The Naive Autobiographical Novel Tkachov’s Life by Fedor Kudreshov

Abstract

This contribution reproduces the text of the naive novel Tkachov’s Life (1850) written by Penza landlord clerk F. Kudreshov. Oral memories of his fellow villager Stepan Tkachov serve as a frame for a fictional autobiography, which is based on the images and motifs in Mikhail Chulkov’s famous novel Peresmeshnik, ili Slavenskie skazki [The Mocker, or Slavonic Tales (1789)].

Keywords

• tkachov’s life
• kudreshov
• autobiographical novel
• mikhail chulkov
• archival materials