Literary Landscapes of Russia's Golden Age Literature: Mapping Tolstoy, Pushkin, Gogol, and Chekhov
ArcGIS map of Russia’s Golden Age Literature. Full map can be accessed here:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7d9065bdde7a46cf9c6e5fc93adc2ec8
By Miruna Cioc, Harvard College
Project Background
The space in which a story unfolds is not just a mere background for characters to stand in front of, but rather an active force that directly shapes the story, characters, and our engagement with the text. Recognizing the power of the space in which stories unfold, I wanted to trace the connections and appearance of Russia’s Golden Age Literature by looking at works from Pushkin, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Gogol. Yet simply looking at these texts and writing about it, or drawing lines on a map, would not do the scene justice. I decided to create a digital mosaic map, bringing together all the works as they unfolded in the Russian and Ukrainian landscape. This project was inspired by the Imperiia Project at the Davis Center for Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia studies where they created a mosaic map of the Black Sea, visualizing key locations from each work and situates them on a single interactive map. Using the same concept, each location on this map functions as an entry point into the text, allowing viewers to explore how specific places shape character, plot, and meaning.
Methodology
My methodology began with a review of all the written and visual texts from nine texts: Pushkin’s Boris Godunov and Eugene Onegin, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, Gogol’s “Old World Landowner,” “The Nose,” and "Nevsky Prospekt,” Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard,” “Uncle Vanya,” and “The Lady with a Lapdog.” For every location referenced in each text, I recorded the place, the quotation, the text of origin, relevant metadata, and any contextual information in a database called NodeGoat, a website that stores spatial information on maps. Then, I utilized ARCGIS to que up a standard map and focus on the Eurasian area. Using the data collected in NodeGoat, I uploaded the information into ARCGIS and plotted the specific locations onto the map. Within ArcGIS I was able to create interactive textboxes that appear upon clicking and display desired information (text, author, page number, quote, analysis, and an image). The viewer is able to navigate the literary geography of Russia's golden age literature, visually exploring how different works speak to one another across space.
Findings
This project reveals the power of space in driving the novel, character interactions, and reader perception of the book. Chekhov, Tolstoy, Pushkin, and Gogol construct environments with distinct spatial logics that determine what kinds of actions are possible within them. Interior spaces such as Princess Betsy’s salon or the Tovstogub estate absorb tension through enclosure and routine, allowing scandal or stagnation to persist without confrontation. By contrast, public spaces like the steeplechase grounds or Nevsky Prospect are organized around visibility and comparison, producing immediate judgment and emotional pressure.
Taken together, these works show that characters do not simply act within places. They are shaped, constrained, or exposed by them and mapping these locations makes visible how Russian literature repeatedly uses space to structure meaning, judgment, and the limits of individual agency.
Edited by Serena Reed (Columbia University School of General Studies ‘28)