L. N. Tolstoy on the 20th-Century Estate: From the “Civilization of Machines” to a New Natural House of the Eastern Type

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The research was carried out at IWL RAS at the expense of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation no. 22-18-00051-P (https://rscf.ru/project/22-18-00051/).
For citation:
Andreeva, V. G. “L. N. Tolstoy on the 20th-Century Estate: From the ʽCivilization of Machines’ to a New Natural House of the Eastern Type.” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 7, no. 3, 2025, pp. 298–327. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2025-7-3-298-327
Abstract:
The article is devoted to the image of the estate and the house in L. N. Tolstoy’s legacy, especially in his later works. The research indicates that at the turn of the century and in the first decade of the 20th century, Tolstoy became an ardent supporter of the protection of the common people and, in fact, a denier of the previous estate culture, impossible without manor houses with gardens and parks, additional buildings maintained by the efforts of peasants and servants who provided for all the everyday aspects of life. In Tolstoy’s perception of estates and the formation of the image of a private house with a small farm in his legacy, the idea of simplification played an important role. The article shows the writer’s complex attitude to estates: with love for Yasnaya Polyana and an understanding of the value of estate life, Tolstoy denied the excessive luxury inherent in the urban and country estates of the nobility and people in power. The article analyzes Tolstoy’s appeal to the philosophy of the East and the way of life of the Eastern peoples, which, according to the writer, preserved the key foundations of life forgotten by European civilization.
Keywords: L. N. Tolstoy, estate, estate topos, house, East, Europe, Asia, Eastern philosophy, nature, simplification.
Author: Valeria G. Andreeva
Information about the author:
Valeria G. Andreeva, DSc in Philology, Leading Research Fellow, A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4558-3153

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: July 11, 2025
Approved after reviewing: August 08, 2025
Published: September 25, 2025
Issue: 2025 Volume 7 No. 3
Department: Exterior View of Russian Estate in the Literature of the 18th – Early 20th Century
Pages: 298-327
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/LFDFME
UDK: 821.161.1.09"19"
Publication Type: Research Article

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