The Conception of “Dolg” in I. S. Turgenev’s Novel “Home of the Gentry” and the Ethical Ideas in the Mid-19th Century

Abstract

The article considers I. S. Turgenev’s conception of “dolg” presented in his works “Faust” and “Home of the Gentry” in the late 1850s and its connection to the history of the Russian concept “dolg”. The analysis of Turgenev’s contribution to the conceptual history takes into account the semantic aspects of the Russian word “dolg” relating to Christian and public duty (debt). Turgenev’s ethical ideas are regarded as an effort to rethink the moral principles and ideals of the Russian gentry during the radical social changes. Refs 14.