SOURCE: "Goncharov and the Russian Autobiographical Tradition," and "'Heart' vs. 'Mind' in A Common Story" in The Autobiographical Novel of Co-Consciousness: Goncharov, Woolf and Joyce, University Press of Florida, 1994, pp. 13-23, 24-40.

In the following two chapters from her book-length study, Dimeni examines Goncharov's use of autobiographical material in his novel A Common Story, surveying the history of autobiography in Russia and discussing possible influences on Goncharov's work

1. Goncharov and the Russian Autobiographical Tradition

A Common Story (Obyknovennaia istoriia, alternately translated as The Same Old Story) may be "transparent," but the fact that it is an autobiographical novel is one of the better-kept secrets in Russian, Soviet, and even Western criticism, where there exists a long-standing tradition of viewing Ivan Goncharov as a coolheaded writer who created broad, realistic epics with maximum objectivity. The tradition started with Vissarion Belinsky, who characterized Goncharov's artistic temperament as "pure talent" with...