Anti-nihilistic novel

[1] The genre was influential in shaping subsequent ideas on nihilism as a philosophy and cultural phenomenon.

[2] Its name derives from the historical usage of the word nihilism as broadly applied to revolutionary movements within the Russian Empire at the time.

In contrast to the Chernyshevskian character of Rakhmetov however, the nihilist is weak-willed and is easily seduced into subversive activities by a villain, often a Pole (in reference to Polish nationalist insurrectionary efforts against the Russian Empire).

[note 2][3] The more meritous works of this genre managed to explore nihilism with less caricature.

[3] Many anti-nihilistic novels were published in the conservative literary magazine The Russian Messenger edited by Mikhail Katkov.