Superfluous man

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The superfluous man ( Russian человек лишний , lischni Chelovek ) is a recurring topos and archetype of Russian literature of the 19th century.

Based on the great Byron reception ( Byronism ), the first incarnations of the superfluous man emerged in the works of Lermontov (especially Pechorin from A Hero of Our Time , 1837/40) and Pushkin , whose verse novel Eugene Onegin (1833) is generally considered to be the first work in which this archetype occurs (in the person of the title hero). The term itself is borrowed from Turgenev's novella Diary of a Superfluous Man (1850). In later adaptations, elements of the “aesthetic way of life” of Kierkegaard as well as the thoughts of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche can be identified as sources of inspiration alongside Byron's life work.

Characteristic

The superfluous person is an often aristocratic, intellectual, eloquent dandy who - although he thinks perfectly idealistically - breaks down on the morality of society. He is a beneficiary of society who cannot or does not want to do anything to improve the common good - be it only imagined or real. He is fully aware of the general stupidity and injustice around him but remains just an idle bystander. This perceived helplessness leads to fatalistic irony and pessimism as well as a deep feeling of ennui (boredom) that seems insurmountable for the superfluous person .

Further examples

Ivan Goncharov :

Fyodor Dostoyevsky :

Lev Tolstoy :

Ivan Turgenev :

See also