Russian authors and their role in Russian culture and history - Research Paper Example

Great authors and poet like Shakespeare, John Keats or Shelley inspire minds even today. And during their time, they all had that great power and capacity to mesmerize, inspire and influence the culture and society. The same is identical with the provincial writers as well. In the Russian backdrop the influence of the great poets and authors like Mikhail Lermontov, Alexander Pushkin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Sholokhov and Anton Chekov have great influence on their culture and society. In this way, these writers and poets leave an indelible imprint on the history of Russia and help to reshape and to construct the history as well.

Thesis Statement This essay attempts to discuss the effects that great Russian writers like Mikhail Lermontov, Alexander Pushkin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Sholokhov and Anton Chekov had on the culture, society and history of Russia. Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Lermontov was a great poet and author of Russia during the Romantic period. Born in the year 1814, Lermontov was greatly moved by the beauty and the bounty of exotic nature of Caucasus where he was often taken for spa during his childhood.

Most of his poems captivate the lustful landscape of Caucasus and often he is called, “The Poet of Caucasus” for this reason. He was greatly moved by the folk songs of the region. . These poems were influenced by the style and the thought process of the English writer Lord Byron whose immense sense of martyrdom influenced many young Russian writers of the era including Lermontov. After two years of his publication of the poems, his first verse ‘Vesna’ or (spring) was published and that very year he started his education in Moscow University.

During that time, Moscow University was a shrine of ideologies, architect of refined thoughts and cradle of democratic movements in Russia against Serfs and their regimes. Lermontov not only was influenced and inspired by the democratic zeal and liberal thought process that was brewing up in Russia at that point but at the same time considerably added his inputs to shape the movement properly. In the year 1831, he wrote a drama entitled, “A Strange Man” which captivated the movement of the recent times, the undercurrent flowing against the tsarist regime and serfdom.

His protest against the institutions and his revolutionary ideals evoked scandal, envy and many also were scared of his tongue. This evolved into a fearful duel as well with officer N.S. Martynov which even resulted in his death. However, as known to the humanity, the greatest asset or weapon of a writer is his works. And Lermontov continued inspiring the youth of Russia through his verses which captivate a fire and serve as an ignition against all the torments and tortures of feudalism (Lermontov, “A Hero of Our Time”).

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Pushkin had immense influence on the socio-cultural and historical paradigm of Russia. Born in the year 1799, Alexander Pushkin was one of the greatest Russian poets from the Romantic period and one of the formative