Conceptualizing the 19th-Century Hero in Russian and English Novels: A Comparative and Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract

This article aims to conceptualize the figure of the hero in nineteenth-century Russian and English novels through a comparative and cross-cultural analytical framework. The study seeks to identify how differing cultural, philosophical, and socio-historical contexts influenced the transformation of the literary hero across these two traditions. The research employs a combination of conceptual analysis and comparative literary methodology, drawing on key theoretical approaches from modern literary criticism, including dialogism, archetypal theory, and the sociology of the novel. The corpus of the study includes major works of Russian literature by Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy, alongside English novels by Dickens, Thackeray, Charlotte Brontë, and George Eliot. The findings demonstrate that the Russian literary tradition constructs the hero primarily as an introspective and existentially conflicted figure, characterized by psychological depth and moral ambiguity, often exemplified by the “superfluous man” and the anti-hero. In contrast, the English Victorian novel presents the hero as a socially embedded individual whose development is closely tied to moral growth, ethical responsibility, and integration into society. Despite these differences, both traditions reflect broader transformations in the concept of heroism within the realist novel, shifting from idealized archetypes to complex, individualized characters. The study contributes to literary theory by demonstrating that the concept of the hero is not universal but culturally contingent, shaped by distinct intellectual traditions, narrative forms, and historical conditions.