Introduction

This chapter talks about Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev who is known for his renowned ability to describe the natural world. It discusses the three basic, interconnected Russian terms for “nature”: natura , estestvo , and priroda . Natura is the “trait, characteristic, attribute, feature; way of life, that which is natural or inborn.” Estestvo — derived from the Russian word for “is” (est') — meant “all that is; priroda , natura and its order or laws; essence.” Priroda , the dominant term today and for Turgenev, refers to the kind of “nature” that we would readily associate in English with a “nature writer.” In his fiction and nonfiction, Turgenev employed priroda and its forms frequently. The chapter discusses Turgenev's arrest and exile to his country estate in the spring of 1852 that steeped Turgenev in hunting and Aksakovian nature writing.