• Caricature as a Mode of Artistic Perception. Leo Tolstoy in Caricature and Satire, 1856–1908

УДК: 741.5

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2025-3-67-112

EDN: DLCZFI

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Mikhail V. Stroganov

Dr. Sc. in Philology, Leading Research Associate
A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: mvstroganov@gmail.com

Caricature as a Mode of Artistic Perception. Leo Tolstoy in Caricature and Satire, 1856–1908

Abstract

This article deals with caricature and a cartoon as forms of artistic perception that serves a function analogous to that of critical essays and reviews. However, unlike literary criticism, which appeals to a limited readers, visual criticism targets a broader amount of viewers, constituting a mass-media form of evaluation. Consequently, literary criticism belongs to “thick” literary journals, while visual criticism is published in mass-cultural periodicals. Although authors like Leo Tolstoy did not focused on mass-cultural stereotypes, being the subjects of visual criticism they became the property of the “crowd”. Visual impressions are far more immediate, even if they permit a wider spectrum of interpretations. This study defines a “cartoon” as a static, portrait-like depiction of a character, distinguished from a portrait by its grotesque exaggeration of facial and bodily features; while the “caricature” is defined as a narrative composition, a genre scene, where the relationship between the depicted people and objects plays the primary role. Leo Tolstoy from the late 19th to the early 20th century was at the center of Russian public attention, which spurred the creation of a vast number of cartoons and caricatures. Visual criticism is analyzed in close connection with literary criticism, which, in mass-cultural publications, was represented not by traditional critical articles but by epigrams, parodies, anecdotes, feuilletons, and similar genres. This contextual, rather than isolated, analysis of visual criticism allows for a more precise understanding of the meaning of each individual statement.

Keywords

Russian literature, visual criticism, charge, caricature, mass culture, Leo Tolstoy.

For citation

Stroganov M.V. Caricature as a Mode of Artistic Perception: Leo Tolstoy in Caricature and Satire, 1856–1908. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2025, no. 3, pp. 67–112.

DOI: 10.35852/2588‑0144‑2025‑3-67-112

EDN DLCZFI

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Received: 18.01.2025

Revised: 07.07.2025

Accepted: 28.07.2025