Infantilism of the People as the Theme of the Essay on the Prose of Writers-Populists

Abstract

The essays of populist writers (G. I. Uspensky, N. N. Zlatovratsky, F. D. Nefedov, N. E. Karonin-Petropavlovsky) are explored in the article in the aspect of the theme of childhood for the first time. It is argued that in populist prose, peasant children were most often portrayed as doomed to death. Narodnik writers emphasized the attitude of the peasants themselves towards the infantile death, while noting their social and moral infantilism. It is stated that in populist prose, peasant children were most often portrayed as doomed to death. Narodnik writers emphasized the attitude of the peasants themselves towards the infantile death, while noting their social and moral infantilism. The article analyzes the cycle of Uspensky “From the village diary”, in which the writer considered the problem of guilt and responsibility of the people for their actions. It is proved that the innocence of the peasant was identified by Uspensky with children's innocence. As demonstrated in this article, the entire responsibility for social evil committed among the people, the Narodnik writers was placed on the Russian intelligentsia. They were set the task of spiritual support and practical assistance to the peasantry in the anti-human conditions of capitalism. Thus, the theme of childhood in the Narodnik discourse had a complex sociocultural content, due to the idea of the people as a child undergoing a difficult stage of growing up.