Abstract

An astute observer of the Russian elite, a perceptive analyzer of character and master storyteller, Leo Tolstoy can also be thought of as a transnational writer. In his travels to the Caucasus region in south-east Russia, he encountered many identities, stories, and cultures. One story he encountered was of a tribal leader, Hadji Murad, who, after years of fighting the Russians defected to their side to fight his tribal foe, Shamil. After a heroic battle, Hadji was killed by Shamil but celebrated as a hero by his people and by the Russian military. Almost half a century after these events, Tolstoy immortalized the fighter in his short novella, eponymously named, Hadji Murad. One of the major themes of the story is the fleeting and corruptible nature of national and religious identity, and that what must be celebrated instead is individual gallantry and heroism. Themes of identity—of Russian-Christian civilization and of pagan-tribal ethos—had already been explored in Tolstoy’s earlier work, “The Cossacks,” but are more fully developed in Hadji Murad. By comparing these two tales of the Caucasus and by understanding them within the context of Russian imperialism, this article will show that “Hadji Murad” is the culmination of Tolstoy’s thinking on civilization and man, of nature, and of natural morality. By blending different national identities, adopting new allies, and forgoing ancient links, Hadji represents an alternative way of identification, one that is not afraid to question the traditional way of thinking and to create something new.