State, power, people and people in the novel by A.F. Pisemsky “Men of the Forties”

We analyze the epic breadth of A.F. Pisemsky “Men of the Forties”, the timeless relevance of writer’s reflections on the possibility of a harmonious relationship between a person’s personal life and his activities for the good of country. We note that, in comparison with other works by Pisemsky, this novel, which tells about life of an ordinary person, contains a spiritual vertical, a view from the position of eternity, which gives it enlightenment and epic monumentality. The metaphysical line of communication between many phenomena and events expands the space of novel. Pisemsky, who positions himself as the most truthful writer, matches the examples of reality to the desired models, moves away from his inherent pessimism, presenting several exemplary heroes and, if not an ideal, then the possible type of state and social structure of the country that is best for Russia. We analyze the influence of the “Dawn” magazine on the Pisemsky concept, we suggest that the writer needed a kind of moral and spiritual support of the Slavophiles to create an epic novel with a line of approval. Following the prominent publicists, lawyers and sociologists (V.Y. Danilevsky, A.D. Gradovsky) who published their articles in the “Dawn” magazine, Pisemsky’s hero turns to the model of a “all-estates-social” state based on nationality. Special attention in the novel is paid by the author to the motive of power over people, which puts a person in difficult and unnatural conditions for him.