This article analyzes the conflict between I. A. Goncharov and I. S. Turgenev, placing it into the framework of social and literary contexts. Contrary to the traditional interpretations that emphasize the psychopathological aspects of the issue and focus on verification of plagiarism, this study proposes to examine the conflict as an episode in the evolution of the writers’ social roles and transformations in literary communication. Apart from clarifying the reasons for the conflict, this approach provides a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that shaped the literary field in Russia on the eve of the Great Reforms.
Sergei Nikolaevich Gus’kov (Wed,) studied this question.