Vasily Avseenko's novel “The evil spirit” in the context of search for a new genre form in literature of the second half of the XIXth century

The article considers Vasily Avseenko’s novel “The Evil Spirit”. It is noted that in the novel the writer managed to paint a comprehensive picture of life in Russia in the 1880s, interweave personal and public interests, present the “endless labyrinth of linkages”, which is a basis of a true realistic novel. One should not call “The Evil Spirit” antipopular despite insignificant attention given to depicting the people. Characters from the thick of the people, the main character's position, reflections on Russia’s place, role and position between the “West” and the “East” allowed Avseenko to create a pithy and peculiar sketch of Russian national life. In our opinion, in “The Evil Spirit” Avseenko, who in many ways takes his cue from the first-magnitude Russian writers, especially from Leo Tolstoy, moves on to a new level of skill (in comparison with the early period of his creative work) creating epic, holistic life depiction. “The Evil Spirit” is an illustration of the general tendency towards broadening the bounds of the novel genre which used to exist in Russian literature of the second half of the XIX th century. One should not consider the novel by Avseenko to be epic in the real sense of the word, but it contains a number of peculiarities typical of this genre form.