Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:p>Economic and national questions often go hand in hand in Leskov’s work, and their combination makes one of the author’s strategies particularly apparent: In the economic actions of his characters, he takes the rivalry of the nations to the point of absurdity. But work and economics, commerce and craftsmanship also permeate Leskov’s texts from within: Writing itself is an economic proposition. The paper presents Leskov’s narrative economies with particular reference to his stories<jats:italic>Skaz o Tul’skom kosom Levshe i o stal’noi blokhe</jats:italic>and<jats:italic>Zheleznaia volia</jats:italic>. Unlike the majority of his contemporaries, Leskov gives prominence to the Russian “third estate” – craftsmen, merchants and small businessmen – yet he also questions the morality of the market, expresses scepticism regarding the burgeoning industrialisation in Russia, and criticises political interference in economic processes.</jats:p>