The Ideological Mechanisms of Critical Interpretation: Dobrogeanu-Gherea on Turgenev

Abstract

In this paper, Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea is examined within the context of the sociology of knowledge, through analysing the concept of the “artist as citizen” and economic materialism as forms of cultural intermediation between Russian realism and the Romanian cultural sphere. The proposed case study examines the ideological mechanisms of critical interpretation in Gherea’s essay “Turgenev’s New Generation” (1886), exploring the relationship between aesthetic and ideological criteria. Although Gherea acknowledges the artistic value of Turgenev’s Realism, his reading is structured by a sociopolitical framework that generates tensions and ideological “corrections” to the text. From the perspective of Louis Althusser’s theory of Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs), the study describes Gherea’s reading functions as an instrument for shaping consciousness, not as a limited sociological interpretation. Gherea regards Turgenev’s literary prestige as a “battle position” within Romanian culture, transforming critical reading into a tool for challenging conservative ideology and legitimising socialist ideals. In this key, Gherea’s vision reveals both the limits and the possibilities of sociological criticism at the end of the 19th century.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52505/1857-4300.2026.1(326).06