The emblem of serfdom and a requiem for human nature: interpreting the artistic world in Turgenev's prose "Mumu"

this article analyzes Ivan Turgenev’s novella Mumu as a literary work in which the symbolism of muteness and the image of the dog Mumu serve not only a narrative role but also a deeply metaphorical function. The study focuses on how Turgenev constructs an aesthetic of silence and restrained protest under the conditions of serfdom, thereby creating a kind of requiem for the lost human capacity to feel, speak, and resist. Through interpreting the novella’s symbolic space, the author reveals the features of Turgenev’s “soft tragedy” and its humanistic resonance.

Turgenev, Mumu, silence, symbol, tragedy