belinskii`s death. The author analyses the lives and interaction of these two outstanding Russian editors and publicists, publishers and literary critics who personify diverse directions in the scientific and literary discourse in the ninteenth-century Russia. Their lives and work to a considerable extent defined the values and worldview of the younger generation; the latter formed various ideological trends in Russia`s public life and political thought in the second half of the century. The appeal to the heritage of these prominent thinkers enriches the understanding of the development of Russia`s public life and politics in the ninteenth century. At the same time M. N. Katkov`s and V. G. Belinskii`s oeuvre is relevant for the contemporary generation. In conclusion the author argues that the polemics between Katkov and Belinskii was a factor in reducing the nihilism in the Russian society in the ninteenth century.

Keywords

• m. n. katkov
• v. g. belinskii
• russia
• the ninteenth century
• sociocultural space
• national culture
• consciousness
• self-comprehension
• personality
• outlook