Russian literature has won considerable recognition all over the world and become an integral part of its culture. In many countries of the world people know Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and many many other Russian writers. Their ingenuity is beyond any controversy.

The leading role of literature in the cultural life of the Russian people is explained by its origin and significance acquired from the very moment of its rise. The written language and literature were brought into Russia with Christianity. A book appeared in Russia in the form of the Holy text that influenced radically the place and role of literature in the history of Russian culture.

For many centuries church literature remained the main and the only intellectual and moral food for Russian people. It greatly contributed to the formation of the national character. Then the Russian literature underwent the influence by Eastern and Western literature but still preserved its distinctive features.

During the reign of Alexander for the first time Russian writers experienced great satisfaction of independent creative work quite national in spirit and style. Poetry was considered to be indisputable spiritual exploit and vocation and what is more, it acquired the meaning of 'religious rite'. In literature of that period there was a great strive for life and A.S.Pushkin's works were a vivid example of it. A.S.Pushkin completed the formation of the Russian literary language.

The epoch of great reforms of 1860-1870 turned the literature to social problems. There were two trends in Russian literature. Adherents of so-called 'pure art' (A.Grigoriev, A.V.Druzhinin, A.A.Fet) were definitely against moral and utilitarian function of literature, while L.N.Tolstoy aimed at 'destruction of aesthetics' for the sake of moral transformation of people through art. Religious interpretation of Russian experience of the 19th century found its expression in the works of F.M.Dostoevsky. The predominance of philosophical problems in literature resulted in flourishing of Russian novel. However, philosophical motives could be found in lyrics as well (F.I.Tyutchev). Since 1890s a new flourishing of Russian poetry started known as "Silver Age". Symbolism became not only a literary trend but also a new spiritual experience.

The Revolution of 1917 resulted in the artificial division of Russian writers into home and emigrant ones, though the most prominent writers happened to be abroad. But on the whole literature preserved its unity based on adherence to traditions of classic Russian culture. Those traditions to this or that extent could be found in the works of I.A.Bunin, V.V.Nabokov, I.I.Shmelev, G.I.Gazdanov, G.E.Ivanov, V.F.Khodasevich, O.Mandelstam, M.A.Bulgakov, B.L.Pasternak, M.Gorky and M.Sholokhov. The works of A.I.Solzhenitsyn are the greatest examples of Russian prose, as he managed to give the second breath to the classic Russian novel. In the field of poetry the works of I.Brodsky gained worldwide recognition.

Such is the development of Russian literature in brief. Of course, you can read works of Russian writers in English, the strength and genius of them are still understandable even in translation.

Hope you'll like this section, though it's a tiny little part of the great Russian literature.