Davis Center: Anti-Economics in Russian Realism: Action and Work in the Stories of Nikolai Leskov

Andrea Zink, University Professor, University of Innsbruck, Austria; Visiting Scholar, Davis Center

Russian classical literature is famous for its idlers, Oblomov being the most widely known and beloved example. The heroes’ hesitation or inability to act goes hand in hand with a conspiciously long absence of the subjects of work and labor in Russian Realism. However, flawed actions can also be found in the stories of Nikolai Leskov, where work, labor and commerce are foregrounded as the author focuses on social classes used to earning their own living. In Zheleznaia volia, for example, Leskov gives us some disillusioning insights into Russian entrepreneurship of his time but also poses the very modern question of how one can live a meaningful life in a world of competition and profit.