The article examines the works of fiction by K. N. Leontiev, produced in the 1850s and 1880s. It shows that the writer was gradually distancing himself from the attitudes of the Natural School and the thematic and stylistic trends of Critical Realism that shaped the literature of the day. Leontiev was cultivating the genre of retrobiographical novel, introducing new ethical and aesthetic ideas into his fiction. He was the pioneer of detailed treatment of the «Oriental» theme in the Russian belleslettres, describing the life in the European regions of Turkey, where he had spent several years in the diplomatic service.
V. A. Kotel'Nikov (Wed,) studied this question.