Leo Tolstoy in Conversation with Four Peasant Sectarian Writers: The Complete Correspondence

"The theme of the peasantry is central throughout almost the whole of Tolstoy's long career. His obsession with this class is seen not just as a matter of social or humanitarian concern, but as a response to the questions of "how to live a good life" and "what is the meaning of life that an inevitable death will not destroy?" questions that plagued his entire life. The letters he exchanged with the four major peasant sectarian writers (Bondarev, Zheltov, Verigin and Novikov) reveal not only Tolstoy as a profound thinker, but his correspondents also, as they converse on subjects concerning religious-moral questions, the meaning of life and how one should strive to find it, along with a wide array of burning social and personal problems. An analysis, and a consecutive reading of the letters (provided with extensive annotations) as a unified whole, elucidates the progressive development of the ideas they held in common (and where these diverged) and which guided Tolstoy's and his correspondents' lives. The juxtaposition of Tolstoy's letters with those of his four sectarian correspondents makes them even more significant by showing them in their original context of a dialogue, or conversation. Also, with the aim to present the conversation in an even broader context, Andrew Donskov briefly discusses Tolstoy's relationship with peasants in general as well as with each of the four individual writers in particular. In addition, he has provided a background sketch of two major religious groups, namely the Doukhobors and Molokans, both of which still claim sizeable populations of followers in North America today. "-- Provided by publisher The theme of the peasantry is central throughout most of Tolstoy's long career. His obsession with this class is seen not just as a matter of social or humanitarian concern, but as a response to the questions of "how to live a good life" and "what is the meaning of life that an inevitable death will not destroy?" These questions plagued him his entire life. The letters he exchanged with the four major peasant sectarian writers (Bondarev, Zheltov, Verigin, and Novikov) reveal that Tolstoy was matched as a profound thinker by his correspondents, as they converse on religious-moral questions, the meaning of life and how one should strive to find it, and on a wide array of burning social and personal problems. Reading through the analysis and the extensively annotated letters as a unified whole, elucidates the progressive development of the ideas they shared (and where these diverged) and which guided Tolstoy's and his correspondents' lives. Juxtaposing Tolstoy's letters with those of his four sectarian correspondents makes them even more significant as it shows them in their original context – a dialogue, or conversation. Also, with the aim to present the conversation in an even broader context, Andrew Donskov briefly discusses Tolstoy's relationship with peasants in general as well as with each of the four individual writers in particular. In addition, he provides a background sketch of two major religious groups, namely the Doukhobors and the Molokans, both of which still claim sizeable populations of followers in North America today. Originally published in 2008 by the Slavic Research Group at the University of Ottawa under the title Leo Tolstoy and Russian peasant sectarian writers: Selected correspondence, the expanded University of Ottawa Press edition includes 44 letters never published in English, out of the total 155 letters. Correspondence translated by John Woodsworth. This book is published in English. - La paysannerie traverse la longue carrière de Tolstoï. Son obsession avec cette classe sociale doit être comprise non seulement comme une préoccupation sociale ou humanitaire, mais aussi comme une réponse aux questions « Comment mener une belle vie? » et « Quel est le sens de la vie que la mort inévitable ne saurait détruire? » qui l'ont hanté sa vie durant. La correspondance qu'ont échangée Tolstoï et quatre écrivains sectaires et liés à la paysannerie (Bondarev, Zheltov, Verigin et Novikov) révèle de grands penseurs. Au fil des échanges, les questions de religion et de moralité, du sens de la vie et comment faire pour le découvrir, et d'une gamme de questions sociales et personnelles du jour sont abordées. La lecture et l'analyse de cet ensemble d'échanges épistolaires enrichis de notes détaillées témoigne du développement progressif des idées qu'ils partageaient (ainsi que leurs divergences), et qui ont guidé la vie de chacun d'entre eux. La juxtaposition des lettres de Tolstoï et de ses quatre correspondants sectaires, qui sont présentées dans leur contexte original de dialogue – ou de conversation – permet d'en pleinement apprécier l'importance. Dans le but de situer cette conversation dans un contexte plus grand, Andrew Donskov aborde la question de la relation qu'entretient Tolstoï avec les paysans en général, d'une part, de même qu'avec chacun de ces quatre écrivains, d'autre part. Il offre par ailleurs un texte de présentation sur les Doukhobors et les Molokans, deux groupes confessionnaux qui comptent encore aujourd'hui un nombre appréciable d'adeptes en Amérique du Nord. Ce livre est publié en anglais. The theme of the peasantry is central throughout most of Tolstoy's long career. His obsession with this class is seen not just as a matter of social or humanitarian concern, but as a response to the questions of "how to live a good life" and "what is the meaning of life that an inevitable death will not destroy?" These questions plagued him his entire life.0The letters he exchanged with the four major peasant sectarian writers (Bondarev, Zheltov, Verigin, and Novikov) reveal that Tolstoy was matched as a profound thinker by his correspondents, as they converse on religious-moral questions, the meaning of life and how one should strive to find it, and on a wide array of burning social and personal problems. Reading through the analysis and the extensively annotated letters as a unified whole, elucidates the progressive development of the ideas they shared (and where these diverged) and which guided Tolstoy's and his correspondents' lives.0Juxtaposing Tolstoy's letters with those of his four sectarian correspondents makes them even more significant as it shows them in their original context - a dialogue, or conversation. Also, with the aim to present the conversation in an even broader context, Andrew Donskov briefly discusses Tolstoy's relationship with peasants in general as well as with each of the four individual writers in particular. In addition, he provides a background sketch of two major religious groups, namely the Doukhobors and the Molokans, both of which still claim sizeable populations of followers in North America today.0Originally published in 2008 by the Slavic Research Group at the University of Ottawa under the title 'Leo Tolstoy and Russian peasant sectarian writers: Selected correspondence', the expanded University of Ottawa Press edition includes 44 letters never published in English, out of the total 155 letters. Correspondence translated by John Woodsworth Le thème de la paysannerie est au centre de la majeure partie de la longue carrière de Tolstoï. Son obsession pour cette classe est considérée non seulement comme une question sociale ou humanitaire, mais comme une réponse aux questions de «comment vivre une bonne vie» et «quel est le sens de la vie qu'une mort inévitable ne détruira pas? " Ces questions l'ont tourmenté toute sa vie. Les lettres qu'il a échangées avec les quatre principaux écrivains sectaires paysans (Bondarev, Zheltov, Verigin et Novikov) révèlent que Tolstoï était considéré comme un penseur profond par ses correspondants, alors qu'ils conversaient sur des questions morales et religieuses, le sens de la vie et comment devrait s'efforcer de le trouver, et sur un large éventail de problèmes sociaux et personnels brûlants. La lecture de l'analyse et des lettres largement annotées dans leur ensemble unifie le développement progressif des idées qu'elles partageaient (et où elles divergeaient) et qui guidaient la vie de Tolstoï et de ses correspondants. La juxtaposition des lettres de Tolstoï avec celles de ses quatre correspondants sectaires les rend encore plus significatives car elles les montrent dans leur contexte d'origine - un dialogue ou une conversation. Aussi, dans le but de présenter la conversation dans un contexte encore plus large, Andrew Donskov discute brièvement de la relation de Tolstoï avec les paysans en général ainsi qu'avec chacun des quatre écrivains en particulier. De plus, il fournit une esquisse de fond de deux groupes religieux majeurs, à savoir les Doukhobors et les Molokans, qui réclament encore aujourd'hui des populations importantes de fidèles en Amérique du Nord