Fathers and Children

Ivan Turgenev

Fathers and Children — Arkady, a university graduate, returns from St. Petersburg to his father’s estate with his mentor Bazarov—a nihilist. Fathers and Children (also known as Fathers and Sons) is a novel by Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, published in 1862 in the Moscow journal The Russian Messenger. The main theme of the novel is the conflict between two generations—the “fathers,” the liberal serf owners, and the “children,” nihilists who reject their authority and traditions. The novel helped popularize the term “nihilism,” which became associated with the Russian radical movement of the 1860s. Despite being harshly criticized in Russia, the novel was very well received in Europe, being praised by influential novelists like Gustave Flaubert and Guy de Maupassant.