Ivan Turgenev: Russian Turmoil, Russian Nature

An online lecture by Dr. Thomas P. Hodge

Ivan Turgenev, revered for his skill with fictionalized depictions of ideological strife and unhappy love, was also one of Russia’s finest nature writers. In his short stories, essays, and novels, he deploys expert knowledge of hunting and the natural world to support liberal values amid social tumult in mid-nineteenth-century Russia.

Join Dr. Thomas Hodge in exploring the ways in which Turgenev’s works oppose serfdom, dramatize the rise of socialist materialism, and comment on the clash of science and art — all against the backdrop of peerless descriptions of nature.

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About the Speaker

Thomas Hodge is Professor of Russian and Chair of the Russian Department at Wellesley College, where he teaches literature and language courses and co-founded a humanities-and-science course on Lake Baikal that features fieldwork in Siberia. A specialist in nineteenth-century literature and culture, he is the author of A Double Garland (on Russian poetry and art-song) and has translated Sergei Aksakov’s classic Notes on Fishing. His recent book, Hunting Nature: Ivan Turgenev and the Organic World, was published by Cornell University Press in 2020; the authorized Russian translation appeared with Academic Studies Press in 2022.

Connecting With Zoom

This virtual lecture is presented live via Zoom. Registered users will be emailed a link to join this Zoom program. To get started, please download Zoom on your chosen device and explore the Frequently Asked Questions.

This program will be recorded and posted to the museum’s YouTube channel.