Authors

Discussion

Published in 1845, Vladimir Sollogub’s Tarantass relates the journey throughout provincial Russia, between Moscow, Kazan and Mordassy, of two young men, a landowner and a nobleman. Although the novel is regarded as a minor one, the Tarantass deals with a number of significant themes of the 19th century Russian literature, such as the opposition between Westernizers and Slavophiles, the reflection on serfdorm or provincial life. Indeed, for Vissarion Belinsky, the Tarantass «was a kaleidoscope of sometimes original and sometimes strange paradoxes». In this paper, I will analyse two major features of the novel: its satirical and travelogue dimension. How does satire and travel writing function? What literary strategies did Sollogub employ to offer a multi-layered picture of Russia? How does he formulate his critique of Slavophiles idea? Finally, I will draw parallels between the novel and Gogol's Dead Souls to see how the two are interlaced.