The Phenomenon of Terrorism in “The Story of an Unknown Man” and the Echo of Chekhovian Poetics in the Prose of L. N. Andreev and T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik

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Korenkova, T. V. “The Phenomenon of Terrorism in ʽThe Story of an Unknown Man’ and the Echo of Chekhovian Poetics in the Prose of L. N. Andreev and T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik.” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 8, no. 1, 2026, pp. 226–257. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-1-226-257
Abstract:
The unprecedented historical and cultural phenomenon of mass political radical terror emerged in the last third of the 19th century and manifested itself under the slogan “Propaganda of the deed” in all the leading countries of the world. The paradoxical nature of the terrorism ideologies and the logic of suicide terrorists’ antinomic behavior have aroused great interest among philosophers, physicians, psychologists, lawyers, criminologists, publicists, and writers. In the 1880s, attention to this topic in Russia was heightened by reports of an “epidemic insanity” among prisoners and prison guards in the Schlüsselburg Fortress, as well as a series of scandal revelations about Narodovoltsy (“Nihilists”) who had become secret police agents and vice versa — scandals involving revolutionary underground fighters that were infiltrated into the Secret Police Department. The article examines the features of innovative poetics of Chekhov’s “The Story of an Unknown Man,” where the physician writer offered his explanation of anomalies and paradoxes of terrorist behavior in terrorists’ psychology. The article notes the echo of Chekhov’s artistic techniques in the novella “The Dark” by L. N. Andreev and “Her First Ball” by T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik. The comparison of these three works demonstrated the “creative moving away” and veiled polemic of the Silver Age writers towards Chekhov’s “diagnostic realism.” The comparative analysis demonstrated the “creative moving away” and veiled polemic of the Silver Age writers’ works towards the “diagnostic realism” of Chekhov’s story.
Keywords: A. P. Chekhov, L. Andreev, T. Shchepkina-Kupernik, “The Story of an Unknown Man,” “The Dark,” “Her First Ball,” psychology of terrorism
Author: Tatiana V. Korenkova
Information about the author:
Tatiana V. Korenkova, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Miklukho-Maklaya St., 10/2, 117198 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4829-4947

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: August 14, 2025
Approved after reviewing: October 16, 2025
Published: March 25, 2026
Issue: 2026 Volume 8 No. 1
Pages: 226-257
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/THEWPZ
UDK: 821.161.1.09"19"
Publication Type: Research Article

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